NFs(maybe SFs too?) and "emotional absorption"

[Dwigie]

I'm sure this must happen to a lot of you, for example you guys are witnessing a fight in the street and will feel uneasy for an hour or two even though you had nothing to do with the fight and might actually become agressive yourself in other to "purge" the emotion. You're pretty much like a sponge...
It's quite annoying actually, I remember watching a documentary where someone had been attacked and gotten his hand cut off by rebels in Haiti I believe I felt a weird sensation in my arm and was paranoid for the next four days o.o.
Or for example someone tells you about something painful and you get tingly all over, weak in the knees for example. Happens to me all the time, I saw three minutes of SAW III with a friend thinking: ha, I can handle it.
I still remember the scene....disgusting, I decided to stay away from violent and scary movies forever after that. Does anyone else have to literally shut themselves off from the world periodically before they lose their sanity?:)

[Leysing]

I normally don't react physically to practically anything... but if I see graphic depiction of violence, demorphisms or injuries I become pale and tingly and my heart starts racing and I start sweating and shivering.

I also have to stay very, very far away from violent movies. Horror is a big NO. :D

[disregard]

The more emotional someone else is, the less emotional I become. The less porous my sponge becomes.

[Usehername]

My ENFJ friend talks about this sponge sort of stuff and while I can conceptually understand it... I can't imagine being that affected by a movie or book, like she can.

[runvardh]

My ENFJ friend talks about this sponge sort of stuff and while I can conceptually understand it... I can't imagine being that affected by a movie or book, like she can.

It's as much a gift as it is a curse, it's why I don't read on the bus unless I'm wearing sunglasses :blush:

[InaF3157]

Yeah, I've known NFs who, for example, refused to watch violent or bloody films with me, and get in a bad mood if it ever does happen that we watched one. There is one who cannot see vomit or she will start retching. Yet she is not as bothered as I am by watching someone being bullied if she doesn't like the person.

[runvardh]

Yeah, I've known NFs who, for example, refused to watch violent or bloody films with me, and get in a bad mood if it ever does happen that we watched one. There is one who cannot see vomit or she will start retching. Yet she is not as bothered as I am by watching someone being bullied if she doesn't like the person.

Oh shit, I laugh during those... that might be a bad thing... :doh:

[InaF3157]

Yeah, that is pretty much her reaction unless it is someone she otherwise likes or is neutral about.

[runvardh]

*shrug* a lot of people laugh at Adam Sandler, I laugh at dipshits getting filled with hot lead *sigh* ><

[InaF3157]

Mean! I knew you guys weren't made of sugar and spice and everything nice. :tongue:

[runvardh]

Mean! I knew you guys weren't made of sugar and spice and everything nice. :tongue:

*shrug* I'm not a chick either so I tend to get away with it... :D

[InaF3157]

*shrug* I'm not a chick either so I tend to get away with it... :D

;)
I'm a chick, so I use that to explain why it upsets me when I'm supposed to be weak F. Who said gender stereotypes were a bad thing? :cheers: My friend? Well, she's just weird.

[Dwigie]

Mean! I knew you guys weren't made of sugar and spice and everything nice. :tongue:

Bwahaha, I do enjoy making my ennemies feel bad..makes me feel better:devil: I think we are keen on revenge, well maybe not all of us, just the evil nfs.

[Hang]

Empathy. Wedekit talked about it.

[InaF3157]

Bwahaha, I do enjoy making my ennemies feel bad..makes me feel better:devil: I think we are keen on revenge, well maybe not all of us, just the evil nfs.
Is that what your signature refers to? ;)
I think most people can sympathize with revenge, but I meant something different.

