[chittychitty LightNING]

-For TLDR'rs, fucking skip to bolded.-

First off, I have two questions. The one my title expresses, and also: Is an ENTP interchangeable with INTP? I posit that if the dominate Ti of INTP were swapped out for a dominate Ne, the user would be more open to blurt out ideas, half-conceived, for discussion, as opposed to thinking first.

As for isolation... I don't mean temporary isolation such as a weekend at a cabin or a month in a remote cave in the mountains of Caliijarrrmarruuuu. I am referring to years of isolation with the innate desire for human interaction, rarely leaving the house.

I am one of these, as I have little opportunity (and I mean as little as you can get) for varied human interaction (family, that is about it). Mostly I am confined to my home, helping out the family, etc. I don't like it for sure, and often complain about it.

Personally, I cope by means of online gaming to fill the void for human interaction. This does not do it though, as most folks online seem introverted or not interested in talking (perhaps after a long day at work). I prefer being spontaneous and obnoxious, but no one seems interested in being silly, which sort of miffs me. If I go too long without, I think I get anxious and frustrated.

I have been a shy individual since I can remember, being uncomfortable until I warm up to the situation. I don't believe that social anxiety is the determining factor for introversion. I talk to myself a lot, verbalizing my ideas and thoughts, but ultimately feel empty without folks to be around. Despite all this, I still wonder if I could be introverted.

So are there any isolated ENTP's out there without a viable social outlet? How do you cope? How do you feel when you don't get that fix? Is E interchangeable with I? Anything I can do about this besides the obvious 'get a life'?

Thoughts?

 

[aef8234]

Paranoia isolated from everyone for a time.
Not. Very. Fun.
A way to cope? My guess, troll people on the internet, I do it as a hobby, but I guess it could work to... well, I guess it'd be like bullying, but with more tact, and if you're good at it, no one is essentially "bullied".

 

[BusinessMan]

Internet porn. Or move.

 

[vanilla_dream]

I believe all of us possess all the different functions. What makes up the difference is what functions weigh more than the others, and these make up your dominant functions. On this premise, yes it is possible that Ti and Ne can switch at a given time. I don’t think that necessarily transforms you into an INTP, rather you’re only tapping into your less dominant function. If you use your Ne MOST of the time, then that I believe would make you a true blue ENTP.
So are you 100% sure you’re not introverted? Humans are social creatures. Even introverts crave for social interaction, and the yearning may get as intense as how you describe the fervour of your social hunger. I speak from an introvert’s perspective so...
With the question surrounding introversion vs. extraversion, shyness aside, do you get revved up when you’re interacting with a lot of people? Or do you easily get drained? If it’s the latter case, then you might indeed be introverted.
As with coping with your loneliness, I may not be the best person to give an advice as I’m somewhat struggling in that area myself, though probably not serious as.


hope this helps.

 

[ap3rson]

It's not isolation itself that's scary, it's the deep cutting self-loathing thoughts of something being wrong with you takes all the joy out of it. The breakdown is simple, when in isolation you are far away from much of the random external stimuli that normally brings excitement to your life and keeps it all challenging. If you are in isolation, my best advice is to get out of it as quickly as you can. Otherwise, you can be as stubborn as I was and try to fight the lack of stimuli brought to you generously by the beast of routine, you could start developing higher degree of the awareness of the moment (crucial), use all the will you have to think fresh, treat each moment as a unique experience that it is. Most importantly, focus on what you do, and don't spend a second on the analysis of all things wrong with you. If you'll be able to power your way through all of this you will come out of the ordeal to be a better man, though I would strongly advice challenging your comfort zone instead, making some friends through taking up some sort of hobby and keep on striving for the precious awareness with the help of people around you, it is EXTREMELY DIFFICULT to make it happen on your own and ends in wasted effort in a vast majority of cases.

P.S. I'd cut down on the amount of talking to yourself, it's one of the fastest tracks to detaching yourself from reality by seeking constant comfort of living in your thoughts.

