# How do I willingly use Extroverted Sensing?



## Poptart (Jan 24, 2012)

Hey, so I'm an ISTP but for the past 5 years I have suffered from a condition called Depersonalization Disorder, which seems like it is almost a complete lack of an objective sensory function. I no longer relate to the descriptions of Se - in fact, my external world looks 2-dimensional like I'm watching it on a movie screen. I used to have raw sensory input where I could feel the weights & pressures of objects around me and it was clearly a world high in Se. I want to know how to engage this function willingly, to perhaps cure my disorder. I miss the way life used to be. Anyone have a method?


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## VioletEvergarden (May 10, 2011)

Play video games.


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## monemi (Jun 24, 2013)

My suggestion is therapy.


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## athenian200 (Oct 13, 2008)

Poptart said:


> Hey, so I'm an ISTP but for the past 5 years I have suffered from a condition called Depersonalization Disorder, which seems like it is almost a complete lack of an objective sensory function. I no longer relate to the descriptions of Se - in fact, my external world looks 2-dimensional like I'm watching it on a movie screen. I used to have raw sensory input where I could feel the weights & pressures of objects around me and it was clearly a world high in Se. I want to know how to engage this function willingly, to perhaps cure my disorder. I miss the way life used to be. Anyone have a method?


From what I'm reading, it sounds almost like you're locked in a rather EXTREME Ti-Ni loop. 

I imagine that since you know what the disorder is called, you're already in therapy, right? If you're not, I would agree that you should consider getting professional help.



> The core symptom of depersonalization disorder is the subjective experience of "unreality in one's sense of self",[9] and as such there are no clinical signs. People who are diagnosed with depersonalization also experience an almost uncontrollable urge to question and think about the nature of reality and existence as well as other deeply philosophical questions.[8]
> 
> Individuals who experience depersonalization can feel divorced from their own personal physicality by sensing their body sensations, feelings, emotions and behaviors as not belonging to the same person or identity.


I was a bit like this when I was a teenager, but I've gotten better. I don't think it was ever this extreme, though. I wasn't that way as a young child, and I haven't been this way for a few years now.

Here are some somatic tricks I've used to "ground" myself a bit.

First of all, touch objects a lot. When I felt really "out of it," sometimes I would just stop, look for a surface (such as a brick wall), and stop to stare at every detail of it as I carefully felt the bumps/textures on it, trying to line up what my vision was telling me, what my touch was telling me, and my kinesthetic sense of my body's position in space. That can help me "snap out" of something like that on a bad day.

Also, I sometimes carefully jab myself with a mechanical pencil or other semi-sharp object. A very slight jolt of pain can help shock me into staying awake and focused. It's more effective if you use a sensitive area, like your palm, the upper thigh, your chest, or the bottom of your foot, but try not to injure yourself in the process.

I also find that taking a shower, or standing in the wind or a fan is very helpful. Having something like water or air flow past you is the key here, and it works better the more of your skin you can expose to the stimuli. 

If you really want to work with it on multiple levels at once, you can also go to the beach, or some place with mud. Try to build things like sand castles with your hands and feet. Get into sand/mud fights with other people, perhaps. Deliberately get dirty and make a mess of yourself while working the mud/sand into shapes. Things like that. I've never needed to go quite this far, but I'm fairly positive it would work.

Another thing that you can do, but which I tend not to do... is put yourself in a situation where you have to react quickly. Preferably a situation where, if you don't react fast enough, you'll experience pain or danger. If that doesn't shock you out of your head and into your environment, nothing will.


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## Poptart (Jan 24, 2012)

@delphi367 Thanks for the reply and for the suggestions. You actually researched the disorder which is awesome. Yes, I've been formally diagnosed and I see a psychiatrist every month, however there is no form of therapy that is recommended or known to be successful in treating this. There are also no medical approaches besides some experimental drugs that still have quite a low success rate. 
Yes I would also compare it to an extreme Ti-Ni loop. It's a definite lack of Se. I just analyze stuff philosophically all day and have no sense of connection to space or time, or other people. 
I will try some of your suggestions.


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## rubber soul (Sep 14, 2010)

Exercise?


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