[shivasoul]

I've been wondering if there's a correlation between these types of mental illness and certain personality types. Sort of like ENFP and ADHD...;)

[Tove]

No.

I've heard lots of stories about how INFPs are supposed to have the highest suicide rates or how many narcissists are ENTJs, but in my eyes, those are just urban legends.

There is no actual proof that MBTI and mental health correlate in any way. Anyone can develop an eating disorder or start self-harming. It's not connected to your cognitive functions, which is what MBTI essentially comes down to. Bad things don't only happen to certain people, they happen to everyone.

[JungyesMBTIno]

Yep. No correlation between EDs and self harm and MBTI. There are a billion topics around this forum on this stuff in general. If anything, type might give vague insight into how people of various types might handle or respond to such things, but this has nothing to do with correlations between being a certain type and having a certain problem because of type.

[JungyesMBTIno]

Actually, NONE of the ENFPs I know IRL have ADD or come remotely close to having it. Some of them have the best attention spans around for school and such. I do know some ENTPs who do though, so I'm wondering if there's any correlation between ADD and being a T or F type, if anything, even though there's no backing for this (I mean, is it easier to "get lost" in ones thoughts than feelings? A part of me wants to say yes (like, how the hell does someone get lost in their feelings, exactly, but then again, this is way oversimplifying typology)...

[jeffbobs]

There might be slight variants but only because of statistical chance, nothing concrete or proof that certain types are more prone than others to things just wont be found...and if it is, it's wrong.

one of the problems i believe to be is that saying a certain cognitive function as cause for a certain problem would likely be possible because of that function being inferior aswell.

so it would balance out again and be back to the same thing

[Inguz]

Actually, NONE of the ENFPs I know IRL have ADD or come remotely close to having it. Some of them have the best attention spans around for school and such. I do know some ENTPs who do though, so I'm wondering if there's any correlation between ADD and being a T or F type, if anything, even though there's no backing for this (I mean, is it easier to "get lost" in ones thoughts than feelings? A part of me wants to say yes (like, how the hell does someone get lost in their feelings, exactly, but then again, this is way oversimplifying typology)...

Our dear INFPs exemplifies Fs getting lost in thought very well. Thinking doesn't need to revolve around logic.

[wisdom]

There's some research support for the suicide link.
Suicide Ideation and Personality Characteristics Among Gifted Adolescents
Introversion - a Health Risk? | Introversion

People usually don't just make up these things.

[Mulberries]

I don't agree that there's no link between MBTI types and various disorders. Results may not have been peer reviewed and published, but that doesn't mean correlations aren't there. Anyone who has taken the time to read, study and analyze others can see this.

I'd certainly like to see some quality research on this, but the idea shouldn't be dismissed just because it doesn't exist yet.

[JungyesMBTIno]

@Mulberries

I can guarantee you that none of the true narcissists I suspect I know are ENTJs, NTJs, or Ni types (which seem to be popularly stereotyped as such due to rampant cartoonish stereotypes about Ni making people into evil masterminds (NTJs) or evil cult leaders (NFJs), all of which is 4th grade level baloney stereotyping of cartoons or stereotypes perpetuated about Ni in the media for whatever the reason - actually, they're mostly of the Ne dominant variety in my life) - if anything, I bet societal influences would be largely behind these trends - these disorders I highly doubt are inherently rooted in specific types (if ENTJs are considered narcissistic, I don't really think this is because they have narcissism the disorder (which is mental illness, a whole other matter from just being a personality type) - it would be moreso a complex of sorts around inferior Fi (sort of just a common characteristic of the types' behavioral tendencies and the mentality that overlaps this, since they largely tend to view feelings in terms of "my feelings are totally my business and up to me, so yours are too" - they find this rational and tend to project these expectations) or just something high Fi or Fe types might pigeonhole as such due to projection, because they just can't fathom acting in such a way in a billion years, or they feel if they acted that way, they would be doing so due to some form of narcissism.

[JungyesMBTIno]

Also, when you think about it, nothing about EDs or self-harm inherently reflects anything related to cognitive functions - cognitive functions are not the same as motivations. I've just never heard of any incidences of self-destruction in my life that ever particularly reflected cognitive function positions - the "why" the person might resort to this might, in extremely vague and not all-encompassing ways, give some insight into a person's type - I mean, I've heard of alcoholic Si dominants, alcoholic Se terts, ISFP cutters, INTJ cutters, etc. As I said before, how they handle this or how this "helps" them might reflect type more, but it's really mostly dependent on the individual. I mean, Jung did study stuff like this, and he didn't really find many correlations so far as I know. It was really the problems that gave him insight into the existence of personality types and the nature of them, rather than the types that gave him much insight into type-correlative problems. If there are some correlations, they are probably very very very vague.