Defense Mechanisms

When people experience difficulties, they have different ways of

handling their pain. These different ways of dealing with pain are called
defense mechanisms. Originally conceived by Sigmund Freud, much of
the development of defense mechanisms was done by his daughter,
Anna Freud. Defense mechanisms can be healthy or unhealthy
depending on the circumstances and how much a person uses them. If
you slam down your briefcase because you are mad at your wife one
time, that's not a big deal. But if you frequently take your anger out by
throwing or breaking things, there might be a better way of dealing
with your anger

Defense mechanisms can hide many different feelings from anger to

love to sadness. There are a variety of other defense mechanisms such
as minimizing, blaming, diversion, withdrawal, mastery, compensation,
conversion, disassociation, idealization, identification, incorporation,
introjection, substitution, and symbolism.

Primitive defence mechanisms

1. Denial
Denial is the refusal to accept reality or fact, acting as if a painful event,
thought or feeling did not exist. It is considered one of the most
primitive of the defense mechanisms because it is characteristic of early
childhood development. Many people use denial in their everyday lives
to avoid dealing with painful feelings or areas of their life they don’t
wish to admit. For instance, a person who is a functioning alcoholic
will often simply deny they have a drinking problem, pointing to how
well they function in their job and relationships.
2. Regression

Regression is the reversion to an earlier stage of development in the

face of unacceptable thoughts or impulses. For an example an
adolescent who is overwhelmed with fear, anger and growing sexual
impulses might become clingy and start exhibiting earlier childhood
behaviors he has long since overcome, such as bedwetting. An adult
may regress when under a great deal of stress, refusing to leave their
bed and engage in normal, everyday activities.

3. Acting Out

Acting Out is performing an extreme behavior in order to express

thoughts or feelings the person feels incapable of otherwise expressing.
Instead of saying, “I’m angry with you,” a person who acts out may
instead throw a book at the person, or punch a hole through a wall.
When a person acts out, it can act as a pressure release, and often helps
the individual feel calmer and peaceful once again. For instance, a
child’s temper tantrum is a form of acting out when he or she doesn’t
get his or her way with a parent. Self-injury may also be a form of
acting-out, expressing in physical pain what one cannot stand to feel
emotionally.

4. Dissociation
Dissociation is when a person loses track of time and/or person, and
instead finds another representation of their self in order to continue in
the moment. A person who dissociates often loses track of time or
themselves and their usual thought processes and memories. People
who have a history of any kind of childhood abuse often suffer from
some form of dissociation. In extreme cases, dissociation can lead to a
person believing they have multiple selves (“multiple personality
disorder”). People who use dissociation often have a disconnected view
of themselves in their world. Time and their own self-image may not
flow continuously, as it does for most people. In this manner, a person
who dissociates can “disconnect” from the real world for a time, and
live in a different world that is not cluttered with thoughts, feelings or
memories that are unbearable.

5. Compartmentalization
Compartmentalization is a lesser form of dissociation, wherein parts of
oneself are separated from awareness of other parts and behaving as if
one had separate sets of values. An example might be an honest person
who cheats on their income tax return and keeps their two value
systems distinct and un-integrated while remaining unconscious of the
cognitive dissonance.

6. Projection
Projection is the misattribution of a person’s undesired thoughts,
feelings or impulses onto another person who does not have those
thoughts, feelings or impulses. Projection is used especially when the
thoughts are considered unacceptable for the person to express, or they
feel completely ill at ease with having them. For example, a spouse
may be angry at their significant other for not listening, when in fact it
is the angry spouse who does not listen. Projection is often the result of
a lack of insight and acknowledgement of one’s own motivations and
feelings.

7. Reaction Formation
Reaction Formation is the converting of unwanted or dangerous
thoughts, feelings or impulses into their opposites. For instance, a
woman who is very angry with her boss and would like to quit her job
may instead be overly kind and generous toward her boss and express a
desire to keep working there forever. She is incapable of expressing the
negative emotions of anger and unhappiness with her job, and instead
becomes overly kind to publicly demonstrate her lack of anger and
unhappiness.

Less Primitive, More Mature Defense Mechanisms

Less primitive defense mechanisms are a step up from the primitive
defense mechanisms in the previous section. Many people employ these
defenses as adults, and while they work okay for many, they are not
ideal ways of dealing with our feelings, stress and anxiety. If you
recognize yourself using a few of these, don’t feel bad – everybody
does.

8. Repression

Repression is the unconscious blocking of unacceptable thoughts,

feelings and impulses. The key to repression is that people do it
unconsciously, so they often have very little control over it. “Repressed
memories” are memories that have been unconsciously blocked from
access or view. But because memory is very malleable and
ever-changing, it is not like playing back a DVD of your life. The DVD
has been filtered and even altered by your life experiences, even by
what you’ve read or viewed.

