Defense Mechanism

By: Jomar Jerome S. Sinson

History
defense mechanism, in psychoanalytic theory, any of a group of mental processes
that enables the mind to reach compromise solutions to conflicts that it is unable to resolve. The process is usually unconscious, and the compromise generally involves concealing from oneself internal drives or feelings that threaten to lower self-esteem or provoke anxiety. The concept derives from the psychoanalytic hypothesis that there are forces in the mind that oppose and battle against each other. The term was first used in Sigmund Freuds paper THE NUERO PSYCHOSES of DEFENSE (1894)

History
The term was first used in Sigmund Freuds paper The Neuro-Psychoses of Defence (1894).

Meaning
Means and ways of avoiding emotional stress, destructive impulses, or threat to self-esteem.

Narcissistic Defense
DENIAL- avoidance of the awareness of some painful aspects of reality by
negating the data.

DISTORTION- external reality is grossly reshaped to suit inner needs

and all bad accompanied by abrupt shifting of an object from one. thoughts on an external object.

including the unrealistic beliefs, hallucinations, wishful thinking, delusions.

SPLITTING- external objects are divided into extreme category all good PROJECTION- unconscious blaming of unacceptable inclinations or

Immature Defenses
ACTING OUT- the person expresses an unconscious wish or impulse through
action to avoid being conscious of an accompanying effect. BLOCKING- a temporary or transient inhabitation of thinking which resembles repression but differs in that tension arises when impulse affect or thoughts are inhibited. HYPOCHONDRIASIS- reproach arising from bereavement, loneliness, or unacceptable aggressive impulses toward others is transferred into self-reproach and complaints of pain, somatic illness, and neurasthenia ( INTROJECTION-Accepting another persons attitudes, beliefs, and values as ones own.

 Passive-aggressive- Aggression towards others is expressed indirectly through passivity, masochism, and turning against himself.

Regression- Person moves back to the previous developmental stage in order to feel
safe or have needs met.

Fixation- The immobilization of a portion of a personality resulting from

unsuccessful completion of tasks in a developmental stage.

Somatization- Converting psychic derivatives into bodily symptoms and lending to

react with somatic manifestations, rather than psychic manifestations.

Schizoid fantasy- Through fantasy, the person indulges autistic retreat to resolve
conflicts and obtain gratifications.

 CONTROLLING- An excessive attempt to manage or regulate events or objects in

the environment to minimize anxiety and to resolve inner conflicts.

Neurotic Defenses

DISPLACEMENT- Involves the ventilation of intense feelings towards persons less

threatening than the one whom aroused those feelings.

DISSOCIATION- A temporary but drastic modification of a persons character or

of ones sense of personal identity takes place to avoid emotional distress.

COMPENSATION- Presence of overachievement in one area to offset real or

perceived deficiencies in another area.

Externalization- The tendency to perceive elements of ones own personality,

including instinctual impulses, conflicts, moods, attitudes and styles of thinking in the external environmental.

 IDENTIFICATION- Modeling actions and opinions of influential others,

while searching for identity, or aspiring to reach a personal, social , or occupational goal.

Inhibition-Limitation or renunciation of ego functions that occur

consciously.

Intellectualization- Excessive use of intellectual processes to avoid affective

expressions or experiences by paying attention to the external reality.

Isolation- Separation of the idea from the repressed affect that accompanies
it.

Rationalization- Excusing own behavior to avoid guilt, responsibility, conflict,

anxiety, or loss of self-respect.

 Reaction-formation- Acting the opposite of what ones feel. Repression- Excluding emotionally painful or anxiety provoking thoughts
and feelings from conscious awareness.

Substitution- Replacing the desired gratification with one that is more readily
available.

Sexualization- An object or function is endorsed with sexual significance that

did not previously have or that it possessed to a similar degree in order to ward off anxieties associated with prohibited impulses or their derivatives.

Mature Defenses
Anticipation- Planning for future inner discomfort that is goal-directed and implies
careful planning or worrying and premature but realistic affective expectation of direct and potentially dreadful outcomes.

Humor- Permits the overt expression of unpleasant effect on others. Asceticism- Eliminating the pleasurable effects of experiences. There is moral
element in assigning values to specific pleasures. unacceptable.

Sublimation- Substituting a socially acceptable activity for an impulse that is

Suppression- A conscious or semiconscious decision to postpone attention to
conscious impulse or conflict.