Originally Posted by
squark
It's not unhealthy to use a tool as a means for self-reflection. As long as you don't become obsessed with yourself. I personally found enneagram useful because I was in a bad state when I discovered it. My type was obvious and the worst aspects of my type were devouring me. What enneagram did was to shed light on these issues so I could see them, and see myself.
For a long time the most obvious thing about me was my enneagram type, and it's what I came back to for explanations of my own behavior again and again. Lately though, I don't even feel like a type anymore. That's a good thing imo. It means that I've worked through the worst parts and it's not consuming my life anymore. I didn't follow any plan or specific advice though, I just noticed my own thoughts and behaviors as they were happening. It's a background thing, where once you see it, you can't unsee it, and then when it pops up in your life you notice, and you can deal with it however works best for you.
I wish other type systems worked as effectively. Socionics doesn't really do anything ime. In fact, I'd even say that socionics is engineered away from self-help entirely due to the emphasis on ITR. It puts the responsibility on another person and your type-relationship for your own growth. Ick. That's part of why I veer far away from the ITR focus, and just play in the theory. It's a far worse mentality to expect other people to complete you in some way heh. (Yes, I know it doesn't have to be that extreme, and I'm exaggerating a bit to make a point here.) It's also another reason I like Gulenko. He gives suggestions for type growth for all the types, and they're real things you can work on.
Anyway, it's imo healthy to see yourself clearly however you manage to go about doing that, and healthy to use that information to grow and improve, making your life better, your relationships better, and yourself happier. Otoh, it's quite unhealthy to wallow about in your problems looking for a savior or making excuses for yourself and people use these tools to do that as well.
tldr; It's a tool and it's up to you how you use it.