 

[chittychitty LightNING]

It's not isolation itself that's scary, it's the deep cutting self-loathing thoughts of something being wrong with you takes all the joy out of it. The breakdown is simple, when in isolation you are far away from much of the random external stimuli that normally brings excitement to your life and keeps it all challenging. If you are in isolation, my best advice is to get out of it as quickly as you can. Otherwise, you can be as stubborn as I was and try to fight the lack of stimuli brought to you generously by the beast of routine, you could start developing higher degree of the awareness of the moment (crucial), use all the will you have to think fresh, treat each moment as a unique experience that it is. Most importantly, focus on what you do, and don't spend a second on the analysis of all things wrong with you. If you'll be able to power your way through all of this you will come out of the ordeal to be a better man, though I would strongly advice challenging your comfort zone instead, making some friends through taking up some sort of hobby and keep on striving for the precious awareness with the help of people around you, it is EXTREMELY DIFFICULT to make it happen on your own and ends in wasted effort in a vast majority of cases.

P.S. I'd cut down on the amount of talking to yourself, it's one of the fastest tracks to detaching yourself from reality by seeking constant comfort of living in your thoughts.

So you're suggesting I work intently on keeping myself sane until the storm blows over? Rational and useful answer.

I have tried to cut the 'self-talk' out of my day-to -day but it seems it is how I process and think through problems. Suppose I can try to shift it by sheer force and see what happens. Actually, this sounds fruitful.

At the moment the "get a hobby and meet people" advice I am commonly given isn't applicable; if it were, I'd force myself into it.

@vanilla_dream,

I am unsure how extroverted or introverted I am. My shyness, and lack of social opportunity does a nice job at heavily veiling whatever my true nature is. It's a pain in my ass.

 

[vanilla_dream]

I am unsure how extroverted or introverted I am. My shyness, and lack of social opportunity does a nice job at heavily veiling whatever my true nature is. It's a pain in my ass.

Hmmm... what's making you self-conscious?

 

[chittychitty LightNING]

Hmmm... what's making you self-conscious?

Not really something I dig getting into on a public forum.

 

[Olmed3011]

I have to back up what ap3rson said.

Not healthy for an entp to become isolated like that. Perhaps you admired those enjoying lonesomeness and who seemed ok with it. Also we entp think sometimes we are the magnet of the group. But either we like it or not our dependency of external inputs, to belong/being approved of and someone to bounce off to is vital for our mental health. Still we cant analyze it too much, just need to trust our intuition and improvisation to land on our feet back into the winners circle. That is at least my personal experience .

 

[bellisaurius]

I disagree with the cutting out self talk. I think you just need to be doing something else like walking outside or something while doing it. Your brain's going to chatter no matter what you do anyway. You may want to give it a face, like I've done in the past, but I think you need to be active to let it out.

I'd think the goal is more about killing the boredom beast than the lonely thing; the rest will sort itself out. I don't think E and I interchange on this. If your main function's extroverted, you need external stimuli. Currently, the internet is that outlet. It's good, and it can be pretty consuming, but it's easy enough to get into a rut where you need to something else too. You'll know if you found it when you want to do it more, and the gaming starts to feel like a time suck from that activity.


Overall thoughts:

Do you have to live where you are? What kind of hobbies could get you out of the house? Is there a nearby bar? Have you tried online dating? Do you feel trapped more generally? Are you still below college age? Do you have a car?

 

[Mutant Messiah]

Some tips:
1. Befriend people that are prone to eccentric behavior (mostly Ns. ENFJs, INFPs, etc). They can tolerate idiosyncrasies better.

2. Go to institutions that tolerate diversity (college can be one of them). Depends on which one you choose.

3. Know the activities that require little financial expenditures (if this is an issue to you at all). One of the things I do is watching band gigs. Musicians understand emotional turmoil, and a limited income. They also tolerate diversity since they need an open mind to expand their musicality. And most importantly, the lifestyle is relatively low maintenance. There are times where I'm tempted to join a band, but my skills aren't developed.

4. Stay in touch with your female friends. One of the perks--a male female interaction (in terms of needed closeness) is far more natural than a guy to guy one. And it doesn't look gay.

 

[BusinessMan]

If you don't like your current whereabouts then do something about it, aka move. If it really bothers you that much then you'll find a way to make it work.

