ESTP: The ADHD Personality Type??

28102 Views 36 Replies 20 Participants Last post by OldGuyJoe, Sep 5, 2021

SunBum81

Discussion Starter · Aug 15, 2010

I was suprised when I got my MBTI results that alot of typical ESTP qualities were reasons I was diagnosed with ADHD (big emphasis on the H!!). Things like talkativeness, failure to follow through, excitability, poor attention to detail, etc. are typical of both. It made me wonder how much of the problem was ADHD and how much was just my care free ESTP personality

Has anyone else noticed or know of a correlation between personality type and certain disorders (like adhd or maybe ocd for some kind of SJ personality)?

1 - 20 of 37 Posts

njchick

· #2 · Aug 15, 2010

I have my own opinion on the whole ADHD theory but I most definitely could have been diagnosed as having it when I was a small child. Luckily for me, I grew up in the 70s-80s so it was unheard of.
I dealt with an eating disorder throughout high school with excessive excercise but I'm pretty sure it had more to do with a difficult experience I had gone through.
Depending on whose theory, Narcissistic Personality Disorder, Histronic personality disorder and Anti-social personality disorder are usually matched with ESTP.

See less See more

TreeBob

· #3 · Aug 16, 2010

Was there any thought given that maybe you aren't ESTP and that your ADHD is just making you test that? It is never recommended to do personality tests when you have present disorders.

Reactions: 3

Functianalyst

· #4 · Aug 17, 2010

I completely agree with Tree. Besides the characteristics Sun Bum gives, even if type related, do not all fit the ESTP types from my understanding. Some ESTPs would prefer to do than talk, lack of follow through goes against the core values of SPs in general, and there is so much inconsistency in whether they do or do not pay attention to detail. The traits could just as easily be ENP, but if a disorder has been diagnosed typing oneself is probably not wise.

See less See more

Reactions: 1

SunBum81

Discussion Starter · #5 · Aug 17, 2010

But if its a chronic disorder that you're born with (like ADHD), why would it matter as long as you answer honestly? Just because I have ADHD doesnt mean I don't have a personality. I guess I should have asked are some personalities more prone to developing certain disorders...

Reactions: 1

SunBum81

Discussion Starter · #6 · Aug 17, 2010

And haha i was just wondering about commonalities. I hope noone would try to diagnose themselves with anything based off a self report test alone!

TreeBob

· #7 · Aug 17, 2010

SunBum81 said:
But if its a chronic disorder that you're born with (like ADHD), why would it matter as long as you answer honestly? Just because I have ADHD doesnt mean I don't have a personality. I guess I should have asked are some personalities more prone to developing certain disorders...

I can't back this up but from personal experience and this forum I would say there is a greater potential for issues with NP types.

As for the answering honestly; you are answering as a person with a mental problem, it really isn't you. Say they found a cure or you finally took some drugs that fixed your ADHD. You would be a different person. ESTP are not hyper little bunnies. We are very relaxed people and our minds are actually really focused on certain tasks at hand. ESTP have lots of energy when we are doing something we enjoy. We are good multi-taskers but we usually concentrate on one thing at a time.

See less See more

Reactions: 2

Halla74

· #8 · Aug 17, 2010

TreeBob said:
I can't back this up but from personal experience and this forum I would say there is a greater potential for issues with NP types.

I've read before that the ENTP type was most likely a candidate for having ADHD-like issues.

It might have been Keirsey's work, I have to verify that...

TreeBob said:
As for the answering honestly; you are answering as a person with a mental problem, it really isn't you. Say they found a cure or you finally took some drugs that fixed your ADHD. You would be a different person. ESTP are not hyper little bunnies. We are very relaxed people and our minds are actually really focused on certain tasks at hand. ESTP have lots of energy when we are doing something we enjoy. We are good multi-taskers but we usually concentrate on one thing at a time.

Nicely stated.

We're frantic only when we need be, and otherwise laid back. Sounds right!

In general, I'm always thinking , always scheming, always taking things in, but I'm still always very attentive to what is going on in front of me. When I do things in a hurry it is because there is something else I'd rather be doing, so I close out the simple stuff so I can move on.

See less See more

SunBum81

Discussion Starter · #9 · Aug 17, 2010

Whoa its not really a mental problem as much as a learning disability. Its not like I snapped one day. I look at it more as a combination of personality traits than a "problem". I wasn't diagnosed with it until college because it didn't cause serious problems for me until I was living on my own. When you take medicine (unless your dosage is wrong) your personality doesn't suddenly change. After all, its just stimulants, they don't change your disposition, interests, or values. And they wear off. If they managed to "cure" it like you said, I'd just be able to listen/concentrate a little better. I have to disagree that I would be a different person. But you could be right about the NP types. I scored lowest on my S although I was extremelly high E, T, and P.

