Carl Jung’s Falsification of Type Theory: The Stress of Not Being You

How Inauthenticity Harms Us, And Why Change Matters

The path to a more authentic you is one far from plain-sailing. The alignment of our true values to our external environment takes time. We have to breakdown barriers of our psyche that protect our vulnerable parts, and learn to love them whilst facing the daunting task of expressing them to a world we fear rejection from. We may even need to uncover what exactly our values are, through trial and error, and experience the pendulum of personal growth several times over before getting it right — if right is even a thing — .

All of this requires effort, courage, audacity, and a willingness to face anxieties that know no better than to protect us.

In short, for those of us who have trouble expressing and championing our authentic selves, we are bound to experience stress. After all, stress shows up anywhere in our life where discomfort is — and personal growth is rife with discomfort.

But if there’s one thing I’ve kept in mind throughout my personal growth journey it’s that stress will be present whether I choose the path of authentic alignment, or not.

I remember the first time I read Carl Jung’s falsification of type theory. How he outlined the stressful mundanity of living a life out of alignment, and how such stress leads to psychological and physical impairments. We’ll talk about it in more detail but it enlightened me to the fact that my inauthentic life was harming me.

I wanted to dive into Jung’s falsification of type theory today to shed light on the need for us to be who we truly are — and the stressful consequences of not. I’ll then discuss why the stress associated with aligning ourselves with our lives is ultimately the stress worth choosing.

Falsification of Type: A Stressful Existence

Carl Jung used the term “Falsification of type” to describe the state of overriding one’s authenticity wants/needs with inauthentic actions. He called this process a “a violation of natural disposition” explaining it’s repercussions as follows:

“As a rule whenever such Falsification of Type takes place as a result of external influence, the individual becomes neurotic later, and a cure can successfully be sought only in the development of the attitude (i.e., function) which corresponds with the individual’s natural way.” — Carl Jung, The Physiology of Psychological Type, Part III: Falsification of Type

We’ve all felt the stress associated with being someone we’re not. It’s the saying yes when we really want to say no, getting ready for a job you’d rather not be doing, or maintaining a relationship you intuitively want to end. It’s the process of doing something that goes against the grain of who you are and what you want.

Initially such dispositions may only bring a small amount of stress. It may appear as a new ache in the body or an intuitive voice that argues why you shouldn’t do something in the back of your mind. Most of us are untrained to recognise such internal signals, however, so we push the voices down, distract ourselves from the aches, and the stress festers until it becomes chronic. This chronic stress then manifests in mental health issues or physical ailments. Dr Arlene Taylor, a researcher in the field has termed this state of prolonged stress as PASS, or prolonged adaptive stress syndrome.

This begs to reason if the inauthentic life, where things are seemingly “comfortable”, is truly as comfortable as we think it is. If we’re misaligned, it’s likely stress is present and we’re simply numbing ourselves with coping mechanisms as a distraction. Telling ourselves we’re fine when we’re really not, or even knowing we aren’t fine but feeling forced to power on in the face of our “external pressures”, as Jung says.

So what are our options? Do we face the stress tied to being who we want to be, or do we succumb to the stress of knowing who we want to be and self-rejecting? For me, I can’t think of a worse options than the latter.

Choosing The Worthy Stress

As someone who has felt and continues to feel the stress tied to not doing what they want to do, it’s a highly uncomfortable space to be in. I’ve practiced acceptance of my current circumstance, and it helps minimise the stress, but I’ve come to realise acceptance can only take you so far. In my eyes, if there’s a misalignment there’s a misalignment. Best we pursue the path of change, however long it takes.

Of course, this doesn’t mean change is easy. As I’ve said throughout this article, change itself is a stressful experience.

But to me it’s a worthy stress.

For example, when it comes to creating the podcast I am working on, I’d rather face the stress tied to facing my fears of self-expression than to push that intuitive desire down and know I didn’t do something I wanted to do. When it comes to my day job, I’d rather pursue a side hustle than know I wasn’t remotely aligned at any point in my day or week. Writing fulfils me on a level my day job could never because it taps into a part of me that feels true. It just feels right.

I hope all of us can feel just a little more aligned with ourselves this year. Even if you tasked yourself to take one step and do one thing every day or every week that you really wanted to do, I can guarantee you’d feel better for it. You never know, such an action might snowball you into a whole other life.

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