Defense mechanisms why try
Top 10 Defense Mechanisms and Why We Use Them
Defense mechanisms refer to psychological strategies or behaviors that people may use to cope with difficult feelings, thoughts, or events.
Defense mechanisms are behaviors that people use to separate themselves from unpleasant events, actions, or thoughts.
The idea of defense mechanisms comes from psychoanalytic theory, a psychological perspective of personality that sees personality as the interaction between three components: id, ego, and super-ego. These psychological strategies may help people put distance between themselves and threats or unwanted feelings, such as guilt or shame.
First proposed by Sigmund Freud, this theory has evolved over time and contends that behaviors, like defense mechanisms, are not under a person’s conscious control. In fact, most people do them without realizing it.
According to these theories, defense mechanisms are a natural part of psychological development. Identifying which type you, your loved ones, and even your co-workers use may help you in future conversations and encounters.
Defense mechanisms are ways you react to situations that bring up negative emotions. According to psychoanalytic theory, when you experience a stressor, the subconscious will first monitor the situation to see if it might harm you. If the subconscious believes the situation might lead to emotional harm, it may react with a defense mechanism to protect you.
Usually, you are unaware of the defense mechanism, though the behavior may appear odd to others around you.
Many researchers place defense mechanisms on a continuum, with more mature defenses improving cognitive processes and less mature ones causing harm.
In the long term, mature defense mechanisms may not be particularly detrimental to your emotional or mental health. Using more mature mechanisms may help you face the anxieties and situations that might normally cause stress and emotional duress.
Other defense mechanisms, however, are not as mature and helpful. Prolonged use of these defenses can lead to lingering problems.
In fact, they may prevent you from ever facing emotional issues or anxieties because they block you from seeing the root cause.
Some signs that defense mechanisms are getting in the way of your everyday life and mental health may include:
- feeling sad or depressed
- having difficulty getting out of bed
- avoiding usual daily activities, things, or people that once made you happy
- having difficulty forming or maintaining healthy relationships
- communication problems that hinder your professional or personal life
Dozens of different defense mechanisms have been identified. Some are used more commonly than others. Here are a few common defense mechanisms:
1. Denial
Denial is one of the most common defense mechanisms. It occurs when you refuse to accept reality or facts. People in denial may block external events or circumstances from the mind so that they don’t have to deal with the emotional impact. In other words, they avoid painful feelings or events.
This defense mechanism is one of the most widely known, too. The phrase, “They’re in denial,” is commonly understood to mean a person is avoiding reality despite what may be obvious to people around them.
2. Repression
Unsavory thoughts, painful memories, or irrational beliefs can upset you. Instead of facing those thoughts, people may unconsciously choose to hide them in hopes of forgetting them entirely.
That does not mean, however, that the memories disappear entirely. They may influence behaviors, and they may impact future relationships. You just may not realize the impact this defense mechanism is having.
3. Projection
Some thoughts or feelings you have about another person may make you uncomfortable. When people project those feelings, they misattribute them to the other person.
For example, you may dislike your new co-worker, but instead of accepting that, you choose to tell yourself that they dislike you. You start to interpret their words and actions toward you in the worst way possible, even though they don’t actually dislike you.
4. Displacement
You direct strong emotions and frustrations toward a person or object that doesn’t feel threatening. This allows you to satisfy an impulse to react, but you don’t risk significant consequences.
A good example of this defense mechanism is getting angry at your child or spouse because you had a bad day at work. Neither of these people is the target of your strong emotions, but your subconscious may believe reacting to them is likely less problematic than reacting to your boss.
5. Regression
Some people who feel threatened or anxious may unconsciously “escape” to an earlier stage of development.
This type of defense mechanism may be most obvious in young children. If they experience trauma or loss, they may suddenly act as if they’re younger again. They may even begin wetting the bed or sucking their thumb as a form of regression.
Adults can regress, too. Adults who are struggling to cope with events or behaviors may return to sleeping with a cherished stuffed animal, overeat foods they find comforting, or begin chain-smoking or chewing on pencils or pens.
They may also avoid everyday activities because they feel overwhelmed.
