The Effects of Medication on Personality

[Ginkgo]

This summer, I stumbled upon this "color" personality test. After taking it, it basically diagnosed me with alcoholism due to the fact that I was taking Vicodin (which is a depressant like alcohol) for my broken ankle.

I also read that some people had fluctuating personalities depending on their mood - particularly people who experienced bi-polar disorder. This implied that bi-polar treatments could alter a person's state of mind enough to change their personalities.

So, following this train of thought - is it feasible for medication to affect MBTI personality results? When I use the term "medication" I am specifically alluding to anti-depressants, personality disorder medication, or any other stimulant/depressant that one might take on a daily basis.

If so, wouldn't this skew results? Why? Is that good or bad?

(I promise, I'm not experimenting with recreational drugs or anything of the sort)

 

[Thalassa]

I took the color test. Does sound quite a bit like me, but the restrained characteristics totally contradicted each other. Nothing about alcoholism.

Ah, as for medication - if you're medicated enough for anti-depressants to actually change your personality, your doctor is doing something WRONG. Anti-depressants don't change people's personalities. That's a common misconception, that they're "happy pills" or some such nonsense.

It makes sense to compare vicodin to alcohol because they're both going to slow you down, though.

 

[compulsiverambler]

I take methylphenidate which is supposed to make me better able to organise and plan and keep to task and think through consequences before acting among other things, which are traits associated with Js. Doctors say about ADHD medication at least that if it changes your personality instead of just improving your ability to do certain things when you choose to try, your dosage is too high.

At the same time, I think if one of the things it does is improve your awareness or perception of things, e.g. time passing or what you're going to achieve by what you're currently doing, that's inevitably going to change what you feel like doing as well as what you can do. That's no bad thing either, because you're just making a more informed decision about how to spend your time. Different types react differently to the information available to them, but everyone should have access to as much information as possible.

When I start taking it again after a break, I find I'm a lot less emotionally resilient until I've readjusted to it, which could make me seem more F than usual, and weirdly I'm more impulsive and restless for a while, even though it's supposed to make you less impulsive and restless. However even then I'm still an INFP, just an unhealthier version.

Medication for anxiety and depression is interesting too, though I've never taken any unless you count over-the-counter valerian with B vitamins. If you have an anxiety or mood problem, that is more likely to alter your MBTI scores IMO, if the medication isn't causing psychiatric side effects. Some people react much better to some medications than others, including some within the same class, so it's a shame to give up if you don't like your reaction to one of them.

 

[01011010]

Silly test aside, certain medications can definitely change some aspects of personality.