9. Displacement
Displacement is the redirecting of thoughts feelings and impulses
directed at one person or object, but taken out upon another person or
object. People often use displacement when they cannot express their
feelings in a safe manner to the person they are directed at. The classic
example is the man who gets angry at his boss, but can’t express his
anger to his boss for fear of being fired. He instead comes home and
kicks the dog or starts an argument with his wife. The man is
redirecting his anger from his boss to his dog or wife. Naturally, this is
a pretty ineffective defense mechanism, because while the anger finds a
route for expression, it’s misapplication to other harmless people or
objects will cause additional problems for most people.
10. Intellectualization
Intellectualization is the overemphasis on thinking when confronted
with an unacceptable impulse, situation or behavior without employing
any emotions whatsoever to help mediate and place the thoughts into an
emotional, human context. Rather than deal with the painful associated
emotions, a person might employ intellectualization to distance
themselves from the impulse, event or behavior. For instance, a person
who has just been given a terminal medical diagnosis, instead of
expressing their sadness and grief, focuses instead on the details of all
possible fruitless medical procedures.

11. Rationalization

Rationalization is putting something into a different light or offering a

different explanation for one’s perceptions or behaviors in the face of a
changing reality. For instance, a woman who starts dating a man she
really, really likes and thinks the world of is suddenly dumped by the
man for no reason. She reframes the situation in her mind with, “I
suspected he was a loser all along.”

12. Undoing
Undoing is the attempt to take back an unconscious behavior or thought
that is unacceptable or hurtful. For instance, after realizing you just
insulted your significant other unintentionally, you might spend then
next hour praising their beauty, charm and intellect. By “undoing” the
previous action, the person is attempting to counteract the damage done
by the original comment, hoping the two will balance one another out.

Mature Defense Mechanisms

Mature defense mechanisms are often the most constructive and helpful
to most adults, but may require practice and effort to put into daily use.
While primitive defense mechanisms do little to try and resolve
underlying issues or problems, mature defenses are more focused on
helping a person be a more constructive component of their
environment. People with more mature defenses tend to be more at
peace with themselves and those around them.

13. Sublimation
Sublimation is simply the channeling of unacceptable impulses,
thoughts and emotions into more acceptable ones. For instance, when a
person has sexual impulses they would like not to act upon, they may
instead focus on rigorous exercise. Refocusing such unacceptable or
harmful impulses into productive use helps a person channel energy
that otherwise would be lost or used in a manner that might cause the
person more anxiety.
Sublimation can also be done with humor or fantasy. Humor, when
used as a defense mechanism, is the channeling of unacceptable
impulses or thoughts into a light-hearted story or joke. Humor reduces
the intensity of a situation, and places a cushion of laughter between the
person and the impulses. Fantasy, when used as a defense mechanism,
is the channeling of unacceptable or unattainable desires into
imagination. For example, imagining one’s ultimate career goals can be
helpful when one experiences temporary setbacks in academic
achievement. Both can help a person look at a situation in a different
way, or focus on aspects of the situation not previously explored.

14. Compensation
Compensation is a process of psychologically counterbalancing
perceived weaknesses by emphasizing strength in other arenas. By
emphasizing and focusing on one’s strengths, a person is recognizing
they cannot be strong at all things and in all areas in their lives. For
instance, when a person says, “I may not know how to cook, but I can
sure do the dishes!,” they’re trying to compensate for their lack of
cooking skills by emphasizing their cleaning skills instead. When done
appropriately and not in an attempt to over-compensate, compensation
is defense mechanism that helps reinforce a person’s self-esteem and
self-image.

15. Assertiveness
Assertiveness is the emphasis of a person’s needs or thoughts in a
manner that is respectful, direct and firm. Communication styles exist
on a continuum, ranging from passive to aggressive, with assertiveness
falling neatly inbetween. People who are passive and communicate in a
passive manner tend to be good listeners, but rarely speak up for
themselves or their own needs in a relationship. People who are
aggressive and communicate in an aggressive manner tend to be good
leaders, but often at the expense of being able to listen empathetically
to others and their ideas and needs. People who are assertive strike a
balance where they speak up for themselves, express their opinions or
needs in a respectful yet firm manner, and listen when they are being
spoken to. Becoming more assertive is one of the most desired
communication skills and helpful defense mechanisms most people
want to learn, and would benefit in doing so.
***
Remember, defense mechanisms are most often learned behaviors,
most of which we learned during childhood. That’s a good thing,
because it means that, as an adult, you can choose to learn some new
behaviors and new defense mechanisms that may be more beneficial to
you in your life. Many psychotherapists will help you work on these
things, if you’d like. But even becoming more aware of when you’re
using one of the less primitive types of defense mechanisms above can
be helpful in identifying behaviors you’d like to reduce.