6. Rationalization
Some people may attempt to explain undesirable behaviors with their own set of “facts.” This allows you to feel comfortable with the choice you made, even if you know on another level it’s not right.
For example, someone who didn’t get a promotion at work might say they didn’t want the promotion anyways.
7. Sublimation
This type of defense mechanism is considered a mature, positive strategy. That’s because people who rely on it choose to redirect strong emotions or feelings into an object or activity that is appropriate and safe.
For example, instead of lashing out at your coworkers during a stressful shift, you choose to channel your frustration into a kickboxing class. You could also funnel or redirect the feelings into music, art, or sports.
8. Reaction formation
People who use this defense mechanism recognize how they feel, but they choose to behave in the opposite manner of their instincts.
A person who reacts this way, for example, may feel they should not express negative emotions, such as anger or frustration. They choose to instead react in an overly positive way.
9. Compartmentalization
Separating your life into independent sectors may feel like a way to protect many elements of it.
For example, when you choose to not discuss personal life issues at work, you block off, or compartmentalize, that element of your life. This allows you to carry on without facing the anxieties or challenges while you’re in that setting or mindset.
10. Intellectualization
When you’re hit with a trying situation, you may choose to remove all emotion from your responses and instead focus on quantitative facts.
You may see this strategy in use when a person spends their days creating spreadsheets of job opportunities and leads after they are let go from a job.
Defense mechanisms can sometimes be viewed as a type of self-deception. You might be using them to hide emotional responses that you don’t want to deal with from yourself.
However, it’s done mostly on an unconscious level. You’re not always aware of the way your mind or ego will respond.
That doesn’t mean, however, that you can’t modify or change the behaviors. Indeed, you can transform unhealthy defense mechanisms into ones that are more sustainable. These techniques may help:
- Find accountability. Friends and family members can help you recognize defense mechanisms you may be using. By drawing attention to the self-deception, they can help you identify the moment you unconsciously use self-deception. That allows you to then decide in the conscious state what you really want to do.
- Learn coping strategies. Therapy with a mental health expert, such as a psychotherapist, psychologist, or psychoanalyst, may help you recognize the defense mechanisms you use most often. They can then help you learn active responses to make choices on a more mindful level.
Defense mechanisms are natural. They are often used without any long-term complications or issues.
However, some people do develop emotional difficulties if they continue to use these mechanisms without coping with the underlying threat or anxiety. Treatment focuses on helping you address issues from a mindful place, not an unconscious one.
Top 10 Defense Mechanisms and Why We Use Them
Defense mechanisms refer to psychological strategies or behaviors that people may use to cope with difficult feelings, thoughts, or events.
Defense mechanisms are behaviors that people use to separate themselves from unpleasant events, actions, or thoughts.
The idea of defense mechanisms comes from psychoanalytic theory, a psychological perspective of personality that sees personality as the interaction between three components: id, ego, and super-ego. These psychological strategies may help people put distance between themselves and threats or unwanted feelings, such as guilt or shame.
First proposed by Sigmund Freud, this theory has evolved over time and contends that behaviors, like defense mechanisms, are not under a person’s conscious control.
In fact, most people do them without realizing it.
According to these theories, defense mechanisms are a natural part of psychological development. Identifying which type you, your loved ones, and even your co-workers use may help you in future conversations and encounters.
Defense mechanisms are ways you react to situations that bring up negative emotions. According to psychoanalytic theory, when you experience a stressor, the subconscious will first monitor the situation to see if it might harm you. If the subconscious believes the situation might lead to emotional harm, it may react with a defense mechanism to protect you.
Usually, you are unaware of the defense mechanism, though the behavior may appear odd to others around you.
Many researchers place defense mechanisms on a continuum, with more mature defenses improving cognitive processes and less mature ones causing harm.
In the long term, mature defense mechanisms may not be particularly detrimental to your emotional or mental health.
Using more mature mechanisms may help you face the anxieties and situations that might normally cause stress and emotional duress.
Other defense mechanisms, however, are not as mature and helpful. Prolonged use of these defenses can lead to lingering problems. In fact, they may prevent you from ever facing emotional issues or anxieties because they block you from seeing the root cause.
