I'm living life from a third person perspective

[Fuent]

I feel as if I'm living life from a third person perspective. Not literally of course, but that statement is the closest to the feeling i could get. Does this resonate with anyone else? Does anyone else feel similarly?

I think it has to do with the way Ni makes me look at the world.

[YourLocalJesus]

It's an INTP thing, i've heard. Or maybe NT, i've experienced it a few times, and if i've done something important I always think of it in a very detached manner.

[Enyo]

Been there, done that. But usually that level of detachment for me comes with mild depression.

[Edahn]

Sometimes I do and I enjoy it because it fosters insight, but other times I wonder if it's a result of me retreating from my experience and taking shelter in my mind. Over time, that can leave me feeling very hollow, so I try and maintain some balance.

[ajblaise]

I sway in and out of it. Don't see it as a bad thing. I've had some of my best business venture ideas when in a detached state...great for insight, creativity, and perspective.

[FDG]

It happens to me when I do not get enough real-world action (last time I got it was after a 3-day-session of study for my last exam of my BS). It's a strange feeling I deeply dislike, and I tend to associate it with depression.

[YourLocalJesus]

The depression part might explain a few things, since the ENTJ shadow type is INTP, and this trait is usually assosciated with them.

[Athenian200]

The depression part might explain a few things, since the ENTJ shadow type is INTP, and this trait is usually assosciated with them.

ENTJs shadow type is ISFP according to normal MBTI.

If you use Beebe's definition of the shadow, you'd get ESFJ as the shadow. In Beebe's system, the Ti and Ne functions would be the 5th and 6th shadow processes (respectively) for an ENTJ, but the actual "shadow type" would not be INTP.

[Modern Nomad]

that must be so cool... like a video game

[Lexlike]

that must be so cool... like a video game

But it is not actually really cool. I dont not think i m always in a third person perspective but its most of the time.

[Gen]

Everyone always tells me to stop observing and join life. Its typical with Enneagram 5s, too.

[spirilis]

It happens to me when I do not get enough real-world action (last time I got it was after a 3-day-session of study for my last exam of my BS). It's a strange feeling I deeply dislike, and I tend to associate it with depression.

ya, same here, it happens to me frequently ... feels like a mild depression. Whenever I get out and go somewhere, or do something moderately intense with other people around (preferably people who aren't depressing or stressing to be around), it goes away. I think it's like atrophy of the senses.

[Jack Flak]

I often get locked into some mental exploit like net-heading, reading, or fantasizing, and forget the real world exists, but I don't think I ever feel as if I'm a character in my own life. I am my mind, first person all the way.

[Gen]

I often get locked into some mental exploit like net-heading, reading, or fantasizing, and forget the real world exists, but I don't think I ever feel as if I'm a character in my own life. I am my mind, first person all the way.

There's two ways to take it really. There's the way people mean it when they say that I'm observing, which just means I'm being too passive and then there's the other, disassociated feeling. When I'm really really tired or really really stressed or depressed I'll get that too. You know you're not obviously, but its a very strange detached from the world feeling.

Depersonalization disorder - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Depersonalization_disorder)

[Kora]

It happens when you feel depressed. It's like you're watching the movie of your own life, and you have no control over what happens.
Maybe you could try to check the root of that.

[Mondo]

I'd agree with many of the others here.
This mindset is most often associated with depression or social anxiety.

[Lexlike]

I'd agree with many of the others here.
This mindset is most often associated with depression or social anxiety.

I guess its true, but aren´t INxx types prone of depression??

[Royal Xavier]

Sometimes I try to look at things from a third-person perspective if I'm in an unpleasant or stressful situation that I don't want to experience...

By the way, shouldn't this thread be called, "He's living life from a third person perspective"?
(Sorry, couldn't resist.)

[Lexlike]

Depersonalization disorder - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Depersonalization_disorder)

Fck. I read that stuff. Most of us have never been sexually abused as young ones.... or stuff like that
propably its an intuitive think that we always see (bad) possibilities (in social interactions) that can turn to anxiety and cause to much stress on our nervsystem and we loose touch of reality.

