The True Cause Of The INFJ Existential Crisis
If there's any one thing that could hinder the INFJ’s growth as a person, it would be the underlying fear that all this chaos known as ‘life’ actually has no inherent meaning. This haunting existential contemplation comes and goes, but what happens when the INFJ find themselves stuck in this haunting crisis.. And are they able to shake it?
Becoming Consumed in Societal Expectations
There’s nothing that makes the INFJ feel more on top of the world like living a life they’ve created for themselves through their desires. As a matter of fact, some may say the free-spirited INFJ must take the necessary steps to remove themselves from the rat race and all the materialistic desires that come with it, in order to feel as if they’ve really ‘made it’.
However, this concept is a whole lot easier said than done. And because of that, the INFJ type isn’t unfamiliar with feelings of discontent. With a self-critical need to be a successful and useful member of society, they may fall into the trap of following the crowd in hopes that they’ll find the fulfillment they’re looking for.
Yet, it’s not long before they become encompassed in the dull and meaningless energy surrounding the goal of ‘working for the weekend’ that everyone is so quick to achieve.
Yet, the ironic thing is that they only come to this conclusion once they’ve gone through some type of existential crisis. And through the realization that they need more in life, comes another existential crisis of finding what it is they require to feel truly content..which brings us to..
Becoming Lost Trying to Find Their Purpose
Once an INFJ realizes that society's expectations and direction isn’t all it’s cut out to be, they’re left to discover how they’re going to get the same usefulness from their life as others get through their careers and positions in society.
Now, in all honesty, finding ‘purpose’ is the INFJs main goal in life. Deep down, because of their understanding of the complexity of all life and earth has to offer, they know their existence isn’t by fluke.
And so, as a result, they tend to put a tremendous amount of pressure on themselves to ‘find their purpose. This pressure gets even worse when they feel like time is running out, or as if they’ve spent all their life moving in the ‘wrong’ direction.
On a positive note, this is the existential crisis that allows them to finally search for and experience that purpose they’ve been longing for. On a not-so-positive note, this is THE existential crisis that could last weeks, months, or even years before reaching a conclusion.
If that's not bad enough, oftentimes this personal catastrophe is accompanied by feelings of anxiety, depression, loneliness and disconnection.
They Don’t Find Meaning in the Things They Thought They Would
To elaborate on why this period of contemplation may take an unnerving amount of time.. When the INFJ is on the journey to find themselves and their life’s purpose, it can feel like a time consisting of trial and error experiences.
It’s fair to say that it’s already considerably difficult for the INFJ to put themselves out there while staying on the road less traveled. Not only is this because of their independent and connection-reluctant nature, but INFJs have fewer people to turn to when their ‘out-of-the-box’ approach to life doesn’t go as planned.
When you’re not moving with the crowd, you don’t have a neighbor or friend of the same caliber to discuss the difficulties, challenges, and failures that come with such a life.
So, through their trial and error period of self-discovery, they may find themselves up against existential crisis after existential crisis, leading them to question whether or not following their intuition was the right decision. Luckily, this is what makes finding something or someone that truly resonates all worth the while.
Lack of Physical Movement
Now, although we wish we could tell you that a quick run or yoga class would provide that ‘meaning’ to an INFJs life the way they’re looking for it.
However, rooted in their complex cognitive function stack - in particular their extroverted feeling and sensing functions - the INFJ requires more external input and output than they’d like to surrender to.
This means that although this introverted intuitive type requires ample alone time within their minds, it’s also necessary for them to escape that rumination of thoughts and ideas on a daily basis.
Not only does too much mind-time cause the INFJ to go a little stir-crazy, but when they spiral down a mental rabbit hole, they come up with questions like “Is there even any meaning behind it all?” This is where having a physical hobby allows them to find that balance between meaningless day-to-day routines and enjoyment.
Their Imaginations Are Filled With Meaning
Speaking of taking a break from their internal world.. The daydreaming INFJ often finds themselves comparing actual-reality to the imaginative-reality they hold so near and dear to their heart.
This is mostly because there is such a disconnection between what they hoped the world would be like, and what it actually is. In fact, this realization alone can cause the inner conflict most INFJs dread. Since their imaginative reality is rooted in their morals and values, everything they allow into their inner temple must have meaning.
And sometimes their challenge is to find out what that meaning is.
However, this is much easier when they're in their small and controllable inner world in comparison to their uncontrollable outer realities. This is what makes their existential crisis so consuming, because they can see a world of overflowing meaningfulness, yet they can’t quite reach it.
Helplessness
In order to be truly happy and content in life, INFJs require short-term goals and the hope to back them up. However, with vivid and possibly far-fetched dreams of the world, INFJs may find that a huge cause of their existential crisis is the fact that they feel so helpless and hopeless for humanity as a whole.
This hopelessness comes when the INFJ matures to the point of understanding that they may not be able to put their problem-solving skills into action. When the issues INFJs have with the world are on such a large scale, they can feel like these problems require solutions larger than themselves.
Even when they stop to make an attainable guide-line for the things they feel confident in changing, INFJs are faced with the nitty-gritty details that become all too much, leaving them feeling worse about the issue than when they started.
A Triggering Event Occurs
One of the main triggers of the existential crisis of the average person is through trauma. Traumatic experiences can cause one to question not only their reality and the negative possibilities that come with it, but also their faith.
Whether it’s a sudden loss of an enjoyable job, a one-sided divorce, a death in the family, or even something like bullying can cause someone to wonder why they were put on this earth in the first place. For the introspective INFJ, this is no different.
When the trauma is related to personal identity such as a change in job or a relationship, even the independent INFJ finds themselves questioning who they really are, and which aspect of themselves was only created for their external environment. This can send them into a whirl-wind of questioning who they are, what their purpose is, and ultimately how much of themselves is really ‘them.’
Existential Crisis or Existential Re-evaluation?
When asked through an INFJ Reddit Forum whether or not INFJ’s themselves feel they’re prone to feeling of existential crisis, one redditor stated “How about asking if I am prone to having existential evaluations?
Or, re-evaluations?.. Possibly on a daily basis.” This viewpoint makes the term ‘existential crisis’ seem like no crisis at all. In fact, for the INFJ personality type, it seems that having these times of existential dread and open-ended questioning is crucial for their development.
Every individual with this introspective personality type stops and re-considers their purpose, their values, and even the simple brevity of life itself, every-single-day. The naive INFJ will think that everyone contemplates life’s details in this way.
Yet as they mature, they’ll realize that a major aspect of their innate quirkiness comes from their constant desire to dive into topics that are a little more complex than sports, television and celebrity gossip. And with that, comes life’s bigger, unanswerable questions..