[INFJ] - Do any of you guys have depression/anxiety? | INFJ Forum

[INFJ] Do any of you guys have depression/anxiety?

Joshua

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Feb 9, 2014
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I have had depression and anxiety since age 13. Is it common for INFJs? My biggest issues are social anxiety and post traumatic stress disorder and I have a couple of other anxiety disorders as well.
 
I had depression pretty severely growing up from something that happened to me that I couldn't escape. Was on anti depressants from 15-26 and it sucked the life out of me. During that time I always felt I needed to get up and go, start working on my life and doing things that would make me better. I didn't realize till after I got off all the meds just how much they had been suppressing me. Missed out on a major part of my schooling and have severe problems with authority and patience. Though I don't get depressed these days. I'm a fairly happy person. Yeah, I don't know how that happened either lol. It's just easier for me to accept things more often than not and not dwell. I'd hope that'd be an age thing more so than a just me thing.
 
I have had depression and anxiety since age 13. Is it common for INFJs? My biggest issues are social anxiety and post traumatic stress disorder and I have a couple of other anxiety disorders as well.
Depression is not something inherently related to one specific type. INFJs are more proned to this because they think much, they have the weight of the big picture on their shoulders, while other people tend to just live in the moment and enjoy life. For example, just put a ESTJ to think about some existential questions...he won't like that, it'll make him feel depressive and incapable. He wants to be practical, here and now. But I know definately INFJs who are not proned to depression, they trained themselfs to stop overthinking, to stop thinking on anything, to basically be happy.( sort of happy)

To answer to the OP, yes, I have fought with depression for about two years. At 19 years, I was having a black depression, the nihilistic kind of. But today I am really ok. Looking behind I realised that to me the main drive of depression was fear, a constant fear, sometimes even e fear of depression. Its like I was depressive because of being depressive.

Anyway, if you want to efficiently battle with depression, I recommend reading "Man's search for meaning" by Victor Frankl.
 
I used to have depression ...

... and I won!
 
I'm so glad you're all feeling better! :)

Depression is not something inherently related to one specific type. INFJs are more proned to this because they think much, they have the weight of the big picture on their shoulders, while other people tend to just live in the moment and enjoy life. For example, just put a ESTJ to think about some existential questions...he won't like that, it'll make him feel depressive and incapable. He wants to be practical, here and now. But I know definately INFJs who are not proned to depression, they trained themselfs to stop overthinking, to stop thinking on anything, to basically be happy.( sort of happy)

To answer to the OP, yes, I have fought with depression for about two years. At 19 years, I was having a black depression, the nihilistic kind of. But today I am really ok. Looking behind I realised that to me the main drive of depression was fear, a constant fear, sometimes even e fear of depression. Its like I was depressive because of being depressive.

Anyway, if you want to efficiently battle with depression, I recommend reading "Man's search for meaning" by Victor Frankl.

Yeah, those are good insights. I actually became a deep thinker around the same time I got depressed (13). I'll look into that book, thank you. Overcoming depression might not happen for me because I have PTSD (which is incurable) and it causes depression. I do think I can improve my life a lot though and maybe overcome depression. Probably not until I'm married though. I'm on medication right now but it is not working yet.
 
I'm so glad you're all feeling better! :)



Yeah, those are good insights. I actually became a deep thinker around the same time I got depressed (13). I'll look into that book, thank you. Overcoming depression might not happen for me because I have PTSD (which is incurable) and it causes depression. I do think I can improve my life a lot though and maybe overcome depression. Probably not until I'm married though. I'm on medication right now but it is not working yet.
There is a fine line between a thinker and depression. I overcomed depression, but I'm still pretty much of a thinker. These two are not tied one with another.
I do think you can overcome depression. I honestly believe even clinic or genetic depression can be overcomed :) Keep on, depression is not unbeatable.
 
I have had depression and anxiety since age 13. Is it common for INFJs? My biggest issues are social anxiety and post traumatic stress disorder and I have a couple of other anxiety disorders as well.

This whole damn forum has depression and anxiety.
 
Happily sad and depressed are not the same thing!
 
I'm not sure how I feel about linking MBTI to depression. On one hand, research indicates that mood disorders and mental wellbeing is multi-faceted, and largely not the result of one issue, but yet a combination of lifestyle, genetics, environments, chemicals, life events, and intra- and inter-personal factors. However, I think the In does allow us to be more introspective, and perhaps more aware of our mood and it's fluctuations...thus, we might tend to be diagnosed or seek treatment more, because we are more aware of it and it's effects.


Also: sadness is a symptom of depression.
 
