Diabetes Myers Briggs Type

Originally published October 2010.

Today we’re going to have some fun.

You might of heard of Myers Briggs Personality Typing. It is the most acknowledged personality assessment in the world. I’ve studied it for years (a useful hobby you could say) and today I’m going to introduce you to it and “diabetee”, if you will, each personality type. Take the quick test and figure out which personality type you are and then see what your diabetes strengths and weaknesses may be.

I did this because I just think that if you really know your strengths you can best use them and if you know your weaknesses you can be aware of them and make sure they don’t get the best of you.

The majority of us are mostly one or the other of the following sets:

Introverted or Extroverted

Sensing or Intuitive

Feeling or Thinking

Perceiving or Judging

Take the test here to find out what your personality type is. Tip: Don’t think too much when answering nor answer with what you typically do unless it is what you typically feel like doing. In other words, you want to capture your natural self in order to pinpoint your true personality type.

Now, there are 16 personality types. Once you’ve taken the quick test, find yours below and let me know if anything sounds familiar (or not). Feedback is welcome so don’t forget to comment!

ISTJ

You take your diabetes seriously and you do best when you are held accountable for your diabetes management. You have to completely “get” what your are doing with your diabetes management however, or you won’t feel motivated to work hard at it. When it comes to being motivated to care for yourself, you need facts. You need someone you respect (a good Doctor, for example) to show you information, proving to you why you should do something. You don’t necessarily just take someone’s word for it. You aren’t the most emotional being and this means people around you need you to make more effort when communicating the way you feel when your blood sugar is tough to control or when you are tired of eating healthy. Luckily, you are a pretty organized person and can keep track of your glucose, your supplies, and anything else your diabetes may require. When you are stressed out you tend to see the glass as being half empty. Try to calm down before revisiting a stressful situation and remember, having diabetes isn’t the end of the world. Use your wonderful ability to be logical and thorough to be someone who follows through to achieve great diabetes management.

ESTJ

You live in the present moment and this is a plus and a minus when it comes to your diabetes. You are able to test your glucose as needed and can be very efficient when it comes to following your diet plan and exercise schedule. You also might feel that your efforts are not worthwhile if you don’t see a drop in your cholesterol “right away”, for example. Try to be patient and remember many benefits of great diabetes control will be seen not today or tomorrow but, further down the road. When you are stressed you feel alone and have a hard time verbally expressing your feelings with others. Try writing loved ones notes about how you are feeling so they know what is going on inside. Your approach to motivating yourself with your diabetes is best when seen from an immediate perspective. For example, you want to exercise this afternoon in order to see a great glucose number this evening. Keep goals moving close. You put a lot of work into anything you do and this means as long as you see taking care of yourself worthwhile, you will do fine with your diabetes.

ISFJ

Your type is so nice and aware of others and how they feel. You prefer to stick to the tried and true when it comes to how you control your diabetes. Remember that sometimes a new way of doing something IS better. It just depends, so try to be open to whatever information comes your way. You have a hard time letting feelings OUT so work on finding a way you can release those emotions before they turn bitter. Perhaps a diabetes support group would appeal to you? You are so kind to others you don’t like saying “no”. Don’t let your diabetes become the last thing you worry about each day. Practice saying “no” and letting others know you must do certain things for your health they may not need to do and that you would very much appreciate their support. You tend to get overwhelmed sometimes and might think you just can’t control your diabetes. Ask loved ones to give you much needed support and remember you are not perfect-no one is. Also, you give so much love to others, practice self-love and respect. You and your health deserve it.

ESFJ

You are the social diabetic butterfly, commenting on diabetic blogs and warmly understanding the points of view of others. You are definitely a “doer” and this means you may not have too big ja problem with motivating yourself to the physical acts of diabetes care. Your type is very typically influenced by peer pressure, no matter your age. This can sometimes push you to want to downplay some of the role diabetes has in your life. You may prefer to keep your diabetes a secret or you may not like testing in front of others. Remember all that relies on your excellent diabetes control and don’t allow outside influence to sabotage this control. People love to be around you so don’t worry so much what they think. You are good at following schedules and structure and should use this for diabetes success by following a good eating or exercise plan or writing in a food diary-in other words use your strengths to help your diabetes management. You love a traditional Thanksgiving meal with loved ones and have the skills to pull it off. Just be sure you do right by your diabetes.

