[Rekka]

Awkward topic I know, but I want to know your thoughts.

I know for me, that when I get depressed (I may have the clinical disease, and am seeing a counselor), I drop more into the ISFP mindframe, since I scanned their forum and it seems that a lot of them tend to have low confidence, low self-esteem, etc. I'm not sure if this means that I truly have a more developed feeling side than I let on or not...I'm still uncomfortable with discussing emotions with people, have a hard time dealing with emotions in general (try to ignore them or bottle them up), and find logic/thinking to be my foundation for most arguments or whatever. But I read somewhere that ISTPs tend to be optimistic, and I'm not usually as such.

Luckily I just found an INTP/INFP friend who also has depression, and since then I've opened up to her and found that we have a lot of the same interests...so we've had some interesting talks between introverts (which means there were lots of awkward pauses, lol).

Er...so..how do you ISTPs cope with depression? Do you fall into a different mindframe, or have internal conflict, since depression can often seem to be illogical (as for me it brings a sense of hopelessness and fear of others)?

[T927]

For a while when I was in college I went through a long bout with a depressive state. It was really strange. I was living in a big city and couldn't afford a gym membership, so I was not active in the least bit. Was in and out of three bad relationships and had virtually no friends nearby. I ended up thinking my way out of it. Never talked to a soul about it in real life. It was a pattern of bad thinking and bad thoughts. Finally ended up moving to another part of town with some old friends and began walking three miles to and from school. Since then I've been to busy for depression.

[DJArendee]

I was almost always depressed until I started reading up on ISTP stuff. Since then I know what makes me tick.

I was always trying to fit in, I was never myself. For the longest time I thought I couldn't live without other people in my life, but recently I've tried living by myself independently; I'm actually way more comfortable with it than I thought I'd be, and am almost always by myself now (but I still talk to friends).

So my 2 biggest causes of depression were:
-didn't know who I was or what my lot in life was
-terrible with relationships and felt hopeless

Once I learned how others viewed me, and started acting that way, people seem to treat me much better now. Its like I didn't really understand who I was, but I still maintained a balance between who I want to be, and who they think I am.

Not only that, but I now understand what women like about ISTP's, and I've learned to enhance these natural traits.

One of the best ways I learned about myself was by watching videos of other ISTP's being themselves:
-daniel craig interviews,
-clint eastwood interviews
-meg ryan interviews
-calvin harris videos (he has his own little humorous videos, and he has some well known music... I'm almost identical to that guy)

Keep learning about yourself, learn what makes you tick and learn how others view you. Once you got that down you've probably solved life itself as I almost feel I have.

[ThunderBear]

Interesting topic, thanks for bringing it up. I also had depressive phases in my life.

I sometimes feel lonely and envy others that seem to connect with other people much more easily and go out partying and stuff. Disco, going out to get drunk and stuff like that seems to be what a lot of people do these days and it has never been my thing. I can't understand what drives people to get as drunk as possible each and every weekend. I despise them and their behavior, but on the other hand I envy them for being all similar, having fun, connecting with other people more easily and stuff like that.
The insignificance of my life has also gotten me into a depressive mood at times. What if the earth exploded today? Would it matter to the rest of the universe? Absolutely not!

I oftentimes feel misunderstood and different from everybody else and that can get you into a depressive mood. I will take a look at the videos DJ Andree suggested, thanks. I also found it helpful to learn more about myself, like DJ Andree said. That can really cheer you up. I once read a book (not about MBTI) and I recognized myself in a lot of the people described in that book. That made my day!

And another good point is the one that T927 made, that you don't have time to feel bad if you get yourself busy.

If you think too much about all kinds of things, negative things may come up and if you do nothing but think on, you might find yourself in a tailspin. Maybe you need to get a better balance between thinking and action. I love sports and it tends to make me feel good.

[Functianalyst]

I responded to the inquiry in the ESTP forum the same way, that as you say up front Rekka depression is a clinical diagnosis of a mental illness. There are specific symptoms of depression that will be noticed in all individuals regardless of type. Therefore I don't see this as being type related although Ti dominant types may act a certain way.

What is relevant is when a type is "in the grip" per Naomi Quenck's theory. Even then ITP types may never show they are having problems and Quenck believes it's not noticeable. I think a discussion of how we act when in the grip may be more type related unless (which is almost rare) we have been clinicially diagnosed as having depression.

[idontsmokedareefa]

Interesting topic, thanks for bringing it up. I also had depressive phases in my life.

I sometimes feel lonely and envy others that seem to connect with other people much more easily and go out partying and stuff. Disco, going out to get drunk and stuff like that seems to be what a lot of people do these days and it has never been my thing. I can't understand what drives people to get as drunk as possible each and every weekend. I despise them and their behavior, but on the other hand I envy them for being all similar, having fun, connecting with other people more easily and stuff like that.
The insignificance of my life has also gotten me into a depressive mood at times. What if the earth exploded today? Would it matter to the rest of the universe? Absolutely not!