[MENTION=10355]Joshua[/MENTION] PTSD is curable. Getting over Traumatic experiences is quite possible. Not easy but possible. I went through severe traumatic situations when I was younger. I also have had four near death experiences. Learning to forgive those who put you in the situation and those who perpetrated the trauma is one of the harder yet most freeing parts to curing PTSD. If you would like to pm on what you went through and I will share what I went through and let you know the full process of how I got over PTSD.
 
[MENTION=10355]Joshua[/MENTION] PTSD is curable. Getting over Traumatic experiences is quite possible. Not easy but possible. I went through severe traumatic situations when I was younger. I also have had four near death experiences. Learning to forgive those who put you in the situation and those who perpetrated the trauma is one of the harder yet most freeing parts to curing PTSD. If you would like to pm on what you went through and I will share what I went through and let you know the full process of how I got over PTSD.

Thank you for telling me it is curable. I get so tired of doctors telling me it's incurable. They don't understand the hopeless it causes when they say that to someone with PTSD. I'll pm you.
 
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I have had depression and anxiety since age 13. Is it common for INFJs? My biggest issues are social anxiety and post traumatic stress disorder and I have a couple of other anxiety disorders as well.

Why do you have PTSD?
 
Also: sadness is a symptom of depression.
The Loss of Sadness: How Psychiatry Transformed Normal Sorrow into Depressive Disorder
Depression has become the single most commonly treated mental disorder, amid claims that one out of ten Americans suffer from this disorder every year and 25% succumb at some point in their lives. Warnings that depressive disorder is a leading cause of worldwide disability have been accompanied by a massive upsurge in the consumption of antidepressant medication, widespread screening for depression in clinics and schools, and a push to diagnose depression early, on the basis of just a few symptoms, in order to prevent more severe conditions from developing.

In The Loss of Sadness, Allan V. Horwitz and Jerome C. Wakefield argue that, while depressive disorder certainly exists and can be a devastating condition warranting medical attention, the apparent epidemic in fact reflects the way the psychiatric profession has understood and reclassified normal human sadness as largely an abnormal experience. With the 1980 publication of the landmark third edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-III), mental health professionals began diagnosing depression based on symptoms--such as depressed mood, loss of appetite, and fatigue--that lasted for at least two weeks. This system is fundamentally flawed, the authors maintain, because it fails to take into account the context in which the symptoms occur. They stress the importance of distinguishing between abnormal reactions due to internal dysfunction and normal sadness brought on by external circumstances. Under the current DSM classification system, however, this distinction is impossible to make, so the expected emotional distress caused by upsetting events-for example, the loss of a job or the end of a relationship- could lead to a mistaken diagnosis of depressive disorder. Indeed, it is this very mistake that lies at the root of the presumed epidemic of major depression in our midst.

In telling the story behind this phenomenon, the authors draw on the 2,500-year history of writing about depression, including studies in both the medical and social sciences, to demonstrate why the DSM's diagnosis is so flawed. They also explore why it has achieved almost unshakable currency despite its limitations. Framed within an evolutionary account of human health and disease, The Loss of Sadness presents a fascinating dissection of depression as both a normal and disordered human emotion and a sweeping critique of current psychiatric diagnostic practices. The result is a potent challenge to the diagnostic revolution that began almost thirty years ago in psychiatry and a provocative analysis of one of the most significant mental health issues today.


Its a interesting book about sadness vs depression. While I agree that sadness can be a symptom of depression, I don't think this is always the case. There is such a think as good sadness. Certainly sociopaths lack it.
 
The Loss of Sadness: How Psychiatry Transformed Normal Sorrow into Depressive Disorder
Depression has become the single most commonly treated mental disorder, amid claims that one out of ten Americans suffer from this disorder every year and 25% succumb at some point in their lives. Warnings that depressive disorder is a leading cause of worldwide disability have been accompanied by a massive upsurge in the consumption of antidepressant medication, widespread screening for depression in clinics and schools, and a push to diagnose depression early, on the basis of just a few symptoms, in order to prevent more severe conditions from developing.

In The Loss of Sadness, Allan V. Horwitz and Jerome C. Wakefield argue that, while depressive disorder certainly exists and can be a devastating condition warranting medical attention, the apparent epidemic in fact reflects the way the psychiatric profession has understood and reclassified normal human sadness as largely an abnormal experience. With the 1980 publication of the landmark third edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-III), mental health professionals began diagnosing depression based on symptoms--such as depressed mood, loss of appetite, and fatigue--that lasted for at least two weeks. This system is fundamentally flawed, the authors maintain, because it fails to take into account the context in which the symptoms occur. They stress the importance of distinguishing between abnormal reactions due to internal dysfunction and normal sadness brought on by external circumstances. Under the current DSM classification system, however, this distinction is impossible to make, so the expected emotional distress caused by upsetting events-for example, the loss of a job or the end of a relationship- could lead to a mistaken diagnosis of depressive disorder. Indeed, it is this very mistake that lies at the root of the presumed epidemic of major depression in our midst.