 

[vanilla_dream]

Not really something I dig getting into on a public forum.

my apologies. I thought maybe you could give a general idea but since this is not the most practical thing to do, it's ruled out. My two cents in, maybe you should start addressing the root of your problem instead of doing other things that "can" help, but only act as a superficial salve which its relief only lasts for a short period of time. No matter what you do, if you don't deal with it, your insecurity would more likely to creep back in to haunt you. As it is, the answer lies within you. However, I have read through most of other posters' advises and they are good. They're ENTP's like you (or at least you consider yourself to be one) so you can be assured that these people can understand you at a deeper level. So give them a go.

Hope things will be better for you.

 

[NeedsNewNameNow]

-For TLDR'rs, fucking skip to bolded.-

First off, I have two questions. The one my title expresses, and also: Is an ENTP interchangeable with INTP? I posit that if the dominate Ti of INTP were swapped out for a dominate Ne, the user would be more open to blurt out ideas, half-conceived, for discussion, as opposed to thinking first.

I've wondered the same. Seems like I can swap between the two, most oven being in INTP mode, but I do get into the blurt-out mode

As for isolation... I don't mean temporary isolation such as a weekend at a cabin or a month in a remote cave in the mountains of Caliijarrrmarruuuu. I am referring to years of isolation with the innate desire for human interaction, rarely leaving the house.

I am one of these, as I have little opportunity (and I mean as little as you can get) for varied human interaction (family, that is about it). Mostly I am confined to my home, helping out the family, etc. I don't like it for sure, and often complain about it.

Personally, I cope by means of online gaming to fill the void for human interaction. This does not do it though, as most folks online seem introverted or not interested in talking (perhaps after a long day at work). I prefer being spontaneous and obnoxious, but no one seems interested in being silly, which sort of miffs me. If I go too long without, I think I get anxious and frustrated.

I have been a shy individual since I can remember, being uncomfortable until I warm up to the situation. I don't believe that social anxiety is the determining factor for introversion. I talk to myself a lot, verbalizing my ideas and thoughts, but ultimately feel empty without folks to be around. Despite all this, I still wonder if I could be introverted.

To me introversion means you limit the amount of social interaction you have because you become drained.
Shyness means you desire more social interaction but are unsure how to start. Social Anxiety means social interaction makes you a wreck (even if you desire it). And then there are personality disorders like avoidant, schizoid, schizotypal, that cause you to avoid contact for one reason or another. Anyway, they are distinct categories, and in theory you could be a shy, socially anxious extrovert. and appear introverted. But the real test is, suppose you get the amount of social interaction that you crave, then what happens? Do you isolate yourself or want more?

 

[NeedsNewNameNow]

So you're suggesting I work intently on keeping myself sane until the storm blows over? Rational and useful answer.

I have tried to cut the 'self-talk' out of my day-to -day but it seems it is how I process and think through problems. Suppose I can try to shift it by sheer force and see what happens. Actually, this sounds fruitful.

At the moment the "get a hobby and meet people" advice I am commonly given isn't applicable; if it were, I'd force myself into it.

How about instead of trying to talk to people in the online games, try making friends here? I've made more fulfilling friendships this way, even if they are long distance

 

[GMT]

Trolling, getting high, netflix, there are a lot of things to do to cope, I've heard ENTP's are one of the most introverted extroverts so it's not really that hard for me, personally at least.

 

[Jabberbroccoli]

ENTPs are the most introverted of the Es. I was in an isolated social environment due to some serious all-school drama that I had a starring role in. I just switched schools.

 

[deSouza]

ENTPs are the most introverted of the Es. I was in an isolated social environment due to some serious all-school drama that I had a starring role in. I just switched schools.

Sorry but I couldn't resist. And yeah, I know what you mean. I managed to avoid those in high school but afterwards...

 

[spaceoddity]

i'm isolated, and not coping at all.
i think it's impossible to properly cope without therapy

 

[yesiknowbut]

Isolation is not comfortable. OP, it is hard to make suggestions about helping you out without knowing just what it is that isolates you. If it is illness are there support groups you could join? Community groups? Church, if you are religious? Or do you live in the Antarctic? :wink:

I'm one of those shy extroverts, which is a real bind: hard to go out and get human interaction, feel miserable without it. I lived alone for a couple of years in my twenties, and worked very hard (junior doctor 100 hour weeks, you know) and come Friday night was by myself in front of the TV. I got very depressed.

Have to say somewhat reluctantly that this is one of the reasons why my ENFJ other is so good to have: he is such a social animal it pulls me into social situations, and that is really good for me.