[PinkPiranha]

I'm sure this must happen to a lot of you, for example you guys are witnessing a fight in the street and will feel uneasy for an hour or two even though you had nothing to do with the fight and might actually become agressive yourself in other to "purge" the emotion. You're pretty much like a sponge...
It's quite annoying actually, I remember watching a documentary where someone had been attacked and gotten his hand cut off by rebels in Haiti I believe I felt a weird sensation in my arm and was paranoid for the next four days o.o.
Or for example someone tells you about something painful and you get tingly all over, weak in the knees for example. Happens to me all the time, I saw three minutes of SAW III with a friend thinking: ha, I can handle it.
I still remember the scene....disgusting, I decided to stay away from violent and scary movies forever after that. Does anyone else have to literally shut themselves off from the world periodically before they lose their sanity?:)

Speaking to an Fe-primary, it's a constant battle to shove other peoples' feelings OUT of my body. I consider myself to be resilient, not tough, so in no way can I stand around watching something horrible happen happen to another being without it doing significant psychological damage. I may remain calm and functional through something like a crisis, but not without severe fall-out later. It's much like being forced through sympathy pains for everyone's hypothetical pregnancy.

I can't watch realistic harm come to humans or animals. It goes into me like a knife. Real peril activates my rescuer. So no, I can't be exposed to such things on regular basis. I had an NT friend pitying me the other day because I have no choice about what emotions soak into me. Makes me feel like a walking target. That's why I require so much time to myself every day. Just off-loading/processing through what happened YESTERDAY.

[Dwigie]

Empathy. Wedekit talked about it.

Oh...so this post wasn't necessary ._.
Secretly I'm a wannabe T, then I could enjoy scary movies without having nightmares....xD. My t friends sure do :yes: I was always excited to go with them at first, I proposed the idea then I was too scared to do it again...kinda pathetic if you ask me :D

[runvardh]

Oh...so this post wasn't necessary ._.
Secretly I'm a wannabe T, then I could enjoy scary movies without having nightmares....xD. My t friends sure do :yes: I was always excited to go with them at first, I proposed the idea then I was too scared to do it again...kinda pathetic if you ask me :D

When you have the nightmares take control. Realize you're dreaming then start kicking the monster's ass. It's your dream, you're the one handing everyone their ass, not the other way around. :D

[Dwigie]

When you have the nightmares take control. Realize you're dreaming then start kicking the monster's ass. It's your dream, you're the one handing everyone their ass, not the other way around. :D

Actually looking back...I usually rarely have dreams unless something is bothering me. And usually they're nightmares for the most part! But I am wondering if there is a difference with display of emotion between enfx and inf because most people around me feel that I am unemotional when it's quite the opposite inside.:shock: Do you guys get that too? Only people very close to me are aware of that, the rest think of as very "t" (haha! yeah right...I wish though:smile:)

[Ilah]

I am not an F, type but this happens to me as well.

I do have a fairly high Fi though. My Fe on the other hand is really low.

It doesn't happen all the time, but I find that emotions are "sticky" with me sometimes. By sticky I mean that if I put the book down or turn the TV off my emotional reaction lingers. Sometimes for hours or even days. My problem is not so much violent things but things that are sad, people dying, relationships ending, some personal tragedy.

I hear other women talking about loving sad movies, because they cry, but after that they feel better. They have catharsis. If I cry, either because of a movie or book or because something in my life is sad, I don't feel better afterward.

Books tend to do it for me more that TV. Especially if it is a series and I have "known" the characters for several books.

In general, I tend to experience a high level of emotion when I read. I never understood people who say that staying at home reading is "boring" because for me it is often an emotional rollercoaster.

Ilah

[Leysing]

Actually looking back...I usually rarely have dreams unless something is bothering me. And usually they're nightmares for the most part! But I am wondering if there is a difference with display of emotion between enfx and inf because most people around me feel that I am unemotional when it's quite the opposite inside.:shock: Do you guys get that too? Only people very close to me are aware of that, the rest think of as very "t" (haha! yeah right...I wish though:smile:)

The few people with whom I have discussed MBTI irl haven't believed that I'm an F. :doh:

[Dwigie]

I am not an F, type but this happens to me as well.

I do have a fairly high Fi though. My Fe on the other hand is really low.

