INTPs and grip behaviours: what do YOU do / dont under that grip ?

[DIALECTIC]

Hello ! What do you do when you guys are under the grip ?
And what you DONT do ?

 

[Turniphead]

Do: Belittle other people and try to show off.

 

[Archael]

what do you mean by under the grip? under pressure/stress?

 

[Jennywocky]

what do you mean by under the grip? under pressure/stress?

I think he's referring to "grip behaviors" associated with the Inferior function in MBTI function theory (which for INTP = Fe).

Basically, stress where the primary and aux are not functioning in a given situation can result in dropping back to the reactive inferior function, with which the user has little practice or nuanced use of... resulting in a mess.

 

[Ex-User (9062)]

I'm sorry, but i don't seem to understand the overall concept.
Please explain.

 

[Fukyo]

"Grip" has to go with negative and destructive manifestations of the inferior function under stress. It refers to feeling "in the grip" of the inferior. I posted some excerpts from Naomi Quenk's book that deals specifically with this phenomenon in this thread.

 

[Brontosaurie]

never had an Fe grip unless i'm in a perpetual one, with the insecurities and overbearing imaginary duties and unreasonable superego standards conflicting with my innermost values...

btw is it just me flawed or is Fe the only inferior function that makes its wielder a pathetic infant rather than an asshole?

 

[Brontosaurie]

Si - stuck-up asshole
Se - insistently conformist asshole
Ne - hypochondric asshole
Ni - stubborn asshole
Ti - just... stupid...
Te - overtly hostile asshole
Fi - hurt asshole

Fe - o why you poor little, c'mere will ya? lemme give a hug

 

[Kuu]

Not nuanced enough. How deep into the grip?

It works pretty much like it says on Fukyo's link, but I'll provide some more colourful info.

In extreme grip experiences I've been known to do things like:

a) Snapped and punched a girl in a sudden fit of rage
b) Drank myself stupid, ranting loudly about how shit everything/one is, and then collapsed into a sobbing, unconsolable mess in a very, very public place
c) Lost all desire to live, shut self in a dark tiny room and barely ate for over a month and hoped only for death, leaving just to search for places and ways to commit suicide. No, I feel fine, really. No pressure.

In more ordinary situations, I chose a victim and unload all my intensely insecure emotions on her (it's always a her). Like a bad case of (emotional) diarrhoea, I send messages at 4 in the morning questioning my self worth and explaining in a thoroughly negative 'analysis' of past situations and why my life is absolute shit, and apologise constantly about this being unusual behavior and obsessively thanking the person for listening. I also start trying to talk or go out with people I'm comfortable with, with a tendency to talk about the past or conspicuously showing some of my lesser known pseudo-talents, in a desperate bid for affirmation. I ask feely vague questions, and perhaps most tellingly, I ask other people how they feel.

Now, let's all pretend I never said any of that.

 

[Turniphead]

I thought it was the things referred to here: http://personalityjunkie.com/the-inferior-function/

 

[Proletar]

*Something* leads to anxiety, anxiety leads to stress, and stress leads to suffering.

I generally go around with a bad feeling for some time. I'm not sure where that comes from, even today. I can go around with it for weeks or even months. Then I find myself having trouble sleeping. As time progresses, I find myself feeling tense. I can get headaches, stomach-aches, even a burning sense of pain in my chest, arms and legs, and my heart is racing. That plus stress and anxiety leads to the inevitable realization that I am seriously ill. Just two weeks ago, I was sure I was dying. I knew I had been suffering from stress before, but I never felt anything like this. Right? No. It couldn't have been this intense before.

It took a lot of focus from me. Instead of relaxing, I examined myself. Finding patterns. I started avoiding stuff like eating. Tried to sleep more. Having long walks. But nothing seemed to help.

So I checked the web for possible explanations of chest-pain. It must be angina or atrial fibrillation, I thought. Then I reached the page listing diseases with the symptom of chest-pain. AND IT ALL CHECKS OUT! But I'm so young! And I've been living and eating healthy! Oh NO! OH GOD! IM FREAKING OUT!

And then I scrolled down a bit. It turns out my symptoms are usual for lots and lots of different diseases. Most commonly stress. And that's me in the grip. First up, a period of fear. And then I feel stupid. Suddenly, my heart wasn't racing anymore. And I can sleep again.

 

[Puffy]

For INFJ (me in likelihood, as opposed to INTP) Fukyo's article highlighted:

"obsessive focus on external sensory data"
"overindulgence in sensual pleasure"
"adversarial approach to what's 'out there'"

I can't think of a time when the last point has been very present for me. I go through phases where I believe my perception is inadequate, that I don't take in enough of my surroundings, and try to learn new methods for observing (inferior Se). I'd describe it as being pulled by the external environment rather than repelling it though. Keeping an obsessive focus on sounds, sight, what's being said around me; Ni then naturally kicking in filtering everything through mounting coincidences it sees between events and repeating shapes and patterns, the sensation of everything being very fast and intense and having to move quickly to keep up. Sometimes mounts to a kind of ecstatic "aha" where everything fits together, followed by a few hours of "come down" and depression.

 

[redbaron]

INTPs

> Logic emphasized to an extreme
> Hypersensitivity to relationships
> Emotionalism

The first and third ones were most common while I was younger, however I've become more well-rounded and able to avoid these. Managing a business made me much more industrious, and I've realised the benefit of streamlining and structuring my approach to tasks and problems. So I tend to not fall into those traps any more because I always have an outline of what I need to achieve, and when I start to deviate it's easy to recalibrate to the right, 'setting'.

The second one is maybe the one that gets me the most. When I'm put under stress and forced to empathize with others, I can get irritated. I start to loathe the implicit societal expectations of people around me, and I tend to rebel against the basic niceties of social exchanges.

That said I think they're mostly useless anyway. I don't see why I have to smile every time I greet someone, shake hands, hug or whatever. I'm not sure this is as much an inferior-grip as it is a general dislike of pointless niceties.

That's me now.

When I was younger I would punch objects, people, throw things, yell at people and rant about things. The worst I do now is tell people to go away or to stop bothering me with their inanity.

I think maybe my mellowness is to do with being comfortable with being emotional. I don't have a problem conflating my emotional desires with my logical ideals, and I realise the value of individualized truth.

 

[Polaris]

In the past, if under extreme emotional stress, I would resort to self-harm. The pain would make me snap out of whatever explosive anger I was experiencing. I would usually fall asleep, completely exhausted afterwards.

As I no longer am surrounded by people who cause these reactions in me, I no longer experience this sort of stress.

There may be situations where I'm confronted repeatedly by what I consider to be irrational behaviour, which eventually might make me snap and turn into a seething, snarky bitch. It doesn't happen too often as I have realised it is best to avoid these situations with these kinds of people. I could get myself into some serious trouble with that kind of acid tongue. I remember someone attempting to grab my bag once in the subway. It was late at night and I was tired after a long day. My instant reaction was to spin around and hiss at the person "What the F..K do you think you are you doing!?" He lifted both his hands and just backed off.

I think I was extremely lucky it didn't turn out differently

 

[Ex-User (9062)]

c) Lost all desire to live, shut self in a dark tiny room and barely ate for over a month and hoped only for death, leaving just to search for places and ways to commit suicide.

This.
But, violent/angry behaviour directed at other people than my self is completely alien to me.