See less See more

Reactions: 1

SunBum81

Discussion Starter · #10 · Aug 17, 2010

Thanks Halla! Thats what I was curious about!

njchick

· #11 · Aug 17, 2010

SunBum81 said:
I was suprised when I got my MBTI results that alot of typical ESTP qualities were reasons I was diagnosed with ADHD (big emphasis on the H!!). Things like talkativeness, failure to follow through, excitability, poor attention to detail, etc. are typical of both. It made me wonder how much of the problem was ADHD and how much was just my care free ESTP personality
Has anyone else noticed or know of a correlation between personality type and certain disorders (like adhd or maybe ocd for some kind of SJ personality)?

I made the mistake of answering your post with the impression that you had ADHD as a small child. I realize from your recent post that you have it as an adult.
I certainly would never be described as hyper or excitable, nor would any other ESTP I know. As adults, most of our energy is in our brains, just like Halla said. As far as the follow through, I think it's quite the opposite, a healthy ESTP gets a lot done in a day. Granted we're like anyone else, if it doesn't interest or energize us we don't enjoy it.
I agree with the guys, ADD (talking adults only) is usually noticed more with the NP types.

See less See more

elvis2010

· #12 · Aug 18, 2010

SunBum81 said:
I wasn't diagnosed with it until college because it didn't cause serious problems for me until I was living on my own.

The cause of ADHD is low dopamine levels. See the link: PET scans show depressed dopamine activity in ADHD. - Free Online Library

When you see it in a child, the reason for the low dopamine is usually genetically they just don't make enough of it. However, in a college aged female, the first thing I think of that causes low dopamine is not ADHD but low iron levels. Iron is the building block of red blood cells, and practically every woman who is actively having periods is low in it.

See the link, Evidence links cellular iron deficiency to restless legs syndrome "Although this should result in more dopamine being made, in fact, the proper regulation of dopamine production is only possible with both active TH and adequate levels of iron."

TH is the enzyme that converts the amino acid tyrosine into dopamine. I have seen some women get a huge boost from tyrosine as well as iron.

A nutritionist told me that this type of iron does not cause the nausea that the more commonly prescribed iron sulfate does, Amazon.com: Thorne Research - Iron Picolinate (25 mg) - 60's: Health & Personal Care, and I have yet to see anyone get nauseated or constipated on it.

If you want to check for low iron, your doctor would order a complete blood count to check for anemia and a ferritin level. The goal for treating low iron is a ferritin level > 50. However, I rarely check the labs anymore because I can't recall seeing any meunstrating women with a ferritin > 50.

Besides the ADHD symptoms, you often see depression, hair falling out, cold intolerance, easy bruising, fingernails cracking off, and restless leg syndrome with low iron. Low iron actually helps with pain tolerance though.

The Ritlain type drugs (amphetamines) do increase dopamine, so you probably do feel better on them, but I see medicine being used way too often for problems with low iron. The worst is the depression. The Prozac type drugs used actually interfere with platelet function and that make the meunstral bleeding more severe. Doctors are supposed to rule out medical causes for depression and ADHD, but IMO they rarely do.

I think that personality types are related to our body's neurochemistry, and I think dopamine is the key as to whether someone is S or N. So in theory, I think it is possible that an ESTP low in iron could change from an ESTP to an ENTP and back again once proper iron/dopamine levels are restored.

See less See more

Reactions: 5

TreeBob

· #13 · Aug 18, 2010

elvis2010 said:
The cause of ADHD is low dopamine levels. See the link: PET scans show depressed dopamine activity in ADHD. - Free Online Library

When you see it in a child, the reason for the low dopamine is usually genetically they just don't make enough of it. However, in a college aged female, the first thing I think of that causes low dopamine is not ADHD but low iron levels. Iron is the building block of red blood cells, and practically every woman who is actively having periods is low in it.

See the link, Evidence links cellular iron deficiency to restless legs syndrome "Although this should result in more dopamine being made, in fact, the proper regulation of dopamine production is only possible with both active TH and adequate levels of iron."

TH is the enzyme that converts the amino acid tyrosine into dopamine. I have seen some women get a huge boost from tyrosine as well as iron.

A nutritionist told me that this type of iron does not cause the nausea that the more commonly prescribed iron sulfate does, Amazon.com: Thorne Research - Iron Picolinate (25 mg) - 60's: Health & Personal Care, and I have yet to see anyone get nauseated or constipated on it.

If you want to check for low iron, your doctor would order a complete blood count to check for anemia and a ferritin level. The goal for treating low iron is a ferritin level > 50. However, I rarely check the labs anymore because I can't recall seeing any meunstrating women with a ferritin > 50.

Besides the ADHD symptoms, you often see depression, hair falling out, cold intolerance, easy bruising, fingernails cracking off, and restless leg syndrome with low iron. Low iron actually helps with pain tolerance though.