It doesn't happen all the time, but I find that emotions are "sticky" with me sometimes. By sticky I mean that if I put the book down or turn the TV off my emotional reaction lingers. Sometimes for hours or even days. My problem is not so much violent things but things that are sad, people dying, relationships ending, some personal tragedy.

I hear other women talking about loving sad movies, because they cry, but after that they feel better. They have catharsis. If I cry, either because of a movie or book or because something in my life is sad, I don't feel better afterward.

Books tend to do it for me more that TV. Especially if it is a series and I have "known" the characters for several books.

In general, I tend to experience a high level of emotion when I read. I never understood people who say that staying at home reading is "boring" because for me it is often an emotional rollercoaster.

Ilah
That's interesting, I don't experience that "catharsis" either, it's more like a lingering panic/happy/sad etc.. feeling but then again my T is pretty high. Leysing, what do they think you are?

[Leysing]

Leysing, what do they think you are?

INTP or INTJ.

:huh:

[Usehername]

INTP or INTJ.

:huh:

When I very first started to learn about MBTI, I thought my INFP bro was an INTP. He's a math whiz and very nerdy, though, so it sorta makes sense in retrospect with limited MBTI knowledge.

[littledarling]

I have noticed that I tend to take on what other people are feeling. Especially those who I consider to be very close to. Also, these strong feelings often show up as physical symptoms, much like any sort of conflict does.

[ixquic_creation]

I think I've developed a pretty decent filter for this type of stuff. I do get sad, but I manage to block the pain out.

If it is a close friend, I empathize, completely. But... I manage to withdraw inside myself and still remain objective.

However...

Books. Books do it for me.

For example: Fourth grade. I was reading "Summer of My German Soldier" during reading time. Anton died and I started sobbing. The entire class looked at me as though I had sprouted an extra head. No one understood that it was the book that did it to me.

For example: Earlier this year. (I'm 20 years old, currently.) I read "Stranger in a Strange Land" (finally). One of the main characters dies at the end. It's three in the morning, I'm sitting on the couch in the living room. I burst into tears and start shouting "No! No! No!" over and over again. I wake up my brother, who thinks something horrid has just happened. I calm down... only to burst into tears again because the ending is so beautiful.

[Leysing]

When I very first started to learn about MBTI, I thought my INFP bro was an INTP. He's a math whiz and very nerdy, though, so it sorta makes sense in retrospect with limited MBTI knowledge.

Yes... I can clearly see the reasons to the mistypings - my Ti happens to be rather strong, too. It's just rather amusing in the sense that in the end I'm very F. :D

[Little Linguist]

It depends.

[Hang]

Oh...so this post wasn't necessary ._.
Secretly I'm a wannabe T, then I could enjoy scary movies without having nightmares....xD. My t friends sure do :yes: I was always excited to go with them at first, I proposed the idea then I was too scared to do it again...kinda pathetic if you ask me :D

I can be a T wanna-be at times. But watching scary movies without getting scared, I don't think that's a T trait, it could be any. I'm just saying, I like how Widekit put it to words. Nothing towards you.

[Hang]

When you have the nightmares take control. Realize you're dreaming then start kicking the monster's ass. It's your dream, you're the one handing everyone their ass, not the other way around. :D


I could actually do that. But I only do it without realizing it. And my subconscience is being jacked up with caffiene and sugar, very hard to control dreams.

[Snail]

I'm sure this must happen to a lot of you, for example you guys are witnessing a fight in the street and will feel uneasy for an hour or two even though you had nothing to do with the fight and might actually become agressive yourself in other to "purge" the emotion. You're pretty much like a sponge...
It's quite annoying actually, I remember watching a documentary where someone had been attacked and gotten his hand cut off by rebels in Haiti I believe I felt a weird sensation in my arm and was paranoid for the next four days o.o.
Or for example someone tells you about something painful and you get tingly all over, weak in the knees for example. Happens to me all the time, I saw three minutes of SAW III with a friend thinking: ha, I can handle it.
I still remember the scene....disgusting, I decided to stay away from violent and scary movies forever after that. Does anyone else have to literally shut themselves off from the world periodically before they lose their sanity?:)