ISTP

You’re a rational person who is able to really get into learning the technical ins and outs of your diabetes. Something that may frustrate you as a diabetic is the way it challenges your adverture-seeking nature. You love activities that get your adrenaline rushing and you like doing those activities with others or on your own. This means you have to plan well with your diabetes. You also dislike rules and like to exert your own diabetes management rules based on what you’ve come to know through your time with diabetes. If your glucose numbers aren’t where they should be, don’t forget to include your doctor on that info. Diabetes is easier if you get help from time to time. You tend to ignore your feelings about diabetes sometimes and may want to consciously try to open up with someone you trust or those feelings will explode at an inopportune time. If your diabetes management is suffering, you tend to beat yourself up a bit, blaming yourself for your failures. Don’t do this. Remember to use your wonderful organizational and logical skills to assess what is going wrong, talk with your doctor, take some notes, and fine tune your diabetes care.

ESTP

You are probably the most straight forward of them all. You are ok with using any bit of technology to help your diabetes management routine and are not overwhelmed by the multitasking aspect of it all. You are pretty good at just doing what needs to be done, whether this is testing your sugar 7 times a day or finding new healthy recipes to learn. You are pretty factual and can observe what does and doesn’t work for your diabetes management and like to get into a routine of sorts. You are a fun person and enjoy entertaining people and an easy time at telling people straight up that you “must do this” or “won’t eat that”. Your diabetes downfall might be your impatience and abundant reliance on facts that you hear or read about. Don’t be afraid to pay some attention to that voice inside of you making a new or interesting point. You are very good at convincing others of anything and you can use this in a positive way to help your diabetic friends and family to better their health. You have great gifts of observation and practicality as well as motivating others to do well-use these gifts to better your health and inspire others to do the same!

ESFP

You’re warm, optimistic, and generous. You love people and people love you. You benefit greatly from taking great part in the online diabetes community. Maybe you have thought about writing a blog online or maybe you read them often. There are many websites where you can partake in an online community of sorts and this really suits you because you in particular, hate to be alone. You may want to consider joining or leading/starting a group of your own. Perhaps a diabetes group in your town or city. You love making people laugh and helping others have fun and be relaxed. You are quite emotional and this is how diabetes can get the best of you. When stressed you tend to feel very overwhelmed by what could happen and you are prone to saying general statements about diabetes that are overly simple and not accurate in every case or matter. You don’t like structure or routine and yet this helps a diabetic. What you can do is try to work on forming a few really important habits and getting support from the many people you know to do this. You live in the moment and this can be of use to your diabetes management by dealing with the changes diabetes throws at you as they happen instead of ignoring them, which only results in unmanaged glucose numbers. A key factor for you is belonging to a community so make sure you get involved with a good one and reject those that do not support your diabetes health.

ISFP

You are probably artistic in some way or other. You enjoy expressing your feelings about diabetes by way of writing, drawing, sculpting, painting, dancing, music, or some other artistic expression. You are not the easiest individual to get to know because you are quiet and keep to yourself a lot. You are not too good at planning and preparation and constantly struggle to remember to keep extra diabetes supplies with you or test before eating. People may see you as irresponsible when really, you just tend to wander off in your thoughts a lot and the technical aspects of diabetes are simply forgotten. You enjoy freedom and this is one of the main reasons you suffer with your diabetes-it takes away your ability to just wake up at 10am and instantly begin on doing what you love without being interrupted. Instead, you must test and perhaps change your infusion set or give an injection, you may need to eat or exercise when you’d rather put it off. Finding a way to go about your day in your magical and spontaneous world is a true challenge with diabetes. Try to impose a sense of duty on yourself when it comes to your diabetes management and then don’t think too much about it. Test without thinking about how it is interrupting your activity and eat a healthy meal without lingering on about how you’d rather drive through Hardees. Don’t forget about how each day with diabetes adds up to years with diabetes. If these years go well, your chances for a better life tomorrow will go way up. Try to motivate yourself to do what is needed so you don’t put diabetes on the back burner.

