I'm an ENFJ, and I've always been very emotional and empathetic and all that stuff you'd expect from an ENFJ. But lately I've been having a hard time taking things seriously. Like upon hearing about some unfortunate event or something, I just don't feel anything. I know it's unfortunate and can logically process it and acknowledge that, but I feel almost apathetic about it. I certainly take no pleasure in it, understand...but lately strong emotions aren't registering with me. Any thoughts?
Definitely sounds like a Ti grip. Did anything overwhelmingly emotional happen to you recently? Sometimes, when we are forced to deal with a large influx of emotions, whether all at once or gradually, it can become too much to deal with in ways we normally would and, in my experience at least, it can result in a complete shut down of all emotions, good and bad. It’s kinda like Fe overload. This is usually when I experience gripping. This can function as a form of repression (a type of defence mechanism, but there are others there that may be applicable as well), and can lead to worse issues down the line so kudos to you for recognizing the issue and asking for help.
In a more general sense, grips can also be caused by avoiding developing or properly using your lower functions and over relying on your top function until it eventually fails you. In either case, you’ll need to reassess your situation with an eye towards making Fe+Ni work together to deal with the world.
I’m not entirely sure if this will be helpful to you specifically because I can only speak to my own experiences, but I will attach some links for you to gain some insight into what you may be dealing with and hopefully they are of use to you as well.
For me, the first step is becoming aware of the fact that I do not feel like myself in that I’m not feeling emotions as often or as strongly as I usually would (you have already done this so that’s really good). Second, identify and remove any self-imposed stressors while decreasing situational stressors (if possible) in order to make your environment a safe one for you to begin letting those emotions in again. Third, I highly recommend practicing mindfulness. When gripping, the entire function stack becomes unhealthy, so it’s important to work on indulging them all in healthy ways. After not adeptly dealing with whatever emotions may have been compounding for however long, getting in touch with myself via mindfulness helps me to pay attention and get that Ni going, letting me know what’s going on deep down. Sometimes watching something emotional that you know will make you cry can help jump start Fe in order to let yourself feel an emotion as you normally would.
Throughout this process, it’s also important to pay close attention to looping behaviors so that you don’t start indulging Fe and Se in unhealthy ways.
You said you know when something is unfortunate, but can’t seem to feel the emotion that goes along with that thought. Disparity between these things will only create a further divide mentally, so congruence between thoughts and emotions will help this tremendously.