Yes. I am exactly the same way. I mostly just avoid movies now for fear of panic attacks. Even non-violent movies that have cruel characters who say mean or unfair things can get to me. Unexpected scenes sometimes do it, like in "The Last Supper," when the first evil person is invited to dinner and starts being an asshole, the one they kill in self-defense before they start poisoning people, I started screaming and shaking and had to smoke half of a pack of cigarettes to stop crying over the thought that there are actually people in the world who might be like that and might have such horribly unfair ideas. I just went into a blind panic and started screaming
"Kill him, just kill him!!! Oh please kill that motherf*cking c*cks*cking as*hole!!!! Kill him now!!!" even though I consider myself a pacifist in real life and don't even squish bugs. It was like all of the pain of the injustices of the entire world came out of me all at once. I couldn't sing for over a week because I had damaged my voice, and I'm not sure it ever fully recovered. Some notes still have a roughness to them. Certain kinds of violence bother me more than others, and usually it is worse when I can relate to the character being victimized. I didn't know I carried so much rage inside until that incident, because I make a huge effort to be forgiving to everyone who hurts me in real life. I was so terrified of that character's attitudes that my fight response kicked in, which is unusual. It is more normal for me to want to run away from real conflict. It was still a fear response, but since my fear rarely comes out in that form, it was a bit overwhelming.

[PinkPiranha]

I am not an F, type but this happens to me as well.

I do have a fairly high Fi though. My Fe on the other hand is really low.

It doesn't happen all the time, but I find that emotions are "sticky" with me sometimes. By sticky I mean that if I put the book down or turn the TV off my emotional reaction lingers. Sometimes for hours or even days. My problem is not so much violent things but things that are sad, people dying, relationships ending, some personal tragedy.

I hear other women talking about loving sad movies, because they cry, but after that they feel better. They have catharsis. If I cry, either because of a movie or book or because something in my life is sad, I don't feel better afterward.

Books tend to do it for me more that TV. Especially if it is a series and I have "known" the characters for several books.

In general, I tend to experience a high level of emotion when I read. I never understood people who say that staying at home reading is "boring" because for me it is often an emotional rollercoaster.

Ilah

I cried when Porthos was killed in "The Man in the Iron Mask". In fact, I couldn't forgive Dumas for doing it. I felt better only after I read that he cried over Porthos too.

[CharmedFantasy]

hmm :o seems most NFs on here don't really like scary movies then? I actually enjoy weird/bizarre/scary/suspense/murder films(because the stories are usually very different than other regular movies). I seek them out and especially think it's great idea watching them in the movie theaters because it makes it even more scary, better with the surround sound, big picture, and darkness! >.> I do get scared sometimes but I like to scare myself anyways lol. :/ I think I get more involved in love,tragedy, happy stories(movie or book)... I'm really sensitive and will cry if something really touches me(usually if someone I like dies, unhappy ending, confessions).. It's weird, it's like I put myself in their perspective and I almost feel how they are feeling so I get all emotional. o.o one time I watched a movie about a couple, and one of the lover died saving the other.. I bawled like a baby lol.. You know that book, Where the Red Fern Grows? I cried at the end, D: when the two dogs died.. because I felt like the boy and their relationship was so close, so sad that he lost them.

[PinkPiranha]

Where The Red Fern Grows has officially destroyed everyone. lol A very VERY sad book.

[animenagai]

man, i can't say how much i agree with this thread. i like being happy, i like being happy all the time. however, whenever something sad happens to me, someone i know, whatever it is i get emotionally wrapped up. all i can think about will be those mean words that somebody said or why the two characters couldn't have a happy ending. SF's can get very emotional indeed but i DISAGREE that they get the same kind of involvement the NF's do (unfortunately perhaps for us). SF's from my own observation get wrapped up only about themselves or people really close to them. if they see a beggar on the streets or see something sad on TV, they would not think twice about it.

