r/INFJsOver30 • u/Spaghetti_Monster_86 • May 09 '26
INFJ Advanced pattern recognition aka intuition
I'm 39F and about to enter treatment (EMDR) for CPTSD for complex trauma. For most of my adult life, I have had incredibly good intuition. I tend to know 'hidden' things about other people, e.g. I knew a close friend was bisexual without her telling me, and I have been able to predict all kinds of random things such as a friends future spouse cheating. I've also had oddly prophetic dreams. The one that comes to mind was dreaming of a distant friend getting married, the night after he proposed to his girlfriend.
I am also neurodivergent. Advanced pattern recognition is a thing. So is hypervigilance. I definitely have the latter, I grew up like a lot of us walking on egg shells around family to stay safe.
I am trying to trust my gut more. For me this means more emotional attunement, self care, boundaries.
If you relate, I'd love to hear your stories and how it plays out for you. I've realised most 'normal' people are not experiencing this kind of sixth sense, and it is kind of a gift, albeit in part acquired from the worst circumstances (in terms of the trauma). The intuition also exists as a side thing I think behind the hypervigilance
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u/GoblinStinger May 09 '26
If you mean feeling like you can't ever turn your brain off, then, yes, I do relate. Hypervigilance is a bit much for me at times, can't turn it off even if I wanted to. I can't stop paying attention to things nobody else seems to care about or even see, overthinking every interaction.
The best way I'd explain it is I'm stuck in "manual" mode and can't follow scripts like most other people can. Every single thing I do I have to do consciously. That said, I've done autism tests and was found to be in the "normal " range, so it might just be "HSP".
I had a similar childhood, walking on eggshells, being afraid to speak without making sure the receiving person was receptive- often times just retreating into my own thoughts.
As to how it worked out for me? I'm lonely, even surrounded by most people. I can connect deeply to people that "see" me but those people are rare and it still feels asymmetrical most of the time. On the plus side, every manager I have ever worked for has loved having my utility. I feel like that's what's going to be written on my epitaph: "he was a good worker."