ENTps : trauma coping strategies

[Polly]

Yes Blaze, it takes A LOT to get me angry and declare war on a person. If you tick me off your most likely to just be ignored.

Last time I guess you could say I showed my stuff was after having someone harass me (because she was jealous and threatened that people were starting to see more competant than her) in the workplace and cost me an 8 year career I had worked like a dog to achieve.

I was ready to take the place apart brick by brick to get at her and went after the company itself rather than her so they'd use her as a scapegoat. Otherwise, she never would have been punished for what she did. I wanted to make damn sure her behavior was exposed so she couldn't do this to anyone else. While I was at it, and since my job was toast anyway, I went after a few more in senior administration that deserved early retirement due to their abuse of their own employees (I had the law on my side in every case and it doesn't matter how big a corporation you are, I just don't scare at that kind of stuff easily. At one point I was telling one of the negotiators I felt he needed a lawyer present because I just felt that he was not a legal match for me - I actually a little guilty because I kept trapping him so easily).

In the end, I actually let most off the hook with a smack on the wrist but I got my point across. Be careful who you screw with because we aren't all sheep. Oh and I also left with a glowing job recommendation.

If you do nothing to betray me or take advantage of me, you have nothing to worry about. Even when you do its unlikely for me to react unless I have something like the above going on in my life.

Then I'm in my "I will squash anyone who tries to screw with me" mode.

[Matt]

When an ENTp is under emotional stress does he harden himself? and then, unharden?

Three common ways I react to stress are:
1) Work to alleviate the thing causing my stress through inspirational waves of effort.
2) Internalize while I work on completing other things to make me feel more in control.
3) Dream up an escape plan to alleviate the stressful situation

I would react with #1 in an argument with a close friend or spouse, for example. In this case, I will use the stress (a.k.a. inspiration) to fuel the energy to a solution. This means that if you're fighting with me, I'm camped out on it until I find the solution. You won't know I am, but I'm constantly thinking about the next few moves and making steady decisions based on that plan.
A busy day at work would be another example that would incite a type 1 reaction. I use the associated stress as inspiration to get stuff checked off the list. Unfortunately, that is usually the only way I'll get stuff checked off the list I believe the reason ENTp's thrive under pressure is because they are driven primarily by inspiration. I have found that stress is a fabulous source of this staple.

I would react with #2 in a long-term stress situation. One example that comes to mind would be doing a job that would require attention to detail, focus, prioritization skills, organization, and sticktoitiveness. Yeah, that's the kind of job that I have, which I have recently discovered induces a large amount of stress. When it catches up to me, I clean stuff, repair something in my house, replace light bulbs, give the dog a bath, lubricate the garage door opener, mow the lawn, write a blog and that usually keeps me busy for a couple hours.

I become an obsessive busy bee when I'm under a lot of stress that is taking me some time to sort through. I always say that when I organize my environment, I'm really organizing my mind. This is true, my mind is constantly whittling on my problem while I work. But, stressful situations make me lose sense of control, so I regain that control by completing simple things that I can do right now, like bathing the dog. Under my greatest stress, I have been known to accomplish miraculous projects in a compressed amount of time.

#3 applies as well in the long-term stuff, as I am always looking to hop the fence for the greener, less stressful grass. Dreaming about escape is like an elixir for stress. This is when I usually pick up a career or relationship book, work on my budget, open a savings account, whatever is appropriate. Once I come up with some sort of direction for change, I'm all better again, stress is gone.

I just thought of these on the fly, feel free to add to this list.