[NT] NTs and Repressed Emotion (ie stress)

[Ardea]

I believe it was this forum that had a story of an INTJ being counseled about repressing emotion, to the point that the INTJ only knew of said emotion when it manifested physically?

NTs: Do you have this happen to you? Especially with stress?

As a 7w8, I like the high, but often don't recognize it as exhaustion/stress until there is a physical manifestation such as a breakout, depression, illness, or the like.

How do you deal/solve this?

 

[entropie]

I really never got that thing about repressed emotions. Normally it means that you are repressing your emotions until you have a breakdown.

For this to be true, there are two axioms to be fulfilled: the first one is that you have emotions and the second one is that you repress them.

I have emotions but I dont repress them. I can work like a machine 24/7 but I never loose track of who I am in the process.

Cant really give you advice on this one, because I dont understand it.

If someone really represses emotions, stress is only a catalyst to do so, but the real problems lie elsewhere. Or he just dont want to share his emotions with just everyone.

 

[jenocyde]

I don't understand that either. But then again, the depth of my emotional range is only "happy" or "frustrated". And I always express them.

 

[Tallulah]

I believe it was this forum that had a story of an INTJ being counseled about repressing emotion, to the point that the INTJ only knew of said emotion when it manifested physically?

NTs: Do you have this happen to you? Especially with stress?

As a 7w8, I like the high, but often don't recognize it as exhaustion/stress until there is a physical manifestation such as a breakout, depression, illness, or the like.

How do you deal/solve this?

This definitely happens to me, and I wish I knew the solution. It's like I'm not really aware of emotion until I can't avoid it anymore and have to deal with it through depression or anxiety.

 

[527468]

Maybe some of those high scoring Ts don't have much emotion.

 

[A Schnitzel]

Maybe some of those high scoring Ts don't have much emotion.

I doubt their test score has much of a relation. The tests just repeat the same four questions over and over in different ways and contexts. For example since I'm confident in my preference and score 100% on T it doesn't mean I'm more T than any other INTP, it just means I understood myself in the context of the questions better.

 

[mibnelius]

"Repressed" wouldn't be the way I would phrase it. I think "contained until such time as all hell broke loose" would be a bit more specific.

I know that the two are similar, but repression is subconscious while containment of one's own emotions is a conscious decision. I, personally, am a fairly laid back person, and I don't allow myself to become angry. I still get frustrated or irked, but not angry. Unfortunately, the result of this is the burning plasma of anger barely contained within. I resist emotions like anger in the interest of not unleashing that force.

Bringing the NT mindset into the equation, one sees that the containment of something as simple as primal rage is an extension of logical thought. There is no value in allowing adrenaline and one's own lower brain to take over when one has control over oneself in a calm state of mind. Therefore, the "repression" of emotions, generally the more basic emotions, could be considered an NT trait.

 

[Costrin]

"Repressed" wouldn't be the way I would phrase it. I think "contained until such time as all hell broke loose" would be a bit more specific.

I know that the two are similar, but repression is subconscious while containment of one's own emotions is a conscious decision. I, personally, am a fairly laid back person, and I don't allow myself to become angry. I still get frustrated or irked, but not angry. Unfortunately, the result of this is the burning plasma of anger barely contained within. I resist emotions like anger in the interest of not unleashing that force.

Bringing the NT mindset into the equation, one sees that the containment of something as simple as primal rage is an extension of logical thought. There is no value in allowing adrenaline and one's own lower brain to take over when one has control over oneself in a calm state of mind. Therefore, the "repression" of emotions, generally the more basic emotions, could be considered an NT trait.

I agree. Usually I'm able to get away and release my emotions privately, where no one else is affected, but sometimes it seeps out a little, and even more rarely... I just explode.

 

[Didums]

My repressed/contained emotions and/or psychological state sometimes create physical symptoms, the most severe of which is nausea when trying to eat, or at any time, if it peaks I will vomit profusely, it is often troublesome because I have to eat extremely slowly and end up not getting enough calories and lose weight.

 

[Mitzy]

repress and contain are different?
when you repress your feelings you do everything in your power to not feel that way anymore
when you contain your emotions
you still feel them but you dont express them in any way and hold it inside

i guess i repress my feelings a lot
until i dont feel or notice them anymore
i agree with tallulah

& idk the solution because i didnt think it was a problem until i saw this

 

[Nocapszy]

Sometimes my ass itches for days on end.

Is that the same thing Femme?

 

[EcK]

some intj i know always seem to repress/contain or at least wonder about emotions.
Personally I don't really ever wonder 'how do I feel about this or that'
I mean I'm not a robot or something but I don't feel like it's really an effort to deal with emotions.

The emotions I see the most in me are rather empathy oriented. And I do not mean the tree huging empathy. (suspiciously stares at every F on the thread) It doesn't really seem to influence my action\observation\analysis\reaction paterns much.
Comes a point that if I push someone around too much for example I feel that it's time to stop. I know when things are just 'wrong' with people but Ne can do some of that too.

Seems like an Fe thing

Fe is the 3rd entp function so it kind of makes sense

 

[JocktheMotie]

I repress negative depressing emotion. I indulge negative anger privately if I can. Usually I get headaches and migraines. I'm on medication for the migraines.

Work pressure, assignment pressure I channel into positive energy in order to get work done. If I'm not stressed I honestly can't get anything done.

 

[Misty_Mountain_Rose]

In the past, during a particularly difficult time for me, the stress of repressed emotions and avoidance of dealing with problems led to a lot of weird health symptoms. I would experience dizzy spells, fainting, chest pain, nausea, trembling, cold sweats... my body was acting out because emotionally I couldn't. I was buried under a huge pile of denial and guilt. It took a long time to come to terms with how unhealthy my manner of coping with stress was.