In telling the story behind this phenomenon, the authors draw on the 2,500-year history of writing about depression, including studies in both the medical and social sciences, to demonstrate why the DSM's diagnosis is so flawed. They also explore why it has achieved almost unshakable currency despite its limitations. Framed within an evolutionary account of human health and disease, The Loss of Sadness presents a fascinating dissection of depression as both a normal and disordered human emotion and a sweeping critique of current psychiatric diagnostic practices. The result is a potent challenge to the diagnostic revolution that began almost thirty years ago in psychiatry and a provocative analysis of one of the most significant mental health issues today.



Its a interesting book about sadness vs depression. While I agree that sadness can be a symptom of depression, I don't think this is always the case. There is such a think as good sadness. Certainly sociopaths lack it.

Good points. I think it is important to embrace sadness in the same way as one would happiness, and if not embrace, at least accept. The highs as well as the lows make the mountain range. It is what makes us whole.
 
The Loss of Sadness: How Psychiatry Transformed Normal Sorrow into Depressive Disorder
Depression has become the single most commonly treated mental disorder, amid claims that one out of ten Americans suffer from this disorder every year and 25% succumb at some point in their lives. Warnings that depressive disorder is a leading cause of worldwide disability have been accompanied by a massive upsurge in the consumption of antidepressant medication, widespread screening for depression in clinics and schools, and a push to diagnose depression early, on the basis of just a few symptoms, in order to prevent more severe conditions from developing.

In The Loss of Sadness, Allan V. Horwitz and Jerome C. Wakefield argue that, while depressive disorder certainly exists and can be a devastating condition warranting medical attention, the apparent epidemic in fact reflects the way the psychiatric profession has understood and reclassified normal human sadness as largely an abnormal experience. With the 1980 publication of the landmark third edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-III), mental health professionals began diagnosing depression based on symptoms--such as depressed mood, loss of appetite, and fatigue--that lasted for at least two weeks. This system is fundamentally flawed, the authors maintain, because it fails to take into account the context in which the symptoms occur. They stress the importance of distinguishing between abnormal reactions due to internal dysfunction and normal sadness brought on by external circumstances. Under the current DSM classification system, however, this distinction is impossible to make, so the expected emotional distress caused by upsetting events-for example, the loss of a job or the end of a relationship- could lead to a mistaken diagnosis of depressive disorder. Indeed, it is this very mistake that lies at the root of the presumed epidemic of major depression in our midst.

In telling the story behind this phenomenon, the authors draw on the 2,500-year history of writing about depression, including studies in both the medical and social sciences, to demonstrate why the DSM's diagnosis is so flawed. They also explore why it has achieved almost unshakable currency despite its limitations. Framed within an evolutionary account of human health and disease, The Loss of Sadness presents a fascinating dissection of depression as both a normal and disordered human emotion and a sweeping critique of current psychiatric diagnostic practices. The result is a potent challenge to the diagnostic revolution that began almost thirty years ago in psychiatry and a provocative analysis of one of the most significant mental health issues today.


Its a interesting book about sadness vs depression. While I agree that sadness can be a symptom of depression, I don't think this is always the case. There is such a think as good sadness. Certainly sociopaths lack it.

Sorry, I didn't mean to imply that they were mutually exclusive. You can be depressed and not sad, and sad but not depressed...however, long term sadness (according to the DSM and many other measures of depressive mood) is a symptom and warning sign of depression.
 
Good points. I think it is important to embrace sadness in the same way as one would happiness, and if not embrace, at least accept. The highs as well as the lows make the mountain range. It is what makes us whole.
In my opinion, sadness adds meaning to life, as weird as that sounds. Sadness tells me there are great things that exist.
 
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Thank you for telling me it is curable. I get so tired of doctors telling me it's incurable. They don't understand the hopeless it causes when they say that to someone with PTSD. I'll pm you.

One thing I learned from going through my depression at an early age and to such an extreme extent is that doctors, especially psychiatrists, say that one thing, pill or idea that works for a group of people somehow now works for everyone. Psychiatrists were very quick to put me on a new med as opposed to figuring out what the problem was by talking about it. That being said the other thing I learned is that everyone needs someone to talk to. Pills are ok, I suppose. Considering my experience I would never recommend them to battle depression, anxiety though would be a different case and a different set of pills. However the biggest thing that makes a much more permanent difference would be going to a psychologist, a therapist and cognitive therapy is great.