The MBTI and other personality tests claim to reveal our true selves, but how much can we trust these results when so much of our environment, biology, and experiences shape the way we answer? I’ve been reflecting on this lately, and the deeper I go, the more questions I uncover.

The Influence of Medications and Substances

It’s no secret that substances can alter how we feel and think, and this extends to how we interpret and respond to personality test questions. Medications like Lexapro, designed to stabilize mood and reduce anxiety, can subtly shift the way we see ourselves. For instance, someone prone to self-doubt might begin to feel more self-assured, leading to results that tilt toward the assertive (A) side of the spectrum rather than the turbulent (T).

Similarly, substances like THC can enhance creativity or alter focus, which may amplify intuitive traits while suppressing clarity of thought. These effects are temporary but undeniably powerful in the moment, making it easy to wonder: am I answering as I truly am, or as I feel under the influence?

Trauma and Mental Health Conditions

The more I think about it, the more I realize how experiences like trauma or chronic mental health conditions can create adaptive traits that feel like part of us but are, in truth, survival strategies. For example:

• Anxiety can make someone more cautious and rigid in their thinking, pushing them toward Judging traits, even if flexibility is their natural preference.
• Stress might temporarily dull creativity or empathy, affecting how someone scores on Intuition versus Sensing or Feeling versus Thinking.
• PTSD or childhood trauma often reinforces hypervigilance, creating an overdeveloped need for control or a preference for withdrawal, which may not reflect the person’s core self.

Even physical conditions, like a traumatic brain injury, can alter personality over time, creating shifts in emotional regulation or decision-making that ripple into every aspect of life.

The Role of Childhood Drama and Environment

Looking back, it’s clear how formative years shape not just who we are but how we respond to the world. A turbulent childhood might forge heightened empathy, as a means of sensing danger and surviving, or foster a rigid need for control to counter chaos. These traits can deeply influence how someone answers questions on a test like the MBTI. Are these answers reflective of innate tendencies—or adaptations crafted in the fires of experience?

What About Baseline Personality?

This raises a larger question: is there such a thing as a “baseline” personality? For those of us carrying the weight of anxiety, stress, or past trauma, it can be nearly impossible to untangle who we’ve always been from who we’ve had to become.

Even without external influences, the MBTI’s results can vary depending on when and how you take it. We’re not static creatures. Our thoughts and feelings shift with the day, the season, or even the moment. What these tests often capture is a snapshot—a fragment of ourselves frozen in time and shaped by circumstance.

What Is Personality, Really?

After peeling back these layers, I’m left with the final, most mysterious question: what is personality anyway? Is it the constant hum of who we are beneath the surface, the parts of us that never change, no matter what life throws at us? Or is it the collection of our responses to the world—the sum of everything we’ve lived through, survived, and adapted to?

Perhaps personality is both. A paradox of constancy and change. A river that flows yet always remains the same. The MBTI, for all its allure, doesn’t account for these nuances. It gives us a framework, a language to understand ourselves, but not the full picture. That picture includes everything: the steady core of our being, the layers of experience wrapped around it, and the shifting moods and influences that color each moment.

So when you take a personality test, whether it’s the official MBTI or a free online quiz, remember that it’s only one piece of the puzzle. It may tell you something meaningful about who you are, but it’s just as likely to reflect where you’ve been—or even what’s happening in your mind at the moment.

In the end, personality may be less about finding the right label and more about embracing the complexity of what it means to be human: a blend of nature, nurture, and the unknowable mystery of the self.