[ixquic_creation]

Where The Red Fern Grows has officially destroyed everyone. lol A very VERY sad book.


It murdered me.

[SquirrelTao]

This actually doesn't happen to me. But I wonder if something like it is what actors and actresses use to get into their roles. I think it's cool, provided you can swim in it instead of drowning.

I like horror movies. I see them as being about the secrets we keep from ourselves and/or that society keeps from us.

[Tropics]

I stay away from horror and movies that involve violence, it's too much. I also absorb peoples emotions like a sponge. It can be quite exhausting. I remember as a child if another child started crying or was in pain. I'd start crying too like it was happening to me! It's been like this my whole life. It seems impossible to change but my nerves could really use a break! Books also get to me too, sometimes I cry for characters like they were real people if something bad happens. Feelings rule me. Oh well.....

[animenagai]

hmm :o seems most NFs on here don't really like scary movies then? I actually enjoy weird/bizarre/scary/suspense/murder films(because the stories are usually very different than other regular movies). I seek them out and especially think it's great idea watching them in the movie theaters because it makes it even more scary, better with the surround sound, big picture, and darkness! >.> I do get scared sometimes but I like to scare myself anyways lol. :/ I think I get more involved in love,tragedy, happy stories(movie or book)... I'm really sensitive and will cry if something really touches me(usually if someone I like dies, unhappy ending, confessions).. It's weird, it's like I put myself in their perspective and I almost feel how they are feeling so I get all emotional. o.o one time I watched a movie about a couple, and one of the lover died saving the other.. I bawled like a baby lol.. You know that book, Where the Red Fern Grows? I cried at the end, D: when the two dogs died.. because I felt like the boy and their relationship was so close, so sad that he lost them.

i think ENF's get emotionally drowned and they don't like it. INF's are attracted to sad things because of it.

talking bout scary movies, i do have examples on just how bad we can be. i hate scary movies. i don't understand the point of paying that money just so you can be scared. i remember being peer pressured into watching i am legend (which isn't even a horror film really) with my friends. the group was an ENFP (me), an ISFP, an ESFP and an ENFJ. we're a laid back, fun loving, spontaneous group as you may tell, so during the movie, we were all cracking jokes.

at the beginning of the movie, we were all cracking jokes. all 4 of us. it wasn't really scary just kinda interesting. but by the end of the movie, it was only the SP's that were talking. why's that? because me and the ENFJ were too busy 'jumping' from the zombie lookalikes breaking roofs and such. the SP's were used to it. they're detached and those things don't phase them much. the ENFJ pretended that he wasn't scared, but we knew better :D. i just admitted it. scary movies and ENF's just don't mix :blush:

[proteanmix]

man, i can't say how much i agree with this thread. i like being happy, i like being happy all the time. however, whenever something sad happens to me, someone i know, whatever it is i get emotionally wrapped up. all i can think about will be those mean words that somebody said or why the two characters couldn't have a happy ending. SF's can get very emotional indeed but i DISAGREE that they get the same kind of involvement the NF's do (unfortunately perhaps for us). SF's from my own observation get wrapped up only about themselves or people really close to them. if they see a beggar on the streets or see something sad on TV, they would not think twice about it.

Wow you could not be more wrong.

I imagine that SF's probably feel a keener sense of urgency to actually DO something instead of feeling their pain but doing nothing because of passive idealism.

[heart]

man, i can't say how much i agree with this thread. i like being happy, i like being happy all the time. however, whenever something sad happens to me, someone i know, whatever it is i get emotionally wrapped up. all i can think about will be those mean words that somebody said or why the two characters couldn't have a happy ending. SF's can get very emotional indeed but i DISAGREE that they get the same kind of involvement the NF's do (unfortunately perhaps for us). SF's from my own observation get wrapped up only about themselves or people really close to them. if they see a beggar on the streets or see something sad on TV, they would not think twice about it.

