The Endurer Type

Other Names

This Character Type was originally labelled “the Masochist” by Wilhelm Reich.

Safety Strategy

The fundamental safety strategies employed by the Endurer type are to avoid any form of confrontation, to bury their individuality deep inside of them and to seek to simply “survive” life. Their inner world is filled with angst and images of violence, strongly at odds with their outer appearance of being calm and grounded. 

Origins

As developing infants, we first start to express negativity around the age of two. Our way of forging an ego is through resisting that which our parents, or other care-givers, wish us to do. Although kids at this time can appear to be deliberately annoying and drama-creating, they are also very sensitive. If a parent is over zealous in trying to keep their two-year old quiet and under control, it seems that the child’s nervous system may perceive this as a threat of ostracism and simply shut down their access to anger and outward expression.

From that time on, the life of the Endurer becomes simply a “survival trip.” Their own nervous system won’t allow them to be outwardly expressive and so they have to learn to work around any expression of their own needs. They bear life as a heavy burden and simply find ways to get through the day. 

It can be interesting to note the social-political significance of the Endurer character, as they do make up a big chunk of the traditional workforce. Social theorists with a Marxist background often perceive the issue with Capitalism to be solely the exploitative behaviour of the ruling class. Yet, the inability of the Endurer to confront authority, often mediated unconsciously by their nervous system, is the other side of the coin. Endurers need external authorities to fight their corner for them. 

Positive Qualities

Endurers make loyal companions, willing workers and caring friends. They are the ones who quietly get on with the job, whether it be on the shop floor, bringing up the family or being the friend that you can always rely on. They take on the drudge tasks and are always around. It would be hard to imagine Western civilization surviving for long without the input of the millions of Endurers who steadfastly continue working, come rain come shine. All they ask is to be treated with a modicum of respect, to at times be left alone and to be allowed to survive.

Unlike the other Character Types, Endurers are generally well-grounded individuals. Their safety strategy has been to push everything down. Whilst this blocks the development of their individuality, it does mean that energetically their centre of gravity is down low, near the ground. 

Negative Attributes

Although Endurers indeed make loyal workers and friends, deep inside they harbour a multitude of resentments. They didn’t become the way they are through self-awareness, rather through being, as they experienced it, brutalised into submission in early infancy. 

The fear that they have of allowing their true feelings to show, especially anger, has been written deep into their musculature and now exists as a constant unconscious inhibiting mechanism. They simply do what they need to do to survive, on autopilot. However, their inner world tends be filled with this suppressed conflict. They seek ways to release the cauldron of internal pressure without actually getting angry. Frequently this manifests as grumbling, gossiping and complaining. 

At work, they will be the guys muttering in the background about the boss, or the system, as they go about their daily tasks. Yet, at the same time, keeping a big smile on their face. Any suggestion that they should actually do something about the complaints that they have might be listened to on the surface. But their terror of confronting authority means that they will never act upon such suggestions.

Endurers who are married, or in a relationship, will often refer to their partner as “she (or he) who must be obeyed” or similar, trying to make light of their willing slavery. Whilst terrified of confronting authority directly, Endurers will nevertheless frequently subtly undermine their boss, or the company. They invariably do it in such a manner that it is not possible to pin such actions directly upon them. Endurers thus love to have rules and regulations that they can invoke (external protective authorities such as Health & Safety) to hold up the forward movement of projects.

The extreme level of angst that makes up the inner world of the Endurer may at times rise to levels that they find unbearable, leading to deep despair and suicidal thoughts. 

Appearance

• Endurers are more likely to be male though by no means exclusively so.
• They tend to be heavyset or musclebound. However, their musculature developed to keep their raging inner world suppressed and hidden.
• They may have a short bull-neck.
• They may appear big and dangerous but are invariably passive.

Behaviour

• Although they may look scary, Endurers are passive in behaviour.
• They tend to complain and grumble.
• They submit to authority on the surface but will undermine authority if they can do so without being seen.
• They sometimes act as though they are stupid so that they don’t need to take on more responsibility.
• They may act as though they are interested in change, but when possibilities emerge they will invariably find reasons why they can’t get involved.
• They are hardworking and reliable
• They exhibit little sense of joy in what they do, or in life generally

Psychology

• Their nervous system shut down their outward expression of emotion when they were aged about two. This happened because their parents tried to get some control over them at this age. The parental action may have actually been minor but their nervous system reacted in this manner. So there could be a genetic predisposition.
• Their developing ego was thus “broken” and they learned that life was something that just needed to be survived without expectation of improvement.
• Their inner world is marked by opposing forces, angst, conflict and stress. Revenge fantasies are common. 
• There is invariably huge suppressed anger.
• Will easily get entangled with the Aggressive Type, not least because both have core woundings around authority. 
• Endurers are terrified of directly confronting perceived authorities.
• They have an especially dominating superego (Freud) that controls their thinking and behaviour, telling them what is or is not acceptable or safe. It’s rather as though there is a real tyrant living in the top of their head, ever threatening to descend on them like a ton of bricks.

Treatment Direction

• The big issue with the Endurer is determining whether the condition has become simply habitual behaviour or whether their nervous system is still actively shutting them down. The former can be treated by getting access to anger. The latter needs a more gentle approach, trying to get the nervous system defences to finally stand down.
• The Endurer needs to learn the value of their own feelings, even though they have been suppressed and denied for so long. 
• Immersing them in a hyper-positive, uplifting environment and challenging them to be positive can compel some Endurers to confront and overcome their negativity. For others (nervous system type), it’s just too much.
• Learning to express anger will not be easy for them and may trigger defensive reactions. 
• It is fairly common for Endurers to shut down heavily if they try to create change too quickly. They may exhibit the symptoms of chronic fatigue and be unable to continue. This is likely mediated by their nervous system and not within their control.
• It can be great for Endurers to simply play like children, especially with others.
• Exercises that allow them to progressively learn to trust can be very useful.
• Although Endurers will start out submissive to authority, it’s important to be aware that this is merely a learned behaviour. As they learn to come into a more authentic relationship with their personal power, it’s common for them to act out on authority.
• Endurers can make very challenging clients. They have a deep distrust and desire for revenge over perceived authority figures beneath the surface.

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