[Evan]

Yeah, I definitely get the whole third person perspective thing. The more depressed I get, the more detached I get. It makes sense as a coping strategy, especially for people that had a childhood where they didn't feel safe. But now it's not a good strategy anymore, and we all have to learn to work on it...

[Grayscale]

I feel as if I'm living life from a third person perspective.

dont you mean "he"?

[spirilis]

Stumbled across something while reading Gen's link above-

Dissociation (psychology - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dissociation_(psychology))
Carl Jung described pathological manifestations of dissociation as special or extreme cases of the normal operation of the psyche. This structural dissociation, opposing tension, and hierarchy of basic attitudes and functions in normal individual consciousness is the basis of Jung's Psychological Types.[5] He theorized that dissociation is a natural necessity for consciousness to operate in one faculty unhampered by the demands of its opposite.

I'd say that may account for a lot of the "dissociation" I experience, as the bulk of it happens during periods of sustained analytical thought, where I feel dissociated from my emotions and usually put on a rather emotionally-barren facade to people around me.

[substitute]

Yep. There was a big thread (might've been in the spirituality forum) called 'Do you ever...?' where lots of N's talked about how ethereal they felt, like they weren't really 'here' in their lives, but somehow disconnected. I don't think anyone thought of putting it like that though, nice one :)

[Fuent]

Sometimes I try to look at things from a third-person perspective if I'm in an unpleasant or stressful situation that I don't want to experience...

By the way, shouldn't this thread be called, "He's living life from a third person perspective"?
(Sorry, couldn't resist.)

Omg you're hilarious. Like a stand up comic. Can i be your groupie?

[Fuent]

dont you mean "he"?

Damn you guys are funny.

[Fuent]

Stumbled across something while reading Gen's link above-

Dissociation (psychology - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dissociation_(psychology))


I'd say that may account for a lot of the "dissociation" I experience, as the bulk of it happens during periods of sustained analytical thought, where I feel dissociated from my emotions and usually put on a rather emotionally-barren facade to people around me.

Right on man. I don't really mind the disassociation. It gives me an ability to think outside the box that people are thinking in since I'm "observing" for lack of a better term (anyone wanna make one up?). You get a sense of what's really going on and all the ambiguities in perception that arise. It can be frustrating sometimes though when you have to make an interaction decision cause now with all that extra knowledge it's not like you can just be impulsive.

I'm really good at pretending to be interested and following conversations and doing all the appropriate facial expressions and tonations and such as i analyze though. It seems like I'm participating but really I'm in my own head.

[Eric B]

ENTJs shadow type is ISFP according to normal MBTI.

If you use Beebe's definition of the shadow, you'd get ESFJ as the shadow. In Beebe's system, the Ti and Ne functions would be the 5th and 6th shadow processes (respectively) for an ENTJ, but the actual "shadow type" would not be INTP.
If you take those four in the same order, they would be INTP. ESFJ would be all eight in the reverse order. I would say both are "shadow", for they both use the four ego-dystonic functions, though in different orders. In the older use, only the primary four in reverse order are the "shadow".

[sandwich]

I have little to add to discussion, but the thread title reminded me of this passage from The Dubliners:

He lived at a little distance from his body, regarding his own acts with doubtful side-glances. He had an odd autobiographical habit which led him to compose in his mind from time to time a short sentence about himself containing a subject in the third person and a predicate in the past tense.

[Jack Flak]

tag
You know, you can subscribe to threads without posting by using "Thread Tools" near the top-center of your preferred browser's window.

[Enjamin]

I tend to look at situations from the third person, especially when dealing with strong emotions. It's not something I choose to do, it just happens to make it easier for me to make a rational assessment. I'm not sure if this is what you mean but it's been described to me as "minor disassociation".

[babelfish]

Our mammalian neural programming has been growing more complex. Not only has cranial capacity been increasing, but it seems that even the degree of crosstalk between the two hemispheres has been increasing. The so-called "bicameral mind" may be scientifically controversial, but if humans 2,000 or 3,000 years ago did have less communication between the hemispheres, it is possible that their sense of self -- a single, fully intact sense of self -- was comparatively weak and they heard voices coming from within. Today's schizophrenics, or more technically multiple-personality disorders, may have similar characteristics. The sense of self -- the awareness of oneself -- is a complex phenomenon that evolved slowly. But it can be argued that to perceive the world in a logically coherent manner you need to possess logically coherent senses.

