Disability and the Five Temperaments Part 2c: The Sanguine

Sanguines are naturally social; they enjoy interacting with other people. They seek attention, not to establish superiority (which is more choleric), but to show how amazing they are. A sanguine tends to make many friends and has little social inhibition. Either endearing or annoying, the sanguine's disposition promotes interaction more than other temperaments.

How the Sanguine Deals
Sanguines love to make friends and interact with others and get bored easily when they don't. A sanguine will engage the people around them to make them laugh and smile. This temperament is forgiving and never in one state for long. In order to fulfill their driving need for interaction, they may "cover up" what they don't want others to see. Sanguines build massive, loosely-joined communities quickly and regenerate by talking to others. Frequently, people of this temperament use humor to lighten a heavy topic.

What to Watch For
Sanguines are expressive and boisterous. Unlike the melancholic, sanguines have quick, intense emotions that fade rapidly. The best thing to do in a sanguine's angry/sad states is to wait them out and listen. Do not reason with an angry sanguine. Rarely do sanguines hold grudges or stay in one state for long. The little alone time that a sanguine has is critical to their wellbeing. With that said, never force unwanted interaction on a sanguine. This temperament is known for blowing small things out of proportion; their emotions can swing like a pendulum, roil like a stormy sea, and then  be still as if there were no disturbances all in one minute. Exclusion is harder on a sanguine than it is on people of other temperaments because this deprives the sanguine of much-needed interaction.

The Sanguine and Therapies
This temperament takes well to interacting with therapists and benefits from support groups, music therapies, and activity-based therapies. Emotional support can help a sanguine manage their emotions, which more often than not fluctuate wildly with this temperament. Sanguines tend respond more to groups than one-on-one techniques, but individual attention is important to make a sanguine feel important and valued.

Sanguines and Acquired Disability
When a sanguine acquires a disability, they may go through a period of self-loathing and struggle with their self-image during a grief period. A sanguine may withdraw from social activity and take up obsessions about their appearance as this temperament has a need to look morally sound. Usually, the grief period is relatively short in duration for a sanguine. After that, they tend to rebound and go on with their lives as grief tends not to stick to sanguines as it does to other temperaments. Sanguines benefit from support groups to know that they are not alone. Though a sanguine may "look" happy, it does not always mean they are.

Sanguines and Assistance
Sanguines are glad to accept help from other people, but may not take well to assistive devices as the sanguine might feel assistive devices mar their image. Customization such as adding one's name to and choosing the color of their device can help a sanguine accept an assistive device as a part of them. A sanguine engages and befriends their assistants if they are kind and may feel conflicted if they are not.

What Benefits a Sanguine
As the most social of the five temperaments, the presence of others is critical to a sanguine's functioning. A sanguine left alone is a bored, frustrated, and resentful sanguine. This temperament thrives on attention and loves to flit from person to person, thus gaining many acquaintances. A sanguine is the person who will gladly explain themselves to others in most situations as it is the chance to make new friends. Sanguines do not like to turn away other people, so it is important to teach a sanguine about quality friendships versus quantity of friendships.

"Do for a Sanguine"

• Encourage them to make friends.
• Teach them to regulate their all-over-the-place emotions
• Give them opportunities to prove how amazing they are.
• Push a sanguine to try new things.
• Allow alone time. It is critical to their health to take breaks from social interaction.
• Sit back and watch when they have fun.

"Don't" for a Sanguine

• Force unwanted interaction on them.
• Repress their emotions.
• Hover if they care about this.
• Try to make them more phlegmatic or melancholic. 
• Let them run themselves ragged.
• Harm their self-image.

The Sanguine Disability Advocate

• Will stop to chat with someone who asks about them
• Creates a friendly atmosphere on their Internet profiles
• Likes to find other people with the same/similar experiences
• Tends to "talk to" their viewers
• Enthusiastically welcomes new commenters if they are bloggers
• Welcomes questions
• "Breaks the ice" when it comes to disability-related awkwardness