This is not true at all from my own experience with SF.

[animenagai]

really guys? i'm keen to hear it. my ESFP friend has often blew of homeless guys looking for change, he teased me during primary school without feeling remorse... the list goes on and all this is justified to him because they're not close to him (or they weren't in my case).

it's kinda the same for my ISFP friend. makes fun of people he doesn't know all the time eg. people in McD's, people on the streets, you know the deal. people who are really close to him though? no way.

if you want to say that teasing is different from being 'emotionally absorbed' i have seen them laugh at people who are in sticky situations too. it just doesn't seem to phase them.

[proteanmix]

really guys? i'm keen to hear it. my ESFP friend has often blew of homeless guys looking for change, he teased me during primary school without feeling remorse... the list goes on and all this is justified to him because they're not close to him (or they weren't in my case).

it's kinda the same for my ISFP friend. makes fun of people he doesn't know all the time eg. people in McD's, people on the streets, you know the deal. people who are really close to him though? no way.

if you want to say that teasing is different from being 'emotionally absorbed' i have seen them laugh at people who are in sticky situations too. it just doesn't seem to phase them.

You're basing a comment of that magnitude on your two SF friends? LOL.

This is why I hate threads like this.

"NFs do you feel the rain on your cheeks?" And then a chorus of replies responding, Yes, Yes I do!! And I was moved to tear so that the rain and the tears mingled so that I could no longer tell the difference!

[Brendan]

I'm sure this must happen to a lot of you, for example you guys are witnessing a fight in the street and will feel uneasy for an hour or two even though you had nothing to do with the fight and might actually become agressive yourself in other to "purge" the emotion. You're pretty much like a sponge...
It's quite annoying actually, I remember watching a documentary where someone had been attacked and gotten his hand cut off by rebels in Haiti I believe I felt a weird sensation in my arm and was paranoid for the next four days o.o.
Or for example someone tells you about something painful and you get tingly all over, weak in the knees for example. Happens to me all the time, I saw three minutes of SAW III with a friend thinking: ha, I can handle it.
I still remember the scene....disgusting, I decided to stay away from violent and scary movies forever after that. Does anyone else have to literally shut themselves off from the world periodically before they lose their sanity?:)
I experience things like that whenever someone relates the experience of physical pain, mostly extreme but sometimes minor. It's very evident when we're talking about prolonged pain though.

Today, as a matter of fact, a co-worker in his 60's had taken off his neoprene knee brace and left it on a table. The knee brace itself gave me chills. The coworker in question was nowhere in my immediate vicinity. Looking at the scar from my mother's knee replacement will give me chills as well.

[animenagai]

You're basing a comment of that magnitude on your two SF friends? LOL.

This is why I hate threads like this.

"NFs do you feel the rain on your cheeks?" And then a chorus of replies responding, Yes, Yes I do!! And I was moved to tear so that the rain and the tears mingled so that I could no longer tell the difference!

well i can't talk too much out of my own experiences now can i? and plus, same MBTI types have a shocking amount of similarities across the board. i wouold aprreciate it if you could give me some examples of your own experiences or quote some literature rather than just continually say "no you're full of shit". :blush:

[disregard]

well i can't talk too much out of my own experiences now can i? and plus, same MBTI types have a shocking amount of similarities across the board. i wouold aprreciate it if you could give me some examples of your own experiences or quote some literature rather than just continually say "no you're full of shit". :blush:

The emotional absorption in the OP is not the same kind of emotional absorption you cited in your post.

The OP was referring to being like an emotional sponge.. you related to us how your SF friends are "emotionally absorbed".. There is a big difference.

[animenagai]

The emotional absorption in the OP is not the same kind of emotional absorption you cited in your post.

The OP was referring to being like an emotional sponge.. you related to us how your SF friends are "emotionally absorbed".. There is a big difference.

elaborate, don't sponges absorb? :D do you mean that one would just find emotional triggers in everything and that the other one just can't find a way out of it?

