This will be a personality theory/cognitive function analysis related blog.
As I was having a conversation with an INFJ friend about this earlier today.
Here are some excerpts from Psychology Junkie & Cognitive Processes to explain more:
“The shadow functions are the most unconscious part of your personality.
You use them unconsciously throughout every day, but you always rely more heavily
on your primary functions. Your shadow functions tend to be more apparent,
and also more immature, during times of extreme stress, illness, or sleep-deprivation.”
According to Jung, the “shadow” lies at the edge of our conscious and unconscious psyche. It is the dark,
unlived, and repressed side of the self. It contains repressed memories, primitive, negative, or socially depreciated
human emotions and impulses. Usually what we deem as unrelatable or “uncouth” becomes part of the shadow.
It lies in opposition to our ego. Our ego is what we imagine ourselves to be, it’s our conceived “identity”.
According to typologists, our dominant and auxiliary functions lie at the core of our ego and gradually as we
develop our tertiary and inferior functions, they too become part of the ego. Functions that are not part of our
primary function stack are left in “the shadow” and come in and out of consciousness as a way of protecting
the ego when it’s not doing a good enough job on its own.
It’s important to remember that the ego, while important, isn’t always “truthful”. We may discard uncomfortable
truths if they don’t line up with our idealized “image” of ourselves. As a result, our ego tends to be a combination
of carefully selected qualities, and unfavorable qualities that could make us feel bad about ourselves are often
discarded into the unconscious.
Are the Shadow Functions Good or Bad?
Both! Shadow functions can be highly destructive or a catalyst for growth and self-actualization.
Their main goal is to stabilize us and prevent ego inflation and disruption of the ego from threats to our integrity.
Our shadow will impact us when we are experiencing extreme stress and our normal “tools” fall short of handling
our stressors. These are those times when we wonder why we’re acting strangely and out-of-character or in ways we
don’t really identify with. The shadow can also “step in” when we become ego-inflated and need to have a
“reality check” of our weaknesses.
John Beebe, the typologist who came up with the 8-function personality model, states that the shadow functions
“fight dirty to defend the personality.” “The shadow is the part of us that others see, but we don’t.”
– John Beebe
The shadow functions can be negative because we don’t have conscious control over them,
and when we are impacted by them we tend to behave in irrational, unreasonable, or morally
ambiguous ways. We may also project their negative aspects onto other people.
.
The other four cognitive processes operate more on the boundaries of our awareness.
It is as if they are in the shadows and only come forward under certain circumstances.
We usually experience these processes in a negative way, yet when we are open to them, they can be quite positive.
The demon is the most suppressed area of your unconscious personality.
This function is how you will take in information when you are at your very worst and most destructive;
when your ego is severely threatened and at risk of obliteration.
.
From my personal experiences, I spent much of my adolescence in Si demon. I was very self-destructive,
for a number of years, be it a product of being heavily medicated by allopathic doctors or also just
a response to being constantly depressed. General depression has always been a primary force in my life,
and has turned to apathy in many cases. I personally believe being fully triggered into your ‘super ego’ response
to something but THRU your unconscious or shadow functions, is how you integrate these functions.
I personally feel thru my own mental processes & development when it comes to the conceptualization of my
companies; I have always had access to or been aware of my shadow functions since an early age in life,
but it was only more as an adult & being fully triggered by my first experience with someone personality
disorder directly after my mother had died was when my super-ego THRU my unconscious was fully triggered.
It took me nearly 8 months to emotionally recover from that experience, and I spent a long time
in self-reflection and growing on the inside from that experience. I was celibate for years afterwards.
I personally believe rather you believe in astrology, typology or cognitive sciences; when it comes to
human cognition it is really all the same when integrating your shadow functions. Rather this is the
purpose of narcissists on this planet or people many deem as “personality disordered” per say,
the purpose of being triggered, is to grow. You need to grow thru your triggers to reach higher
levels of enlightenment.