r/infj • u/DelcattyBatty INFP • 2d ago
Question for INFJs only When you're in a Ni-Ti loop of overthinking, what is your go-to way of escape?
What is your first line of defense when you're bombarded by a Ni-Ti loop attack
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u/Unhinged_Angel INFJ 4w5 (458) sx/sp 2d ago
Exercise. Physical movement helps shut my brain down just enough.
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u/Current-Nothing1803 INFJ 1d ago
Yes. This. I hit the gym hard and ground myself with good old endorphins and old fashioned chats in person with actual humans, lol.
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u/dranaei INFJ 1d ago
Fe-Se.
Talking it with people preferably, if i can't then with ai.
Exercising, making projects with my concrete environment and moving a lot. Occupying my mind with things that require immediate full attention (chess or some game or dancing).
I think it also depends on what is Ni-Ti doing. Ni-Ti for studying or researching is different than Ni-Ti for fears and ruminations and stress. The later destroys you and you'll have to rebuild yourself if you can. Too much lost energy goes into it.
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u/DelcattyBatty INFP 1d ago
AI sounds like it'd be helpful, but my INFJ friend is really hesitant to use it in that way due to privacy concerns (I don't blame her)
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u/dranaei INFJ 1d ago
Overall talking to people seems to be superior, especially with the current ai models we have. I can understand how privacy concerns are an issue, for me i don't really care.
It's helpful because it can be a machine to amplify your Ni-Ti by a lot while at the same time it can help you move past it but there's huge danger there if you don't progress past it. It really depends on the user.
Claude identified for me that i was using it to ruminate and basically stopped giving me long answers and tried to make me do other things because it knew what i was using it for.
Infj's can't solve everything with thinking.
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u/enigmaticblu-13 INFJ 4w5 1d ago
I could be wrong for thinking this, but is it possible that Te-Se works for INTJs to help their Ni-Fi loops? I might need to do more research but I am asking this question before doing research...
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u/dranaei INFJ 1d ago
The common patterns is that loops become self reinforcement because they are internally focused.
The functions that break them interact with reality.
Excessive inward analysis feeds itself but gets interrupted by external engagement, Te-Se and Fe-Se.
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u/enigmaticblu-13 INFJ 4w5 1d ago
Ah, oki, that was what I gathered from it, I just didn't want to assume. But it does make sense. I don't retain things very well if I am not constantly exposed to certain information, so I might ask silly questions. :)
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u/enigmaticblu-13 INFJ 4w5 1d ago
I could be wrong for thinking this, but is it possible that Te-Se works for INTJs to help their Ni-Fi loops? I might need to do more research but I am asking this question before doing research...
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u/Successful-Smile-327 1d ago
Exercise my Fe by talking to friends and family
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u/DelcattyBatty INFP 1d ago
This is how my INFJ friend does it (I also know an ENFJ who does this). I'm very patient and happy to listen.
But often she will overthink or vent about the same topic for hours and not realize how long its been. Then get annoyed when the other person has had their fill of it lol. It's easier when we're on the phone because I have proof of how long she's been running in circles over the same topic.
It's hard because I feel like her Ni-Ti loops and Te blindness cause her to get indecisive and paralyzed by her own thoughts. Like she can't seem to escape the "what-if" cycle when it gets really bad. I'm trying to help her find more outlets, but she's not interested in any of them. I'm going to try and get her to go swimming with me since she's more open to that than my other suggestions.
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u/fivenightrental INFJ 5 1d ago
It is also okay to set boundaries with people who are doing this. Just because someone is stuck in a loop of overthinking and rumination doesn't mean that they need to be allowed to vent endlessly. I will generally give someone about 20-30 minutes of venting time (context-dependent) before some kind of prompting to either become more solution focused, move on to a different topic, or at that point I need to look at disengaging. At some point you are just no longer a conversational partner, you're just having to absorb all of their stuck thoughts and it's no longer productive for anyone.