For instance, I used to notice that whenever I began to drink alcohol (which wasn't very often) I would begin to feel a strange sensation in my neck. I realized it was my muscles actually relaxing.

I was wound so tightly with so much tension in my neck and shoulders that drinking was almost painful.

 

[GargoylesLegacy]

NTs: Do you have this happen to you? Especially with stress?

Yes. Mostly I just "don't have the time" to notice; until it gets quite serious.
I am totally into my projects, so I keep forgetting about the time (typical reaction: "Shoot! 10AM already? Gee, last time I looked at the time it was just 11PM!") and also it happens that I don't notice stress. All I feel is, that "something" is bothering me. And until I don't sit down and analyze that weird feeling, I won't be able to tell what exactly it is. And when you are all sucked up in projects, you seriously only notice when your stomach, back, shoulders and everything else hurts or whatever.

 

[shnnnnll]

The last time I took the test, I came out to be 80% T, and I thought to myself, wow, I'm an emotionless robot. But in reality, I don't think it is that I don't have emotions, it is just that I choose to set them aside when dealing with problems because reason usually makes more sense than feelings do (duh). However, I still have emotional ties to the situation and those ties are the repressed feelings. These feelings then cause a conflict of interest because even though I want to be reaonable, I still have unacted emotions invested in the conflict. This is then what causes problems like stress and other physical manifestations of the internal problem. Hopefully that made some sense and someone shares this feeling. What do you think?

 

[entropie]

Its just that emotions follow different fields of intrests. I for example cried a tear, when Anakin Skywalker became Darth Vader but was thrown out of Titanic together with a friend because we bombarded the movie with wet paper .

To me emotions are an integral part of the human body and biochemistry but every person has learnt through life, to notice them differently or deal with them differently. And they will most probably learn even more about their emotions, when they grow older.

What would be intresting are the different emotions and how they manifest in certain types. I myself for example understand the need to have pity with someone in distress (Fe) but I dont really feel pity (egocentric Fi). That sounds cruel, but if you think about it, its actually quiet healthy, because if you only live through other peoples emotions (like a Fe could do), you never really find out about your own (Fi development).

I myself have a hard time to actually think about or even notice my feelings, I try to work with humor in society and I carry my burdens from the past around. So far I have managed to survive and sometimes I was yet able to give emotional advice on how to deal with a situation to other people.

To me the most important thing is to get to know that Fi world and to understand how I am affected through it. Furthermore I try to gain wisdom out of the things I lived through and I try to keep track of my own evolutionary process of emotions, which brought me from puberty to adulthood.

That Fe thing is intresting and I feel good around people like the ESFJ, who actually brings people together and is open for new ideas. But I dont see it as my field of expertise and it stays more a field in which I like to participate but which I dont want to develop in the same way for myself.

On the Fe note: I generally trust people who have humor more than people who have not.
Cant help it but the Gamma Quadra from Socionics stays a mystery to me

 

[cascadeco]

My brother tested as INTP in high school and that seems to fit him better than anything else would. Only other possibility would be IsTP.

But anyway, I rarely see emotions out of him. Happiness is rare, although I can tell when he's enjoying himself and when/if he's excited about something. He just rarely gets into an excitable state. On a purely emotive basis, the most common I see out of him is irritability.

I worry about him off and on. In teenage years he did an awful lot of repressing, apparently, because no one knew what was going on with him (well, I kind of knew, but I didn't know the extent of it). He just doesn't talk about anything. His internal state is off limits. A few weeks prior to college he ended up being suicidal and was hospitalized for maybe 6 weeks or so until they could figure out meds that would work. I guess he was diagnosed with chronic depression at that time. I know he also has substantial anxiety.

After maybe 4 yrs he was able to go off the meds and has been off the meds for maybe 5 yrs now. He's built a 'safe' little life for himself now -- he's been doing the same job for 8 yrs now, and doesn't have a social life at all. He doesn't have ANY friends (but I also know through observation that when he's out and about, he can turn it 'on' and can be chatty and almost charming), and he truly seems to be fine with that. I think a lot of it is the anxiety, but also he's built up this external safe, unchanging world, because I suspect it's his mechanism for keeping the anxiety etc at bay.

Edit..doh...just realized this was in the NT personal threads part of the forum. Why was I allowed to post? oh well. sorry. ;-)

 

[Lady_X]

I believe it was this forum that had a story of an INTJ being counseled about repressing emotion, to the point that the INTJ only knew of said emotion when it manifested physically?

NTs: Do you have this happen to you? Especially with stress?

As a 7w8, I like the high, but often don't recognize it as exhaustion/stress until there is a physical manifestation such as a breakout, depression, illness, or the like.

How do you deal/solve this?

i'm not an nt so sorry to respond anyway but i'm 7w8 and i do the same thing. i have had weird anxiety attacks that i didn't even know what they were or why...it wasn't until the dr. told me i was stressed that i knew i was...so weird!

 

[ceecee]

Yeah I use to ignore it to the point of not even knowing it was there. Even when my hair was falling out by the handful or I couldn't eat without throwing it up or couldn't tell you the last time I had more than a few hours' sleep. I couldn't imagine it was repressed emotion. Rage, hate, fear, I would swear I had no clue what you were talking about if you put the physical with the emotional and said hey..maybe they are connected? But I'm fine I tell you. I'm ALWAYS fine. *light bulb moment*

When it all came out it was terrifying, embarrassing and I felt completely weak and helpless which was even more terrifying. That showing any weakness would leave me permanently weak, injured and broken. It was a long and painful process. It sucked beyond words. On the other side of this healing I did find..

I wasn't weak. Or broken
I was strong because I dealt with this
Ignoring emotions didn't equal control of them
Dealing with things sooner rather than later was always a better option.