What is Defense Mechanism? 30 Defense Mechanism
What is
defense mechanism?
This defense
mechanism influences the individual`s person personality and is based on the
experiences of everyday life. This system comes into existence involuntarily
and therefore functions at unconscious level. Ignoring reality this defense
mechanism prevents the individual from anxiety temporarily So, if the
individual depends on this system too much he may fall victim to social
maladjustment. This mechanism is used according to the situation.
Freud believes that sometimes anxiety rises to such a level that it becomes very difficult to maintain mental health. In such a situation the ego takes such measures as suppress anxiety and release tension. These defense mechanisms are described below:
30 Defense Mechanism
1. Acting
Out:-
In this
mechanism the Individual behavioral outcome of conflict between an unconscious
need to express anger and a conscious need to deny it.
For
example:- Self-injury
may also be a form of acting-out, expressing in physical pain what one cannot
stand to feel emotionally.
2. Avoidance:-
Unconsciously
staying away from any person situation or place that might cause unwanted
feelings to occur.
For example:- I dislike another person at work walking past their desk. When people talk about them, I say nothing.
3. Displacement:-
Transferring
emotions associated with a particular person/event to another person object or
situation that is less threatening.
For
example:- A person who feels that their boss has been unfair may also fear being
fired if they complain or express anger and as a result, they may later shout
at a family member.
4. Dissociation:-
Person deals
with emotional conflict or stress by splitting off or repressing some part of
their personality or consciousness from their awareness.
5. Identification:-
Unconscious
modeling of another person`s values, attitudes or behavior.
For
example:- The individual identifies himself with the hero/heroine of films,
dramas and detective and other romantic stories. He displays delight when the
hero/heroine is happy and shows sadness when the hero/heroine is sad. The
individual feels as if the event had happened to him.
6. Intellectualization:-
Use of
thinking to avoid experiencing emotion that is unpleasant.
For
example:- If someone having a serious disease , instead of expressing their
sadness and grief, he focuses of all possible medical procedures.
7. Isolation:-
In this
defense mechanism Separation of emotions from precititating event or situation.
For example:-The individual with a stressful job may
use isolation to separate their work life from their family life, avoiding the
stress affecting their relationship.
8. Projection:-
In this
mechanism the individual attributes his unacceptable wishes, motives, traits,
attitudes and other negative subjective to other and relieve his anxiety by
blaming other for his failures.
For
example:- The player blames untoward conditions for his defeat; the housewife
regards others as blunderer to hide her own failure.
9. Rationalization:-
In this
mechanism Accepting to justifying one`s behavior by presenting reason that sound
logical.
For
example:- If a student arrogates prejudice to the examiner or says that papers
are not being marked properly nowadays, it will be called rationalization. The
student does not admit hi failure or negligence, rather tries to justify it.
10. Reaction
formation:-
Adopting
behavior or feelings that are exactly the opposite of one`s true emotion.
For
example:-The daughter-in-law and mother-in-law who take care of each other
despite having a strong dislike for each other and the criminal minded people
who launch a campaign against drugs and obscenity etc.
11. Repression:-
In this
mechanism when the individual`s wishes are in conflict with social values the
individual represses those wishes and pushes them into the unconscious. The
thoughts that are associated with a sense of sin or the wishes that are immoral
are driven out of the conscious.
For
example:- It has been observed that aggressive or sexual
instincts lead to repression for the society dislike the free expression of
these wishes. Repression controls such wishes and relieves anxiety.
12. Sublimation:-
In this
mechanism the individual adopts socially acceptable behavior instead of
indulging unacceptable impulses.
For
example:-
Boxing and
wrestling provide an outlet for aggressive impulses; sports not only win us
social approval but also keep us fit.
13. Denial
:-
In this
mechanism the individual refuses to accept or hear about a situation that is
unpleasant to him going into a coma because of terrible news, losing
consciousness on having a horrible experience and turning a deaf ear to
criticism that one can hardly spare time for dealing with personal and domestic
problems are the examples that we observe in everyday life.
For example:- If someone having a serious disease, refuses to accept the medical report as
true.
14.
Fixation:-
In this
mechanism the ending of the process of development of the personality at a
stage short of complete and uniform mature independence is known as fixation.
15. Aim
Inhibition:-
In this
mechanism accepting or modified fulfillment of desires.
For
example:- A student who wanted to be a physician decides to become a
physician`s assistant.
16. Undoing:-
In this
mechanism the individual tries to cancel out or remove an unhealthy,
destructive or otherwise threatening thought or action by engaging in
conflicting behavior.
For example:-
After thinking about being violent with
someone, one would then be overly nice or friendly to them
17. Passive
aggression:-
In this
mechanism a passive aggressive person may be unwilling in carrying out their
duties and another task, May ignore someone when spoken to and might adopt a
negative view of their situation, such as their job and of those around them.
18. Fantasy:-
Fantasy is a
defense mechanism its help to explore another to situations that unhappy with
but unrealistic expectations of them being fulfilled can lead to us losing
touch with reality and taking more likely actions to improve our lives.
19. Compensation:-
In this
mechanism that helps reinforce a person’s self-esteem and self-image.
For
example:-When a person says, “I may not know how to cook, but I
can sure do the dishes!,” they’re trying to compensate for their lack of
cooking skills by emphasizing their cleaning skills instead. When done
appropriately and not in an attempt to over-compensate.
20. Somatization
Somatization is a defense mechanism that occurs when the internal conflicts between the drives of the id, ego and super ego take on physical characteristics.
21. Humor:-
Humor is a defense mechanism it help us to cope with tense or stressful situation and also it can even be an altruistic act in helping others to better cope as well
22. Day
Dreaming:-
In this
mechanism when the individual fails to get his goal, he begins to entertain
unrealistic thoughts and indulge in day-dreaming
For example:- When the individual cannot punish someone he will torture him in his imagination. He makes stories of his heroic deeds in order to win other admiration. If cricket fans win world cup and crush the rival team in imagination, it will be likened to day-dreaming.
23. Regression:-
In this
mechanism the individual unconsciously reverts to his early life. Keeping in
view the intensity of anxiety he selects a past period when he led a happy
life, had fewer problems to deal with and was liked by other.
For
example:- The elder child who misbehaves when a new baby is born, wets the bed
and insists on sitting on the lap etc.
24. Humility:-
Humility is
a defense mechanism that can enable us to pacify those around us in tense
conflict and encourage cooperation with other people to take place. Sacrificing
our pride and our self importance are involved in it
25. Idealization:-
Idealization
is a defense mechanism in which we perceive
the world around us and it can lead us to make judgement that support our idealized
concepts. We idealize the image we hold of people we admire - relatives,
partners or celebrities, making for
their failures and emphasizing their more admirable qualities.
26:-Incorporation:-
This is one
of the earliest defense mechanism in which The assimilation of the object into
one`s own ego or superego. The parent becomes almost literally a part of
the child. Parental values and attitudes are acquired.
27.Omnipotence:-
In this mechanism the individual deals with emotional conflict, internal or external stressors by feeling or acting as if his possesses special powers or abilities and is superior to others.
28. Substitution:-
In this
defense mechanism the individual secures alternative or substitutive
gratification comparable to those that would have been employed had frustration
not occurred.
29. Self-Assertion:-
In this
mechanism the individual deals with emotional conflict or stressors by
expressing his feelings and thoughts directly in a way that is not forceful or
manipulative.
30. Splitting:-
This is a
earliest defense mechanism that is used widely.This mechanism to explain the
coexistence within the ego of opposite state, representative of self and
others.”All good or all bad”