I oftentimes feel misunderstood and different from everybody else and that can get you into a depressive mood. I will take a look at the videos DJ Andree suggested, thanks. I also found it helpful to learn more about myself, like DJ Andree said. That can really cheer you up. I once read a book (not about MBTI) and I recognized myself in a lot of the people described in that book. That made my day!

And another good point is the one that T927 made, that you don't have time to feel bad if you get yourself busy.

If you think too much about all kinds of things, negative things may come up and if you do nothing but think on, you might find yourself in a tailspin. Maybe you need to get a better balance between thinking and action. I love sports and it tends to make me feel good.

Sounds a lot like me. Though, I don't despise the behaviour of the people who connect emotionally so instinctively and easily. I've never felt easy about having fun in a social sense (dancing at clubs/parties) - too insecure for that. In fact, I don't think I've ever danced without being anxious in my life.

I've been pretty emotionally flat for a while and it sucks, but very recently I've had a few ups where I feel happy about myself, and on days like that I found it so much easier to talk to other people whom I'm usually intimidated by. On most days I'm either generally flat or anxious.

I think it's quite probable depression is lifted in a way when you take on other activities on your life. Before my "ups" I had been working quite hard for my upcoming exams, and have built a revision plan. Perhaps it is my neglection to what concerns me that has caused my depression. It's a bit of a vicious circle though because when you're depressed you tend not to care about what you should care about, and that makes you more depressed.

So I guess my advice to you is do what you know you should be doing. If you haven't got any commitments, then find some. From my POV life without a direction is not a life worth living. You can indulge in entertainment and the things that make you feel good in the short term, but in the end you know you're not fulfilling your innermost desires and that I believe, seems to have a detrimental effect on a person's happiness.

I think what has depressed me most about life is this:

If my actions help the people around me, or even the world, what difference does it make in the totality of what exists? A small one perhaps. But why must there be a difference made to the totality of things? Everything will exist, with or without me, and with the difference I make being not just insignificant but also irrelevant to existence as a whole. The only reason I can see to making a difference, is self satisfaction. But what would self satisfaction achieve when I'm going to die anyway?

If someone would point out why I'm wrong, and how to turn round this thinking I will be really grateful. Until then, I'm going to carry on trying to kid myself that any of this matters.

[ThunderBear]

I want to make something clear. Maybe I didn't express it the right way.

I don't despise the behaviour of the people who connect emotionally so instinctively and easily either. I just despise people who have nothing else to do other than get drunk every weekend. And I'm not sure if the word "despise" isn't even a bit too hard.

[Perseus]

Interesting topic, thanks for bringing it up. I also had depressive phases in my life.

I sometimes feel lonely and envy others that seem to connect with other people much more easily and go out partying and stuff. Disco, going out to get drunk and stuff like that seems to be what a lot of people do these days and it has never been my thing. I can't understand what drives people to get as drunk as possible each and every weekend. I despise them and their behavior, but on the other hand I envy them for being all similar, having fun, connecting with other people more easily and stuff like that.
The insignificance of my life has also gotten me into a depressive mood at times. What if the earth exploded today? Would it matter to the rest of the universe? Absolutely not!

I oftentimes feel misunderstood and different from everybody else and that can get you into a depressive mood. I will take a look at the videos DJ Andree suggested, thanks. I also found it helpful to learn more about myself, like DJ Andree said. That can really cheer you up. I once read a book (not about MBTI) and I recognized myself in a lot of the people described in that book. That made my day!

And another good point is the one that T927 made, that you don't have time to feel bad if you get yourself busy.

If you think too much about all kinds of things, negative things may come up and if you do nothing but think on, you might find yourself in a tailspin. Maybe you need to get a better balance between thinking and action. I love sports and it tends to make me feel good.

Thunderbear is a good name for an ISTP. They seem to have bi-polar depression. ISTPs tend to side with the INTPs in their battles with the ESFJs. We are not alike though. INTPs will get caustic depression, resembling PTSD (although it is not called a disorder any more by my Doctor! UK)

Bears can get very grumpy. It is not seen by NPs as depression, but moodiness.

[Perseus]

I responded to the inquiry in the ESTP forum the same way, that as you say up front Rekka depression is a clinical diagnosis of a mental illness. There are specific symptoms of depression that will be noticed in all individuals regardless of type. Therefore I don't see this as being type related although Ti dominant types may act a certain way.

What is relevant is when a type is "in the grip" per Naomi Quenck's theory. Even then ITP types may never show they are having problems and Quenck believes it's not noticeable. I think a discussion of how we act when in the grip may be more type related unless (which is almost rare) we have been clinicially diagnosed as having depression.

INTP depression is indistinguishable (unless you know and are an NP) and is called the "wail" different from the "howl" of the ENTJ and the surly grumpiness of the ISTP. ISTJ display truculence, which I thought was just being petty (INTP view) but it is savage.

[Functianalyst]

I think again it's worth noting that we all will act differently when depressed or in depressed states. It has no bearing on type and many being in a depressed state does not constitute depression. Here are some symptoms of depression from just googling a site.