Some signs that defense mechanisms are getting in the way of your everyday life and mental health may include:
- feeling sad or depressed
- having difficulty getting out of bed
- avoiding usual daily activities, things, or people that once made you happy
- having difficulty forming or maintaining healthy relationships
- communication problems that hinder your professional or personal life
Dozens of different defense mechanisms have been identified. Some are used more commonly than others. Here are a few common defense mechanisms:
1. Denial
Denial is one of the most common defense mechanisms.
It occurs when you refuse to accept reality or facts. People in denial may block external events or circumstances from the mind so that they don’t have to deal with the emotional impact. In other words, they avoid painful feelings or events.
This defense mechanism is one of the most widely known, too. The phrase, “They’re in denial,” is commonly understood to mean a person is avoiding reality despite what may be obvious to people around them.
2. Repression
Unsavory thoughts, painful memories, or irrational beliefs can upset you. Instead of facing those thoughts, people may unconsciously choose to hide them in hopes of forgetting them entirely.
That does not mean, however, that the memories disappear entirely. They may influence behaviors, and they may impact future relationships. You just may not realize the impact this defense mechanism is having.
3. Projection
Some thoughts or feelings you have about another person may make you uncomfortable. When people project those feelings, they misattribute them to the other person.
For example, you may dislike your new co-worker, but instead of accepting that, you choose to tell yourself that they dislike you. You start to interpret their words and actions toward you in the worst way possible, even though they don’t actually dislike you.
4. Displacement
You direct strong emotions and frustrations toward a person or object that doesn’t feel threatening. This allows you to satisfy an impulse to react, but you don’t risk significant consequences.
A good example of this defense mechanism is getting angry at your child or spouse because you had a bad day at work. Neither of these people is the target of your strong emotions, but your subconscious may believe reacting to them is likely less problematic than reacting to your boss.
5. Regression
Some people who feel threatened or anxious may unconsciously “escape” to an earlier stage of development.
This type of defense mechanism may be most obvious in young children. If they experience trauma or loss, they may suddenly act as if they’re younger again.
They may even begin wetting the bed or sucking their thumb as a form of regression.
Adults can regress, too. Adults who are struggling to cope with events or behaviors may return to sleeping with a cherished stuffed animal, overeat foods they find comforting, or begin chain-smoking or chewing on pencils or pens. They may also avoid everyday activities because they feel overwhelmed.
6. Rationalization
Some people may attempt to explain undesirable behaviors with their own set of “facts.” This allows you to feel comfortable with the choice you made, even if you know on another level it’s not right.
For example, someone who didn’t get a promotion at work might say they didn’t want the promotion anyways.
7. Sublimation
This type of defense mechanism is considered a mature, positive strategy. That’s because people who rely on it choose to redirect strong emotions or feelings into an object or activity that is appropriate and safe.
For example, instead of lashing out at your coworkers during a stressful shift, you choose to channel your frustration into a kickboxing class.
You could also funnel or redirect the feelings into music, art, or sports.
8. Reaction formation
People who use this defense mechanism recognize how they feel, but they choose to behave in the opposite manner of their instincts.
A person who reacts this way, for example, may feel they should not express negative emotions, such as anger or frustration. They choose to instead react in an overly positive way.
9. Compartmentalization
Separating your life into independent sectors may feel like a way to protect many elements of it.
For example, when you choose to not discuss personal life issues at work, you block off, or compartmentalize, that element of your life. This allows you to carry on without facing the anxieties or challenges while you’re in that setting or mindset.
10. Intellectualization
When you’re hit with a trying situation, you may choose to remove all emotion from your responses and instead focus on quantitative facts.
You may see this strategy in use when a person spends their days creating spreadsheets of job opportunities and leads after they are let go from a job.
Defense mechanisms can sometimes be viewed as a type of self-deception. You might be using them to hide emotional responses that you don’t want to deal with from yourself. However, it’s done mostly on an unconscious level. You’re not always aware of the way your mind or ego will respond.
