Defense Mechanisms

Defense Mechanisms How our ego protects us…

What are they? • A series of unconscious reactions we use to prevent extreme anxiety • First introduced by Freud • Freud came up with 4, daughter Anna added, and even more have been added today

1. Displacement • When we lash out at other people because we didn’t deal with anger from an earlier situation • The person we attack doesn’t deserve it

2. Repression • We push feelings into our subconscious without realizing it • They can resurface as physical problems, illness, phobias, sarcasm or unkind behavior

3. Projection • We are quick to point out the negatives in other people, but unwilling to admit they exist in ourselves too

4. Rationalization • An excuse we create to explain a failure, loss, mistake or behavior • A form of this is sour grapes – if we can’t do something we say it wasn’t worth it anyways

5. Intellectualization • works to reduce anxiety by thinking about events in a cold, clinical way. • Focus only on intellectual component of events • Example: Focus on the details of the funeral instead of the loss

6. Fantasy/Denial • Ignoring something that is unpleasant • Daydreaming instead of dealing with reality

7. Reaction Formation • When you react in a way that is opposite to how you really feel • Example: being overly friendly to someone who you do not like in order to try and hide your true feelings

8. Regression • Instead of handling impulses in an adult way the subject regresses to previous stage of development and acts out immaturely Example: An adolescent who resorts to teasing and harassing a female instead of asking her out on a date

9.Sublimation • allows us to act out unacceptable impulses by converting these behaviors into a more acceptable form • For example: a person experiencing extreme anger might take up kick-boxing as a means of venting frustration.

When are they a problem? • When used frequently/ repeatedly • When too many are used – no other coping mechanisms are present

WHAT DEFENSE MECHANISM ARE THEY USING? • Mark doesn't deal with his three pack/day cigarette habit, claiming that "I'll probably die from an accident before cancer gets me." • After some especially frustrating and unfair criticism from her professor, Jan starts an argument with her roommate during lunch. • Dave has no memory of his seventh grade class play which was marred by his forgetting his lines and leaving the stage in tears. • Jack explains his bad grade on the final by noting that he had a long phone call from his parents the night before the exam. • Carol uses her anger over a disagreement with a friend to set a school record in the 100 meters. • Bill, who ordinarily keeps his anger under wraps, sees every other driver's breach of automotive etiquette as a personal criticism. • After an especially traumatic day, in which she failed three different exams, Lisa curls up in a blanket and rocks herself to sleep. • Sue makes a CD mix for a student in her class that frequently gossips about her.

Answers • Mark is using denialbecause he refuses to acknowledge the long-term consequences of his heavy smoking. • Jan shows evidence of displacementin that she expressed her anger to a safer target than her professor. • Dave has apparently repressedhis memory of the play, probably because it was so humiliating to him. • Jack's apparently rational explanation doesn't really explain why he failed the exam, so this is an example of rationalization. • Carol has directed her anger into her running, which describes sublimation. • Bill's interest in the bad driving behaviour of others illustratesprojection. • Lisa's rocking and curling up with a blanket illustrates regression. • Sue’s overtly friendly actions are an example of reaction formation

Defense Mechanisms