Low emotional stability?

**AkiKaza** · 09-24-2011 09:54 PM

INTPs, how emotionally stable are you?

I've always known this. Personality tests "confirm" it, I always get high neuroticism, and I took a 485Q personality test on my friend's phone a few weeks ago and my emotional stability was very low.

I get irritated very easily. Stupid little things cause me to flare up all the time. Anger is probably the emotion I experience the most, if not that then sadness. I cry easily. Over stupid things. Or things that frustrate me, really (which can also cause anger). I try to hide the sadness/want to cry, especially around other people, I'll usually go off by myself and wait for it to wear off or until something shiny distracts me. Anger I don't hide as much because I see it as more acceptable/won't make me look weak/whatever. Plus people tell me I look like I'm pissed off all the time anyway so if I really am I'm like fuck it they can't tell the difference lol.

So are there any other emotionally unstable INTPs out there? Or are all you guys pretty good at keeping your head cool?

[OT: where did these cute emoticons come from?! I've always noticed but I've never "realized" you know? Like I was only subconscious of it. But they're so cool! When did this happen???]

**bamboozle** · 09-24-2011 10:02 PM

It depends on how stressed I am. Is this an anxious time for you? Or are you generally a highly-strung person? I spent all last year pretty tired. I was either sleepy, plain exhausted, rage-y or just really lost (despair?). As a result, I was also more confrontational. And—with regards to the crying—yeah, frustration gets the waterworks going more than actual sadness. Sucks!

I don't know if you wanted any suggestions/advice but…here's my two cents anyway! I know INTPs are supposed to really suck at it (and I do!), but it might help if you either (1) take care of yourself better (if you can) or (2) try to get at the heart of what's going wrong for you right now. I'd do the first one first, though.

But…of course, I don't actually know what's going on for you so…my suggestions might be completely irrelevant. Just saying.

**foobar** · 09-24-2011 10:25 PM

i'm not entirely positive i have real emotions. dunno if that means i'm stable or just really out of touch with them. i mean, i've experienced some. heartbreak once, short lived anger when my friends are dicks, despondence, contentment, etc. but not to the same degree i see other people experiencing them. i sometimes wonder if i'm defective cuz things don't affect me. i think i've cried only a few times in the past year. and that year had some pretty emotionally traumatic stuff. it didn't really bother me that much. i dunno. i just don't dwell on anything.

**AkiKaza** · 09-24-2011 10:50 PM

Originally Posted by bamboozle

It depends on how stressed I am. Is this an anxious time for you? Or are you generally a highly-strung person? I spent all last year pretty tired. I was either sleepy, plain exhausted, rage-y or just really lost (despair?). As a result, I was also more confrontational. And—with regards to the crying—yeah, frustration gets the waterworks going more than actual sadness. Sucks!

I don't know if you wanted any suggestions/advice but…here's my two cents anyway! I know INTPs are supposed to really suck at it (and I do!), but it might help if you either (1) take care of yourself better (if you can) or (2) try to get at the heart of what's going wrong for you right now. I'd do the first one first, though.

But…of course, I don't actually know what's going on for you so…my suggestions might be completely irrelevant. Just saying.

I don't know...you might have a point, actually, now that I think about it...

I do have a lot of shit going on right now. That could be causing the excess...emotionality... but in general I guess I am just a bit high-strung. I dunno, lol, that's why I wanted to hear from other peeps X3

**Arbite** · 09-25-2011 01:50 AM

Internally, I'm not very emotionally stable. I have self doubt, I'm neurotic, I question everything and agonize over the tiniest of details in the things people say to me.

Externally, you'd be hard pressed to tell the difference between me and a robot.

**MegaTuxRacer** · 09-25-2011 02:39 AM

I would say I am very stable. I get impatient with traffic, but that normally manifests into the form of "Move it fucker!" and then I am over it. I get irritated by small things, but I just remind myself that there's nothing I can do about it and the emotion goes away. I am actually a pretty chill guy 99% of the time.

**Richard** · 09-25-2011 03:33 AM

I’m stable in the sense that I am consistently depressed, my confidence is shit and rarely peaks and I am beyond trying to fight this anymore. Some might say this would lead to instability but I am used to functioning in this manner, my thoughts, actions and desires are largely stable as a result.

**Beyond_B** · 09-25-2011 03:49 AM

I guess that for an INTP who isn't used to deal with emotions, then suddenly has to(because of all the emotional stuff they ignored in the past) gets really confused/pissed off/sad/depressed, and what makes it worse is that they most likely don't understand those "feelings". However, once they fall in that hole it is hard to get out of it. For an INTP to get to this stage takes a lot of complicated/traumatic experiences(with no solution) that have been ignored. Even when an INTP gets to that stage, they most of the time manage to keep their cool when others are losing theirs(when it is necessary) though.
Resources:
Experience.
*I could be wrong.

**bamboozle** · 09-25-2011 04:30 AM

Originally Posted by 1199

I guess that for an INTP who isn't used to deal with emotions, then suddenly has to(because of all the emotional stuff they ignored in the past) gets really confused/pissed off/sad/depressed, and what makes it worse is that they most likely don't understand those "feelings". However, once they fall in that hole it is hard to get out of it. For an INTP to get to this stage takes a lot of complicated/traumatic experiences(with no solution) that have been ignored. Even when an INTP gets to that stage, they most of the time manage to keep their cool when others are losing theirs(when it is necessary) though.
Resources:
Experience.
*I could be wrong.

I'm inclined to agree. I know that I used to—…well, still think of feelings as things that just happen. Who knows why they happen or why they do what they do. I wouldn't be surprised if that's quite a common assumption with INTPs (at least, what I've read would suggest to me that it is). But that assumption also obscures the fact that emotions don't happen in a vacuum either and sometimes they get spurred on by things that are happening around me in both a short- and long-term sense. So, there is actually a way to control the things. That's what I'm trying to teach myself anyway.

**Beyond_B** · 09-25-2011 07:33 AM

Originally Posted by bamboozle

I'm inclined to agree. I know that I used to—…well, still think of feelings as things that just happen. Who knows why they happen or why they do what they do. I wouldn't be surprised if that's quite a common assumption with INTPs (at least, what I've read would suggest to me that it is). But that assumption also obscures the fact that emotions don't happen in a vacuum either and sometimes they get spurred on by things that are happening around me in both a short- and long-term sense. So, there is actually a way to control the things. That's what I'm trying to teach myself anyway.

Feelings are confusing, and most of them are a waste of time(especially when you don't know why you are experiencing them). I only got to know what feelings are recently, let's just say it is an ugly experience. In the past they were just a concept to me, now I feel them. I want to go back to the "clear"mode, really. I don't want them.