[disregard]

The OP was talking about how she absorbs the emotions of others.. the stories you told were more indicative of "self-absorption". Pretty much the opposite of being an emotional sponge.

[heart]

I have an ISFP friend who can barely stand to watch the evening news because she feels too deeply about what she sees and feels powerless to help so many people. It's just wrong to assume that SF cannot feel for strangers. I'm sure we can draw up examples of selfish people from all the types.

[animenagai]

I have an ISFP friend who can barely stand to watch the evening news because she feels too deeply about what she sees and feels powerless to help so many people. It's just wrong to assume that SF cannot feel for strangers. I'm sure we can draw up examples of selfish people from all the types.

okay, i can accept that. i apologize for jumping to conclusions.

[locke]

I haven't seen many horror movies and generally try to avoid them. Like the Saw movies? I haven't seen them but I've heard about them. Just the premise behind them creeps me out. Putting people into traps and forcing them to make impossible decisions. That freaks me out even more than the violence I think. I didn't like 1984 for the same reason (Room 101). But there are some horror movies I can handle. Army of Darkness I liked (haven't seen the other Evil Dead movies) and this (http://www.repo-opera.com) (** WARNING GRAPHIC LINK **) looks cool, which oddly enough is by the same guys who made the Saw movies. It's like a modern Rocky Horror Picture Show. I guess I can handle horror if the weirdness out-factors the scary. I prefer scary music to scary movies.

[stopandstare]

Its funny, I just posted a comment about my aversion to a movie called Wolf Creek in another thread here a few minutes ago... its one of those abduction/torture movies based on real events and has really affected me quite badly - to the extent that I'm not sure if I will ever be able to visit Australia!

I also tend to feel any kind of pain from descriptions & graphics - like my sister is a nurse & often describes some of the things she does and I go weak at the knees - I pray god that I will never need a cessarian section after her describing it... **insides cringing at the thought**

Then on the other hand - when the pain is actually happening to me - I'm quite strong... I was very accident prone early in life and the horrible things that happened to me didn't phase me - but show me the sight of someone elses blood or suffering and I am out cold or upset lol!

[Dwigie]

Proteanmix,"NFS(maybe SFs too?)", they are included.

[sciski]

Emotional absorption = emotional contagion, really.

Interestingly, of all the people I know, the one who most could not handle horror movies was my xSTJ ex-housemate. She reacted very viscerally to graphic depictions of pain and actually would run out of the room because she said she could almost feel it happening to her. So this kind of empathy is not limited to Ns, or indeed, Fs.

As for emotional contagion, she was impervious to it, except where she saw examples of extreme injustice or unfairness being committed in the world - then she would get very upset.

[Dwigie]

Emotional absorption = emotional contagion, really.

Interestingly, of all the people I know, the one who most could not handle horror movies was my xSTJ ex-housemate. She reacted very viscerally to graphic depictions of pain and actually would run out of the room because she said she could almost feel it happening to her. So this kind of empathy is not limited to Ns, or indeed, Fs.

As for emotional contagion, she was impervious to it, except where she saw examples of extreme injustice or unfairness being committed in the world - then she would get very upset.

That's interesting, I know many Ts and they handle it well, guess it really depends on people then.

[InaF3157]

That's interesting, I know many Ts and they handle it well, guess it really depends on people then.

She's also a sensor. The images may resonate with her more concretely than with an N.

[sophiedoph]

This is a big problem for me at work. I am upset to distraction and find it difficult to focus when I know my boss (probably bipolar or borderline personality disorder) is upset with me. What makes her upset? Nothing, anything--she's very capricious, and has been upset with me generally for the past eight months. And when she's upset with someone (before me, it was another lawyer in the office who was bullied for almost a year until she finally left) nobody else in the office will speak to you for fear of being on her bad side too... you are isolated.

I try and try to turn off my "emotional absorption" but cannot. Everyone tells me to stop worrying, to stop thinking about it, but it's not like there's a switch!