ENTJ

You are a natural leader due to your quick decision making skills and your ability to assess a lot of info in a short amount of time. When your blood sugar is high you probably have your sliding scale memorized and you take no time in calculating what needs to be done. You may test very often and eat pretty healthy because it helps keep you efficient. You like to be ready to move and you like to maintain your clarity of mind so you don’t tolerate unmanaged diabetes very well. You do pretty well when analyzing your blood sugars and picking out activities and actions that do or don’t work well for you. You enjoy routine and order and strive to maintain your diabetes management regime. Don’t forget however, that diabetes is complicated and when you get frustrated over high blood sugar numbers you can’t explain go ahead and talk to your doctor about it. Don’t be afraid to let someone else help you figure something out. Life with diabetes can never be perfect and you shouldn’t strive for perfection. You should strive for a healthy balance of all things. Don’t put your career before your diabetes. You tend to work very hard and long hours and might forget to give your diabetes the attention it deserves. Use your ability to exert a lot of personal power to manage your diabetes as well as possible and inspire those to do the same. Do not forget about people’s feelings and try not to come to generalized conclusions about diabetes-remember every diabetic’s situation varies from the next.

INTJ

You are often described as “smart” and “wise”. You easily absorb information that interests you and can easily put it together in a way that even confounds you. A great way you can use your strengths for your diabetes benefit is to carefully track your glucose numbers as well as keep detailed notes regarding how you feel from day to day and what your activities are. You are pretty good at using information like this and not only understanding it but, really being able to up your diabetes game with it. Your doctor should love you for being a keen health strategist. Don’t be afraid to go over ideas or concerns with your doctor. Your feelings may not be your strength however, so remember to express love and gratitude with those around you and try taking part in some kind of diabetes community. You have a lot of great logical observations to bring to the table and in turn can practice paying attention to others’ feelings about diabetes (as well as your own!) On a good day you manage your diabetes pretty well because of your ability to connect information and view it in a large picture and you’re good at dealing with fine details. On a bad day, try to remember that you’re not alone and that there is a huge online diabetes community that can support you.

ENTP

You have the ins and outs of diabetes knowledge down to a T. Ideas appeal to you and so educating yourself about diabetes has been an enjoyable process. You’re quick to understand things and people have noticed how you are always at the forefront of a situation. If you don’t participate in some kind of diabetes support group or awareness group you should! Your personality type is armed with energy and charisma and since ideas bubble out of you on a regular basis, think of all you can share with a group! Diabetes advocacy groups could really use your ability to speak or write clearly and to push great ideas across. When you’re stressed you tend to obsess a bit about any blood sugar reading that is outside of your range. Then this stress causes you to sort of lose your grip on your diabetes management. Try to keep your eye on the greater view of things. Meaning, take care of a high or low reading and then forget about it and know you will do better. Not happy with your A1c? You have 3 months coming up to change that A1c reading-just focus on doing that. You do well with challenges. See diabetes as a lifetime challenge that you are going to excel at let your actions follow suit.

INTP

You may find that you are very good at analyzing things. Use this talent on your blood sugars. Use the software that exists out there to chart and graph your blood sugar readings and insulin doses. This doesn’t appeal to everyone but may just be right up your alley. You may try to find an explanation for any time your blood sugars don’t do what they are “supposed to”. This works to your advantage as long as you don’t over do it. In other words, strive to manage your blood sugars well but don’t beat yourself up. You typically are not the touchy feely type and while this is perfectly fine, you may find it helpful to try to connect with your feelings more. After all, diabetes is a huge emotional stress and not dealing with this could lead to hurting those you love. Something to try is reading diabetes blogs and not judging. Instead, just try to imagine yourself in someone else’s shoes and allow a place for compassion in your heart. Don’t ever forget the wonderful gift you have to come up with impressive ideas. We’re in the midst of a diabetes epidemic and everyone is key to making the future bright. You like to sit down and come up with theories. Don’t keep those to yourself.