That doesn’t mean, however, that you can’t modify or change the behaviors. Indeed, you can transform unhealthy defense mechanisms into ones that are more sustainable. These techniques may help:
- Find accountability. Friends and family members can help you recognize defense mechanisms you may be using. By drawing attention to the self-deception, they can help you identify the moment you unconsciously use self-deception. That allows you to then decide in the conscious state what you really want to do.
- Learn coping strategies.
Therapy with a mental health expert, such as a psychotherapist, psychologist, or psychoanalyst, may help you recognize the defense mechanisms you use most often. They can then help you learn active responses to make choices on a more mindful level.
Defense mechanisms are natural. They are often used without any long-term complications or issues.
However, some people do develop emotional difficulties if they continue to use these mechanisms without coping with the underlying threat or anxiety. Treatment focuses on helping you address issues from a mindful place, not an unconscious one.
Why do we need defense mechanisms?
Laughing at funerals is normal. So the defense mechanisms of the psyche help to cope with a stressful situation. The idea of the existence of defense mechanisms was first proposed by Sigmund Freud. He used them in describing the struggle of the Self against painful emotions and unbearable thoughts. But a detailed system of defense mechanisms was developed by his daughter, Anna Freud.
Defense mechanisms are needed in order to cope with certain life situations or mental characteristics. For example, in order not to be very painful, we can cry or laugh. In addition, with the help of protective mechanisms, we can sublimate the features of our psyche. So, for example, some dentists can sublimate their aggression to help people - into drilling and pulling out teeth. nine0003
How are primary defense mechanisms different from secondary ones?
As we grow and develop, our psychological defense mechanisms evolve from primitive, primary ones to more advanced and advanced secondary ones. Among the primary mechanisms are denial and avoidance. In denial, for example, a person may refuse to be aware of the loss of a loved one or, conversely, the existence of something undesirable. Among the secondary defense mechanisms are rationalization, sublimation or splitting. For example, splitting often occurs in adolescents when they are unable to perceive both the negative and positive qualities of a person.
That is, when a person commits a bad deed, he is perceived as bad, and if immediately after that he performs a good deed, then the attitude towards him changes dramatically to positive. Gradually, a teenager develops rationalization, and then he is already able to consistently explain to himself the diverse actions of people. nine0003
When a baby begins to explore unfamiliar spaces, his defense mechanisms work.
All defense mechanisms are aimed at reducing the level of anxiety. In psychoanalytic theory, we are born with a certain level of anxiety that we need to develop. When a baby begins to explore unfamiliar spaces, his defense mechanisms work. He is afraid to look around the corner of an unknown room, but something still pushes him to do it. And that something is the same anxiety. In order to cope with anxiety, he has his own defense mechanisms. Let's say he can look at his mother, and then go further to this mysterious corner - to see what is hidden behind it.
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See also
Painful emotions
Why do we sometimes get our primary defenses back on?
So it turns out that even as adults, mentally mature people, we still use primary defense mechanisms. We don't expect an adult to deny some obvious fact, but it happens. For example, after the death of a loved one, we can seriously deny that he died, and believe that he is about to return. At this point, the primary defense mechanisms are activated. But why is this happening? After all, it would seem that they have long been replaced by more complex and complex structures of the psyche. nine0003
All the primitive defense mechanisms that were in childhood remain with us for life. New structures, more advanced, develop and build on the primary ones. However, as soon as we find ourselves in a severe stressful situation, the primary mechanisms return, turn on again. A good example is the transition from inner speech to outer speech and vice versa.
When we get sick, we suddenly begin, as in childhood, to talk to ourselves. We can say something like: “here, I have a temperature of 40, I’ll make myself tea with raspberries, drink it, put myself to bed, bye, cover myself with a blanket and everything will be fine.” This turns on the primitive earlier mechanism of speaking thoughts aloud. When we grow up, external speech becomes internal, and we simply conduct internal dialogues in our own head. But that childish external speech does not disappear anywhere, it persists. nine0003
A person who has developed secondary advanced mechanisms for protecting the psyche is multifaceted, very interesting and can cope with difficult situations in life in different ways.
