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Defence Mechanisms

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Aneela khan
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5 views

Defence Mechanisms

Uploaded by

Aneela khan
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as PPTX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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DEFENCE

MECHANISMS
• Defense mechanisms are patterns of thinking that we engage in to provide
ourselves psychological protection. Healthy defense mechanisms help us cope with
trauma, stress, and adversity.
• However, if we use defense mechanisms to avoid feelings that must be fully
experienced, to avoid unpleasant truth and reality, or to avoid difficult work,
responsibility or accountability, then this process is unhealthy. We will be more
successful in our lives as we understand how we use these unhealthy defenses and
learn to recognize them in ourselves.
Ego​​Defense​​Mechanisms
• Denial​:
• We protect ourselves from some unpleasant reality by simply refusing to face or
accept it. Example: It is obvious that an alcohol addiction is creating serious
problems in my life, but I deny it because I don’t want to give up the perceived
benefits that I get from drinking.
Repression
• T
​ his is essentially forgetting, but it is not as if the information is disposed of
permanently; rather, the information is tucked away into the subconscious and has
the potential to resurface violently at any moment. The forgetting is used for
defense as it protects the individual from consciously dealing with painful
circumstances and events.
• Example: I experienced a traumatic event in my childhood which I was unprepared to cope
with at the time, so I repressed the memory to protect myself. Even though I am older now,
and can adequately cope with this I keep it repressed to avoid facing it.
Regression​
• The method of reverting back to a behavior that was comforting, enjoyable or
protective in youth but was less functional and adaptive than more mature
behaviors currently available to the individual. Often, the experience of significant
stress can cause one to revert back to more childish coping strategies rather than
face the more difficult task of responsible problem solving.
• E.g forgetting sexual abuse from your childhood due to the trauma and anxiety
Suppression
• This is a conscious process in which we choose to immediately suppress a thought
or feeling in order to avoid it.
• Example: I have some legitimate angry feelings toward my brother that should be
expressed but every time I feel the anger I suppress it in order to avoid a confrontation.
Rationalization​
• We try to convince ourselves and others with reasonable-sounding arguments that
an unacceptable thought, attitude, behavior, etc., is acceptable. By so doing we
avoid responsibility and accountability.
• Example: A parent beats his child and avoids feelings of guilt and wrongdoing by convincing
himself that it is for the child’s own good.
Projection​
• We deny and avoid accountability for our own undesired feelings and inappropriate
behaviors by attributing them to someone else.
• Example: An angry husband accuses his wife of hostility towards him when the truth is that
he is the one feeling hostility towards her.
Displacement​
• Discharging pent up feelings onto less threatening objects.
• Example: A teen girl’s anger at her boyfriend, which she is afraid to express to him, may be
displaced later in an angry outburst towards her little brother.
Reaction​​Formation​
• T
​ his is turning a feeling into its opposite. To ward off an anxiety-causing and
unacceptable impulse, one may replace it with its over-emphasized opposite.
• Example: The young boy who hates his older brother for his accomplishments, praise and
attention may transform this hatred into aggressive love and praise. This makes his
behavior socially acceptable but the underlying hatred remains.
Intellectualization​​
• avoiding unacceptable emotions by focusing on the intellectual aspects.
• focusing on the details of a funeral as opposed to the sadness and grief

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