ENFJ

You are a very generous individual. You live to love and give to others. People love you for the way you cheer them up or for the way you seem to understand exactly what their trying to say. While these are wonderful qualities, don’t neglect your own needs. Make special efforts to test your blood sugar as needed or to stick to your exercise routine. You love being social and in order for you diabetes management to thrive you want to either stand up to peer pressure as needed or find a social circle that is in line with your goals. You would do well in a diabetes group because not only would you love the interactions, you also would provide people with inspiration and hope and a kind, caring ear. You don’t have a huge interest in the logical aspect of diabetes. This means you want to work closely with your doctor in order to make sure you understand things that just may not be very interesting to you, yet important for you to know or be aware of. You really feel the need to bond with people and to have a few very close friends. It is wise to choose people that support your health and aren’t just hanging around for a fun ride.

INFJ

Your personality type is considered a rare type and you have probably felt different from many people throughout your life. Nevertheless people see you as a kind and sweet individual who is a wealth of knowledge-although you may be hard to get to know. You tend to be a bit messy and find it challenging to keep up with your stash of diabetes supplies. You may struggle with remembering to test frequently enough. You easily feel physically ill in times of stress and since this affects diabetes, consider learning to meditate or try yoga or sitting in silence once or twice a day. It is likely you never feel like you are a good enough diabetic. Learn to never feel as though you are a failure. Diabetes is a constant test and it may help to remind yourself from time to time that you are doing your best and there is no possible way to be a perfect diabetic-so don’t expect to be. Diabetes art therapy or a meeting one on one with a kind listener is probably more up your alley than joining a local diabetes club or group. You may find joining a group worthwhile and others will find your nurturing and patient nature a great thing of value. Something to consider. Since you don’t really like writing down your glucose numbers for the doctor and you don’t like to take the time to always count carbs in your food, you may want to write a journal. You want to at least be able to track how you are feeling from day to day. Your intuition will probably provide you a lot of guidance but, your doctor won’t necessarily be able to trust it. Sharing with your doctor some day to day notes will shine a lot of insight onto your diabetes management issues.

ENFP

You love excitement, people, and life. This makes you a fun ally on any project or activity and doing what you must for your diabetes should be aided by the fact that you feel ease in doing what it is you need to do. When stressed however, you run the risk of feeling like the diabetes management routine is just too much for you to handle and you may neglect your duties. You may skip testing or giving insulin or exercise and try to just enjoy your life. Problem is your diabetes is important and cannot be ignored. Since you really want to be liked by people and enjoy being in social settings, try very hard to find people who support you. Having friends who support you will help you do what you need to do for your health. On the other hand having friends who don’t care how you seem to be taking care of your diabetes may not help you stick with your plan. Since you love being spontaneous and diabetes makes this difficult, try to plan spontaneous-like events/activities and try to always carry emergency supplies (and a pair of comfortable shoes) everywhere you go. Diabetes doesn’t have to suck the fun out of life. See it as an opportunity to learn new recipes (don’t forget to put on music), to use it as an excuse to learn a dance, and to inspire other diabetics to live life joyously, as you do.

INFP

You are an emotional and intuitive “do gooder”. You want to help others and you push yourself to pursue goals in a way that seems harsh to others. You tend to be a perfectionist. You only one on one interactions with people more than group gatherings and are a great listener. Since you feel very intense emotions, diabetes can often completely overwhelm you. You may feel as if you are a failure if you don’t live up to your high standards. You are not a lover of logic in the sense that you prefer to think about people’s feelings, motivations, fears. Under diabetes stress you will probably suffer emotional outbursts with loved ones and may be prone to trying to control people and situations. Find time to meditate or be alone on a regular basis and work hard at doing the routine tasks your diabetes requires. It isn’t easy for you to test and give insulin on time so make extra effort here. The rewards will be huge. You probably enjoy writing and a great way to get a grip on your strong emotions is to write. Write them down in a journal or in a letter to a friend. Type them up in a blog for the world to see. Just don’t keep them bottled inside where they will hurt you. Remember your ability to really get passionate about a good cause and remember-nobody is perfect. Give yourself a break.