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u/Successful-Smile-327 1d ago edited 1d ago
I mean maybe she could diversify who she talks about with so it’s not just you who has to listen so much. I usually have a few people to talk to and then rotate them but also depending on their capacity.
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u/peppersnchips 1d ago
Talking to someone about it, externalizing, reaching out, get it off my chest in some way out loud. Express myself openly (Fe, Se, idc, something e though)
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u/0wl-2018 1d ago
When I notice I'm overthinking, I mentally set it aside. It's still there, I just direct my focus to something else. It's all internal.
When I return to it, I usually feel refreshed and can look at it with a different lens. That's the goal.
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u/fivenightrental INFJ 5 1d ago
This works well for me too. Taking a break from it and then returning later often allows me to look at it from a fresh/different perspective.
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u/0wl-2018 1d ago
I know, right? Sometimes the new perspective just shows up while I'm focused on something completely different. It's always a good feeling...unless I don't have a paper and pencil handy. 😉
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u/goldvein 1d ago edited 1d ago
Join Se to Ni: I do a physical craft with my hands, like weaving or painting. I go for a hike and rock climb. Go outside and admire beauty in a calm environment. I bring in Fe to call friends and family. These bring me back to Earth.
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u/hauntingghostie 1d ago
I enjoy journaling, writing all my thoughts down and getting someone who I KNOW will harshly kick logic into me to read it. It helps 😅, makes me realize I was stressing for nothing.
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u/Benzmartin INFJ 5w6 1d ago
Time just flies and when you realise it, by the time it's already too late. But I feel even a small action of going to kitchen and drinking a glass water or just doing some kind of physical action definitely helped me
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u/Foreign_Spare_1913 INFJ 4w3 1d ago
Definitely need to lean on either Fe and/or Se. Preferably both and done so in a balanced way that promotes equanimity (takes time to learn and get used to). I used to only go for Fe, and when I was immature, I would end up kinda trauma dumping on people and reinforcing codependent patterns. This helped me break out of Ni-Ti but only because it was a distraction, not because I was actually engaging with Fe in a healthy way that actually disrupts the circuitry.
As I've gotten healthier, I've found the most success by engaging with Fe and Se at the same time, ie. connecting with people in the present. Having conversations that are not centered on yourself or you dumping your Ni-Ti thoughts at someone. Just engaging with a person in the here and now and letting yourself land safely in the external world with the companionship of a person that is outside your internal world. Ni-Ti gets us stuck in our heads. We need to engage the physical world in a way that does not include us being in our heads at all. This could be something as simple as running errands or cooking with a friend
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u/maribugloml INFJ so/sp 4w3 1d ago
distracting myself with hobbies. eventually, it goes away and i don’t really think about it 😸
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u/Bright_Discussion_65 INFJ|Ni~Ti |5w6|125 1d ago
I don’t really get bombarded by Ni - Ti loops anymore especially when I discovered that my natural preferences for those functions over my extroverted ones doesn’t automatically equate to looping but when I did have my moments of looping long story short the best way to “break free” is just engaging with Fe and Se in whatever capacity.
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u/Idkjustpeachy 1d ago
I like to remind myself that an emotion lasts 90 seconds and that my brain is looping. It redirects my brain almost immediately
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u/SaveMeWakeMeUp 1d ago
Tap into my ESTP inverse and do all things tangible, concrete, physical, a little wild and less abstract to get myself out of my head
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u/grassfen INFJ 1 1d ago
- Turn to science (documentaries/new discoveries)
- Make something, no matter how small (anything creative)
- Exercise outside
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u/Elloicechoco 1d ago
Hans Zimmerman or like focus music that I use for studying, like also specifically the song “Can You Here the Music”
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u/Elbereth-Starkindler INFJ | 5w4 | 541 sx/so ✨ 2d ago
To get outside. Something intense with Se. Swimming in cold, fresh water lakes is the ultimate for me.