A sense of self, regardless of baser mammalian programming, would be a necessary condition to make scientific progress. A sense of detachment brought about by hallucinogens may be fascinating, but to the extent that these mental states interfere with our ability to function logically, the sense of detachment would be counterproductive. If hallucinogens can induce various mental states, it shows that we are electrochemical systems, but more importantly, it shows that such states are possible, but not 'normal'. Evolution has rooted out these states, which may once have been the norm! Evolution is moving us forward in a direction that is leading to greater intellectual capacity. Rather than reprogram ourselves by interfering with processes we do not understand, we could let evolution continue to move us forward through processes that have been highly successful to date.

[OneWithSoul]

I don't really know if I have ever felt like that, but sometimes I feel as though I'm not fully present, well..it's hard to explain, but that sometimes I am not fully self-aware of the present..

[Provoker]

I feel as if I'm living life from a third person perspective. Not literally of course, but that statement is the closest to the feeling i could get. Does this resonate with anyone else?

Funny that you mention that, I've often described my mind as a camera in the top corner of a room that looks at my body below it - as servent to the almighty brain.

[foodeater]

In a way.. not like other people are trying to guess, really. My body can go through the motions while I'm off doing my own thing in my head, but I'm still controlling my body and I know that. For repetitive actions I let my body take care of it though. For example, while you're walking you don't really think about walking, you just do it. You can easily multitask and talk or observe your surroundings and you forget about walking. That 'third person' feeling for me comes in when I let my body do too much for me. I nod along and mutter "yeah" during conversations too, but I don't focus on them. I might grab something they said or I saw and see where that takes me, or I might sit there and do nothing. I don't think it's really a disorder or necessarily a sign of depression.

[Misty_Mountain_Rose]

There's two ways to take it really. There's the way people mean it when they say that I'm observing, which just means I'm being too passive and then there's the other, disassociated feeling. When I'm really really tired or really really stressed or depressed I'll get that too. You know you're not obviously, but its a very strange detached from the world feeling.

Depersonalization disorder - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Depersonalization_disorder)


I think there is a difference between Depersonalization and the feeling that I think we're talking about here. It isn't (at least for me) so much as being in a 'dream' or state of denial, where it feels 'unreal', but more of a distancing of yourself from what is going on around you. I have had times where this went on for weeks, and it was usually when I was working through something in my head on a very deep level. Its kind of like driving somewhere and not really remembering stopping at red-lights, using turning signals or even really thinking of where you are going. I kind of go on auto-pilot, do the external things that need to be done with as little effort as possible because so much of me is dedicated to what is going on in my head.

Interestingly, I'm very good when I'm in this state. On the outside I still appear pretty normal, albiet maybe a bit quieter than normal.

[Fuent]

Funny that you mention that, I've often described my mind as a camera in the top corner of a room that looks at my body below it - as servent to the almighty brain.

My body is my mind's bitch.

[celiapleete]

I understand this. Sometimes I feel like I'm observing people I know as if I'm reading a book. Consequently, if I'm reading a book, I feel like the characters, if well-developed, are people I know. I have often thought about channelling this into actually writing, but in some cases I'm afraid to confront sadness in the past.

[zago]

I feel as if I'm living life from a third person perspective. Not literally of course, but that statement is the closest to the feeling i could get. Does this resonate with anyone else? Does anyone else feel similarly?

I think it has to do with the way Ni makes me look at the world.

Hm... according to zen, you live from a third person perspective even if you do something as simple as seeing yourself as "I" or your name.

[lorkan]

I've felt like this intense detachment myself. Usually I got into argument alot with friends and I always seemed to find logical answers to win, I thought It was my shadow ESTP popping cause of the depression. But maybe It was something else...?
Anyway. It really felt unworldy being in this state, I felt like an alien.

[Eryndil]

Sounds quite normal to me. Unless something particularly draws me in so that I am in the first person.