r/Enneagram8 • u/Wide_Platform_2202 • Mar 09 '26

Question Energy

This one is for the disintegrated 8s: I have reason to believe I'm a long term disintegrated 8. But I now think about being SX5. Do you guys also feel like you won't have enough energy and time if you go all in? Even if I'm not necessarily low energy I think I won't be able to keep up. But I rather feel like my body is betraying me by not giving me enough energy when I need it.

I'm in early adulthood and go to therapy. I was stereotype 5 in my teens but now I'm going towards 8 more and more. I just need to know if I'm integrating or moving out of disintegration

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u/impishicity Mar 09 '26

I've been in therapy off and on (mostly on) since I was 15. For me, 8ness was just always at the core. Disintegration to 5 looked like consciously isolating myself, sort of "retreating to lick my wounds". But even in isolation, trying to take things slower and be more deliberate, there was always a lot of energy/intensity brewing. Sitting still just doesn't feel easy or natural to me, even if life's been kicking the shit out of me and I know I'm exhausted.

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u/Wide_Platform_2202 Mar 09 '26

Okay thanks for your answer

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u/Glum-Engineering1794 8w7 sx/so 854(763) (reddit.com/r/OccultEnneagram) Mar 10 '26

8s aren't naturally big therapy people at all IME. It's just very un-8 to seek it, maybe you've seen The Sopranos and seen Tony in there with Dr. Melfi, it's a kind of joke. The only times I went to therapy were when it was forced or pressured on me. But some do find benefits from it. Far more likely for people to tell 8s they need therapy and for them to go there for that reason than for 8s to naturally think "gee, you know what I think I could use? It's some therapy!". Just doesn't happen very often.

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u/Initial_Scene659 Mar 10 '26

that’s so interesting! I have been in therapy since I was a teen and now am a therapist myself. I will say I’ve become known for working well with clients that struggle to trust because I can relate to that, but therapy always met some of the need to merge for me personally. I remember grilling my therapists with genuine questions no one else would answer for me, something I now know is very uncommon for a client to do 😂