[sophiedoph]

Re: horror/gory movies... my husband and I watch them almost every night. We make fun of them and predict who will die and how. (Sometimes we bet on this!) The exceptions--Saw and Hostel--just too... something. For some reason we draw the line there.

We rarely watch dramas though, they are often depressing.

[Dwigie]

yeah, I hate it when people tell me "get over it..let it go, it'll pass" I obsess over personal problems, can't help it, tried though.It's true I can stand violence to a certain extent, torture no...especially not the hostel/saw kind.That's just too gruesome for people, my other friend was laughing almost to tears next to me! Me and my other friend were a bit disturbed by that but oh well...everyone has their reactions I guess. It sucks that it's your boss :/...

[Hmm]

RE: emotional absorption. Perhaps you are an Empath, which there are varying degrees of.

[PinkPiranha]

I've been so upset and grieved that I've gone into black low laughter that won't stop. You know. The final straw? That's what overload looks like on me.

[sophiedoph]

RE: emotional absorption. Perhaps you are an Empath, which there are varying degrees of.

Are you referring to an Empath other than NF? Could you expound?

[Dwigie]

What I do find interesting is the difference in reaction people have to the same "stimuli". I'd say I have an average empathy level but I "digest" it differently than most people I know who get "highly" stimulated "(it seems at least.) but tend to forget about it way faster...or maybe I'm just obsessive :D.

[SaltyWench]

Oh...so this post wasn't necessary ._.
Secretly I'm a wannabe T, then I could enjoy scary movies without having nightmares....xD. My t friends sure do :yes: I was always excited to go with them at first, I proposed the idea then I was too scared to do it again...kinda pathetic if you ask me :D

Not all Ts like scary movies.

Anyway, I personally hate watching gory, bloody, scary or pathetically tragic and depressing stuff. I internalize it and analyze the **** out of it for a couple of days afterwards. Yuck. It would be more fun to eat 100 cloves of garlic and then sit and stew in my own sweat for a week.

[Dwigie]

Not all Ts like scary movies.

Anyway, I personally hate watching gory, bloody, scary or pathetically tragic and depressing stuff. I internalize it and analyze the **** out of it for a couple of days afterwards. Yuck. It would be more fun to eat 100 cloves of garlic and then sit and stew in my own sweat for a week.

My point wasn't that all Ts liked scary movies, just that they probably cope better with irrational fears (aka monsters etc..well that also has to do with maturity xD) because they're probably more likely to headtrip it. Actually what you said is exactly what I meant, you analyzed your fear rather than letting it get to you...I got traumatized by a scary movie and had to wait over two months or three. When I was a kid I wasn't scare, i didn't know what was going on it actually got worse as I grew older which doesn't make much sense :shock:but..That's when I drew the line.

[SaltyWench]

Actually what you said is exactly what I meant, you analyzed your fear rather than letting it get to you...

It still gets to me despite my near constant analysis of the plot, motivations of the characters... etc. Thinking on such horrible things is not a comfort, yet I am inexplicably compelled to see every angle of the plot, despite the fact that I hate every minute of it.

As a moth to flame.

[Dwigie]

I can completely relate to the...I still wanna watch part I always used to have wide open eyes and take in every scene, then regret it. After regretting over five times I decided to stop the self-torture.^^ The only movie that didn't scare me was the original version of dark water, it was just "gloomy" in my opinion.)I mean some movies are just bad and no one is scared of them and vice-versa.I heard the ring and the exorcist were pretty scary but I didn't touch that, I really wanted to though>.> .

[Hmm]

Are you referring to an Empath other than NF? Could you expound?

Empaths - Traits of an Empath (http://healing.about.com/cs/empathic/a/uc_empathtraits.htm)

[sophiedoph]

Thanks for the link. I'm familiar with HSP but hadn't heard of the Empath (outside of general empathy) before. That describes me to a T.

Now how to learn to cope in an environment filled with conflict? I just wish there was a way to turn it off.