The Ritlain type drugs (amphetamines) do increase dopamine, so you probably do feel better on them, but I see medicine being used way too often for problems with low iron. The worst is the depression. The Prozac type drugs used actually interfere with platelet function and that make the meunstral bleeding more severe. Doctors are supposed to rule out medical causes for depression and ADHD, but IMO they rarely do.

I think that personality types are related to our body's neurochemistry, and I think dopamine is the key as to whether someone is S or N. So in theory, I think it is possible that an ESTP low in iron could change from an ESTP to an ENTP and back again once proper iron/dopamine levels are restored.

Elvis, move to Canada. I need a doctor friend that is actually cool.

See less See more

Reactions: 1

elvis2010

· #14 · Aug 18, 2010

njchick said:
I dealt with an eating disorder throughout high school with excessive excercise but I'm pretty sure it had more to do with a difficult experience I had gone through.

What is interesting to me is that the act of upsetting the gastrointestinal tract cause a bump up in serotonin levels. The dirty little secret with bulimics then is the reason that they vomit initially may be to make themselves lose weight because of esteem issues, but after a while, they do it because it makes them feel good. That is why it is so dangerous.

See less See more

njchick

· #15 · Aug 18, 2010

Actually I was never bulimic, I was dealt with a couple of years of anorexia between the ages of 15-17. My mother sent me away for a summer and I received the help I needed from an expert. I never dealt with it again after that.

dagnytaggart

· #16 · Aug 21, 2010

SunBum81 said:
I was suprised when I got my MBTI results that alot of typical ESTP qualities were reasons I was diagnosed with ADHD (big emphasis on the H!!). Things like talkativeness, failure to follow through, excitability, poor attention to detail, etc. are typical of both. It made me wonder how much of the problem was ADHD and how much was just my care free ESTP personality
Has anyone else noticed or know of a correlation between personality type and certain disorders (like adhd or maybe ocd for some kind of SJ personality)?

Wouldn't ESTPs pay great attention to detail? You're Sensors! You're always aware, in the moment. Not dreaming up STDs for birds like me. :crazy:

That said, ADHD would prob be common-er for ExxP types in general.

See less See more

elvis2010

· #17 · Aug 27, 2010

njchick said:
Actually I was never bulimic, I was dealt with a couple of years of anorexia between the ages of 15-17. My mother sent me away for a summer and I received the help I needed from an expert. I never dealt with it again after that.

I am glad to hear the issue was short lived. Anorexia can be a terrible problem. You may be interested in this link:BBC News | Health | Genetic clues to eating disorders

"People with high levels of serotonin are prone to anxiety.

Dr Janet Treasure, director of the eating disorders unit at the Maudsley, believes this could be behind anorexic patients' ability to suppress appetite.

She said: "In anorexia nervosa the drive to eat can be inhibited, but we know that in normal people who are starved they will kill each other and do all sorts of morally repugnant things, and eat all sorts of foodstuffs that you wouldn't normally touch."

"Yet that doesn't happen in anorexia nervosa, so there's some aspect of the appetite system that isn't working."

It's interesting to me how people do respond to stress and eating. I eat more when I am stressed, but I know several other people who eat less, and it looks like the reason why is serotonin.

See less See more

Reactions: 1

njchick

· #18 · Aug 27, 2010 (Edited)

Interesting article Elvis. I said it was 15-17 but it actually started around 14 years of age. I found this interesting:

"It is possible that anorexic people are chronically in an acute state of stress reaction - they are constantly in a fight or flight state of mind."
I would say this sums up my feelings during those years.

I'm not so sure I believe it's solely a physical disorder. The place I went to treated it as a psychological disorder stemming from a need to take control of something, proving to yourself that you have "full control" even of your own temptations. I can remember being sickened by watching people indulge in food during those years. Like they were disgusting and didn't have any self control. I also had a fear of not being beautiful, something I still deal with. I was constantly told how pretty I was when I was young which just fueled this fear, as I had a strong desire to be loved by everyone.

See less See more

sarek

· #19 · Aug 27, 2010

AD/HD is genetically caused. There are several variants. Hyperactivity is not nearly always prevalent. It tends to be less important in adults and in everyone diagnosed with combined type ADD or primarily inattentive ADD.

Also be very aware of all conditions that mimic ADD. There are over fifty known conditions including depression, bipolar disorder and Asperger's that mimic part of the symptoms. Misdiagnosing is a very common problem.

I am an ADDer myself, but my personality type is INFP. In my case there is no pronounced hyperactivity. It is not so clear cut to link any particular personality profile to a prevalence of ADD symptoms.

See less See more

prilapril

· #20 · Aug 30, 2010

Depending on whose theory, Narcissistic Personality Disorder, Histronic personality disorder and Anti-social personality disorder are usually matched with ESTP.

i always thought there's something wrong with me , haha. i somewhat feels like having Anti-social disorder , but theres timings , and its not actually everyday .

See less See more

1 - 20 of 37 Posts

This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.