Primary defense mechanisms work in the same way. Those brain structures that are responsible for primitive defense mechanisms remain and turn on at the moment when we find ourselves in a difficult life situation. Perhaps, at such moments, more advanced mechanisms cannot cope on their own, and the primary ones come to their aid.
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See also
Why do you need a psychotherapist?
Why develop your defense mechanisms?
Secondary defense mechanisms are a sign of a developed personality, fully integrated into society and able to realize themselves. A person who has developed secondary advanced mechanisms for protecting the psyche is multifaceted, very interesting and can cope with difficult situations in life in different ways. When a psychotherapist conducts a diagnosis, he is largely guided by what defense mechanisms the patient uses in stressful situations. Unfortunately, there are cases when the secondary psychological mechanisms in a person do not develop properly. This can happen if the child grows up in a toxic environment, and the environment does not allow him to fully develop. Almost all psychoanalytic techniques are aimed at working with the protective mechanisms of the psyche. Psychoanalysis states that defense mechanisms can be developed within 5-10 years of therapy.
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How psychological defense mechanisms are formed
For the first time, Sigmund Freud spoke about the defense mechanisms of the psyche. Later, his daughter, Anna Freud, continued her father's ideas and developed the theory, creating the first classification on this topic. Today, the list of defense mechanisms continues to grow.
In this article, we will tell you how the defense mechanisms of the psyche are formed, and give examples that will help illustrate these processes. nine0003
What are safety mechanisms
Defense mechanisms are automatisms, unconscious psychological strategies used to maintain the stability of the functioning of our psyche. Defense mechanisms can stop unacceptable thoughts and feelings, which lowers our level of anxiety and involvement, and makes it easier for us to cope with a situation that can cause us psychological damage.
Thus, psychological defense mechanisms protect us from psychological trauma. Often, that idea, thought or situation that can become traumatic is blocked by the psyche and goes into the area of the unconscious. nine0003
If we consider psychological defenses from the other side, this is the system that is responsible for the psychological integrity and safety of the psyche. Psychological defenses are the so-called "anti-suicidal barrier" necessary to maintain the internal psychological integrity of the individual.
Why do we need protective mechanisms of the psyche
We need the protective mechanisms of the psyche in order to ease anxiety, internal tension, get rid of anxiety, and stop frustration. This is an automatic system that regulates the degree of our emotional involvement in the situation. Psychological defenses stop the impulses of the unconscious if they contradict the requirements of the external environment.
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In simple words, any psychological protection is needed in order to regulate our social behavior, stabilize the psyche and the state of the person as a whole, which allows him to quickly adapt to the changes that occur in life. Through these mechanisms, we can protect ourselves from any disturbing emotions—guilt, shame, fear—that arise when we become too demanding of ourselves.
In themselves, mental defense mechanisms are natural for us, except when they are used too often, because of which a person can develop phobias, anxiety states, neuroses, obsessions, etc. nine0003
Traumatic events and mental illness
At the moment when our psychological defenses are defeated, a person can not only commit suicide, but literally “go crazy”, losing control of reality. Of course, often for this you need to have a genetic predisposition to various mental illnesses, to be the owner of a weak psyche, or, for example, to go through a whole chain of traumatic events before that, which will certainly leave its mark.
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Mental defense mechanisms are aimed at maintaining psychological comfort even, to put it mildly, not in the most friendly conditions for a person. The only downside of psychological defenses is that sooner or later a person may need to “unblock” a traumatic memory, since it continues to live in the background in a person.
Whether he is at least 40, 50 or 60 or more years old, a person can touch upon a painful topic over and over again, but the psyche will still retain a traumatic memory - negative experiences remain in the unconscious. nine0003
Having made an inventory of his experiences, a person unexpectedly discovers the impact of a situation that, it would seem, has remained far in the past. Such a memory continues to be played over and over again in the unconscious until the person is ready to eventually meet with him.
12 defense mechanisms of the psyche
Let's talk about the most common psychological defense mechanisms that we use daily.
