Defense mechanisms have always been with us for a very long time. It came into existence when Sigmund Freud (father of psychoanalysis) gave the concept of defense mechanisms. He defined defense mechanisms are the unconscious mental operations that keep people from preventing themselves from anxious thoughts or feelings.
We also understand that the use of defense mechanisms has become a part of our everyday functioning. But if only used within limits, defense mechanisms help us deal with stress, or strong negative emotions other than that they can only be linked to psychopathology when they are overused.
There are many defense mechanisms, but the common ones are summarised below:
- Repression: The act of repression refers to the process of blocking out troubling events or experiences from consciousness. The repressed incidents sometimes surface themselves in dreams or slips of the tongue. It is like you have put something (clothes)in your closet but you don’t remember it because it is stored or not present in front of your eyes.
For example, John had a car accident last year and he doesn’t remember it. So whenever he thinks of driving a car he gets anxious without knowing the reason for the anxiety or from where the anxiety stems from.
- Denial: As the word itself suggests denying or attaching negative markers (e.g. no, not) to perception, thought, or feeling to reality. In this way, the reality or facts perceived are ignored or misinterpreted.
For example, When a doctor tells her patient Shaina that she is anorexic. So instead of accepting the reality she completely denies it by saying to her doctor that this is a big fat lie, I am completely fine. Here Shaina uses denial by thinking that she is absolutely fine in order to avoid the feelings of unease and stress it might cause to her after knowing that she is anorexic.
- Regression: Regression in simple terms can be explained as taking a step back and reaching to the coping behavior of an earlier developmental stage. In this person revert to an old, usually immature behaviour to ventilate his feelings.
For example, Rahul is angry with a professor because he is very critical of Rahul. So Rahul started to shoot spitballs at people. Here Rahul regresses to an early stage of maturity when he is faced with situations that make him feel threatened.
- Projection: Projection means the individual gives credit for one’s thoughts or feelings to someone else and completely thinks that the other person has those thoughts or feelings. It is a way of coping by removing disturbing thoughts or feelings from your head by attributing them to another person.
For example, if we take the previous example, Rahul is angry with a professor because he is very critical of Rahul. So here Rahul will say my professor hates me but in reality, Rahul hates the professor. So here Rahul is projecting his thoughts and feelings onto his professor.
- Reaction formation: In this defense mechanism a person behaves or expresses himself that is exactly the opposite of a person’s true feelings.
For example, The classic example is when you treat someone you strongly dislike in an excessively friendly manner to hide your true feelings. Here the person forms or gives the opposite reaction to avoid unease feelings.
- Rationalization: This defense mechanism permits an individual to deal with emotional conflicts or stressors by making or coming up with various explanations to justify the situations of his or her own or others’ thoughts, actions, or feelings.
For example, A student who didn’t study the whole year and failed the examination will say that the exam was too difficult. Here the student is making excuses to avoid the negative thoughts or feelings of not passing the exam.
- Displacement: It is the transferring of the feelings or redirection of energy from the original target to a more socially acceptable one. By using this method, people can satisfy their need to react without having to confront the person they are angry at.
For example, Zack is a school student who was feeling frustrated and angry because his teacher scolded him. After coming back home, Zack lashed out his anger and frustration at his younger brother. So here Zack can’t yell at his teacher so he redirected his anger onto the socially acceptable target ( his brother).
– Ridhi
