[DevelopingPotentialUK]

What have been your 'in the grip' experiences and how have you dealt with them and felt about them afterwards?

For those that need a little bit of extra info (sorry for any egg sucking), 'in the grip' refers to inferior function being in the driving seat. This happens when we are low on energy and under great stress. I like metaphors, so think of it like a car with 4 seats. The drivers seat is filled with the dominant function - the function that sets the direction in your life. We all need a bit of company, balance and conversation on this journey so sitting in the passenger seat is the secondary function. Sitting behind the driver is the teenager (the tertiary function); less developed than the driver and passenger, but on the odd occasion it adds something useful to the conversation. Also in the back seat is the baby (the inferior function). Perhaps immature, underdeveloped and having much to learn; usually clunky and messy!

Now think of the car as a battery. A battery only has so much energy. When you become tired and stressed your energy starts to go down. You only have so much to go round. To conserve energy you get rid of that which doesn't take much - essentially you drop off the baby in the back seat (the inferior function). We now have some more energy to focus on the dominant function, so this becomes more noticeable - especially in E's. As our energy continues to run low we do the same with the tertiary function. We are now running on the dominant and secondary functions only. Our dominant function really becomes exaggerated. This happens again until its just the dominant function or the driver is on its own. Eventually there is not even enough energy left in the batter to sustain the driver so we employ the function that takes the least energy to run. What is it? The inferior function of course. The one least able to drive! Apparently, the best way to get the baby out of the driving seat is to appeal to the dominant function.

As an INFP, my dominant function is Fi and my inferior (opposite to Fi) is Te. When I am under great stress, or in the grip, I do Te really badly, blurting out what I think with no modifications and often hurtful comments - afterwards I feel really bad as being an INFP I only want to get the best out of people. To get out of my 'in the grip' experience, I need to have a conversation with someone that I trust, and re-discover what is truly important about the situation.

What's your function order?

ENFJ: Fe-Ni-Se-Ti.
INFJ: Ni-Fe-Ti-Se.
INFP: Fi-Ne-Si-Te.
ENFP: Ne-Fi-Te-Si.

ENTP: Ne-Ti-Fe-Si.
INTP: Ti-Ne-Si-Fe.
INTJ: Ni-Te-Fi-Se.
ENTJ: Te-Ni-Se-Fi.



ISFJ: Si-Fe-Ti-Ne.
ISTJ: Si-Te-Fi-Ne.
ESTJ: Te-Si-Ne-Fi.
ESFJ: Fe-Si-Ne-Ti.

ESFP: Se-Fi-Te-Ni.
ISFP: Fi-Se-Ni-Te.
ISTP: Ti-Se-Ni-Te.
ESTP: Se-Ti-Fe-Ni.