1. Negative
Denial is a defense mechanism that involves refusing to accept reality, which blocks the external event from awareness. This may be, among other things, an unconscious denial of one's own thoughts, desires, feelings, needs, etc. In the event that a person finds it difficult to cope with a situation, he may respond by denying its existence.
An example of how a psychological defense mechanism works:
the death of a loved one, an unexpected break in relations with a partner, experiencing a catastrophe - in such situations, denial can manifest itself most clearly. However, denial usually does not last too long - even the most terrible event, sooner or later, a person has to accept in his life. nine0003
At the same time, it can also be simpler life situations, for example, a man can unconsciously deny any signs of infidelity of his lover. Or a woman can remain in a relationship with an aggressive partner, "not noticing" the destructive power of his influence.
2. Repression
Repression is a defense mechanism used by the psyche to repress a painful memory, thought or feeling. This is an easy way to suppress emotions and get rid of internal conflict. Thus, they remain outside the field of human awareness. Anna Freud called this mechanism "motivated forgetting", because a person, as it were, forgets about something important to him. Often, the psyche represses what causes shame, pain, or guilt in it. nine0003
Suppressing or repressing feelings can cause disturbing ideas or memories to move into the unconscious, where they may be hidden from the person but nonetheless cause anxiety. This defense mechanism of the psyche is often associated with dreams, as well as "Freudian slips". One of the disadvantages of repression is that everything secret sooner or later becomes a neurosis and something will have to be done about it.
An example of how a psychological defense mechanism works:
a situation disturbing you occurs, and in order to forget, you go to a bar, to a concert, to a party.
This way you can push out thoughts or events that really bother you.
A more powerful and obvious manifestation of repression is PTSD. The repressed memories begin to return to the person through "flashbacks", which he perceives with the same degree of emotional involvement, as if they were happening here and now.
3. Projection
Projection is a psychological defense mechanism in which a person attributes unwanted thoughts, feelings, and motives to another person. So a person begins to see his own "I" in others. Often the ideas we attribute to others as projections are related to aggression, sexual impulses, and fantasies. nine0003
An example of how a psychological defense mechanism works:
you may not like a person to the point of hatred, but this feeling is unacceptable for you, and then you begin to think that this person actually hates you. You attribute to a person those qualities and thoughts that he does not have, but you do have them.
Another example - you can think that everyone turns around in transport because your clothes are too cheap, and everyone looks at you with contempt and hatred, although they themselves are not better dressed. After a conversation with a psychologist, it turns out that it is you who think that your clothes are too cheap, and not the people in the transport whom you endow with this projection over and over again. nine0003
Thus, through the "look" of other people, you return this hatred and contempt for yourself. In fact, those random strangers didn’t care what you were wearing from clothes, and they most likely did not experience the feelings that you attribute to them. Everything happened exclusively in your imagination - it's only your feeling, and not someone else's.
4. Isolation
Isolation is such a defense mechanism, which is characterized by the lack of connection between the emotional coloring and the event. Experience is recognized, but emotions are not.
Isolation can be similar to alienation syndrome, which is characterized by a feeling of losing emotional connection with other people. nine0003
An example of how a psychological defense mechanism works:
the extreme degree of manifestation is alcoholism, vagrancy, suicide. In a mild form, this is the inability to feel emotion about a particular situation, although you know that it should be.
5. Replacement
Substitution (displacement or displacement) is a psychological mechanism for satisfying impulses through interaction with a neutral object. This mechanism is activated if the direct expression of emotions is not possible. nine0003
An example of how a psychological defense mechanism works:
family members can be used as a "lightning rod", pets are safe figures. For example, anger is caused by an unpleasant conversation with superiors, and as a result, one of the spouses expresses this aggression at home against a partner or child.
This is how the substitution mechanism works. You can always find someone to blame for your problems.
Likewise, for example, children who are punished may hit a younger child, a cat, or break a toy. So the child is freed from the tension associated with the parent. That is why psychologists propose not to prohibit children from expressing negative emotions, but to look for acceptable forms for this. nine0003
6. Regression
Regression is a defense mechanism through which the ego returns to an earlier stage of development. This reaction often occurs in response to stressful situations. This is a form of retreat that allows a person to psychologically return to a past that was safer than the present. In moments of feeling intense fear and anxiety, we are more subject to the inclusion of such a psychological defense mechanism.
An example of how a psychological defense mechanism works:
a man who is over 40, with the onset of a midlife crisis, can leave his wife of age and begin to look younger - meet girls of an ever younger age, do things that are more characteristic of teenagers.
This is how fear of approaching death most often manifests itself, and regression to an already familiar lived life period allows you to get rid of difficult thoughts. A younger partner seems to make a man younger - you can believe that life is going backwards. nine0003
A child, frightened, having experienced stress, may again begin to urinate in bed. And teenagers, for example, often begin to giggle when entering into a situation of interaction with the opposite sex.
7. Sublimation
Sublimation is a constructive, socially acceptable substitution option that allows you to use your feelings in creative activity, art. According to Freud, all art, any manifestation of it, is a manifestation of sublimated sexuality. nine0003
An example of how a psychological defense mechanism works:
Unhappy love can become not only a reason for tears and suffering, but also an inspiration for writing a picture, a play, a series of poems.
Another good example of sublimation of any kind of energy is a sport that allows you to get the very “discharge” of the accumulated tension.
8. Rationalization
Rationalization is the distortion of "facts" in order to make an event or impulse look less threatening to a person. Some attempt to explain to yourself the same story that happened to you in a different way. Many people actually believe their own version without being in touch with what is really going on. nine0003
An example of how a psychological defense mechanism works:
a person justifies his passivity by caution, poverty by the fact that all the money has already been earned by someone, the success of others by a coincidence or the presence of a better starting point.
This may be a "rational" explanation to oneself in the form of "why do I need to stay put and not act?". After all, if a better life still remains inaccessible, then why even try and invest? nine0003
9.
Jet formation
Anna Freud called this defense mechanism of the psyche "belief to the contrary." You can call this mechanism real behavioral magic outside of Hogwarts. In this case, a person demonstrates actions that are opposite to his true experiences. A person experiences hatred, but shows love, the process itself occurs automatically. The person goes beyond denial and behaves in the opposite way to how he thinks or feels.
An example of the work of a psychological defense mechanism:
Sigmund Freud believed that an example of a reactive formation can be considered a high categorical prejudice against something, hatred in the place where neutrality should be. Thus, ardent homophobes, as Freud believed, through the expression of hatred, assert themselves in their own heterosexuality.
Another Freudian example - an obedient daughter loves her mother and obeys her, thus reacting to the Electra complex.
Or, to put it more simply, teenagers pull girls' pigtails, and older people condemn the appearance of the younger generation, because it causes them repressed (through reactive transformation) attraction. nine0003
10. Introjection
Introjection is a form of identification that can also be considered in terms of psychological defenses of the psyche. This mechanism helps a child or an adult to solve personal emotional difficulties through the adoption of the personal qualities of another person as their own. With the help of introjections, as Freud noted, we develop our super-ego, which is responsible for our moral attitudes and prohibitions.
An example of how a psychological defense mechanism works:
A child who needs support may try to become a "mother" to toys and dolls in order to reduce their fears. Teenagers imitate idols, seeking to assert their own identity.
11. Identification with the aggressor
Identification with the aggressor involves the victim accepting the behavior of the person behaving hostilely towards her.
This form of psychological defense is known as "Stockholm Syndrome". nine0003
By internalizing the aggressor's behavior, the "victim" hopes to avoid being abused, as the aggressor may begin to feel an emotional connection to her. And this should lead to empathy on the part of the attacker.
An example of how a psychological defense mechanism works:
There are cases in history that well demonstrate how this defense mechanism works. It is known that the victims, who ended up in the same territory with the terrorists, even covered them with their bodies to protect them from the police. This is a vivid example of identification with the aggressor. nine0003
Another example: Patty Hearst was abused by her captors, but she joined their Symbionese Liberation Army and even took part in one of the bank robberies. At the trial, she was acquitted because she was a victim of "Stockholm Syndrome".
12. Auto-aggression
Quite a destructive mechanism of defensive behavior of the psyche.
