DEFENCE MECHANISMS / MENTAL MECHANISMS  :                                (PART -I)

DEFINITION:

Defense mechanism is a pattern of adjustment through which an individual relieves or decreases anxieties caused by an uncomfortable situation that threatens self- esteem.

 The positive use of these mechanisms is:

1.       To minimize anxiety

2.       To protect the ego

3.       To maintain repression

TYPES OF DEFENSE MECHANISMS

A. PRIMITIVE DEFENSE MECHANISMS

1.Denial

Denial is the refusal to accept reality or fact, acting as if a painful event, thought or feeling did not exist. 

It is considered one of the most primitive of the defense mechanisms because it is characteristic of early childhood development.

Many people use denial in their everyday lives to avoid dealing with painful feelings or areas of their life they don’t wish to admit.

Example: A person who is a functioning alcoholic will often simply deny they have a drinking problem, pointing to how well they function in their job and relationships.

2. Regression

Regression is the reversion to an earlier stage of development in the face of unacceptable thoughts or impulses.

Example: an adolescent who is overwhelmed with fear, anger and growing sexual impulses might become clingy and start exhibiting earlier childhood behaviors who has long since overcome, such as bedwetting. 

3. Dissociation

Our mental existence is continuous. We maintain a seamless flow of memories, consciousness, perception, and representation of both inner and external worlds. When we face horrors and unbearable truths, we sometimes "disengage". We lose track of space, time, and the continuum of our identity. People who have a history of any kind of childhood abuse often suffer from some form of dissociation. In extreme cases, dissociation can lead to a person believing they have multiple selves (”multiple personality disorder”). In extreme cases, some people develop a permanently rent personality and this is known as "Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID)". 

In this manner, a person who dissociates can “disconnect” from the real world for a time, and live in a different world that is not cluttered (associated) with thoughts, feelings or memories that are unbearable.

4. Projection   

One’s own unacceptable feelings and thoughts are expressed as if they are due to others. Its purpose is self-protection. The person who blames another person for his own mistakes is using the projection mechanism.

Example: spouse may be angry at their significant other for not listening, when in fact it is the angry spouse who does not listen. Projection is often the result of a lack of insight and acknowledgement of one’s own motivations and feelings.

5. Reaction Formation

Reaction Formation is the converting of unwanted or dangerous thoughts, feelings or impulses into their opposites.

Example: a woman who is very angry with her boss and would like to quit her job may instead be overly kind and generous toward her boss and express a desire to keep working there forever. She is incapable of expressing the negative emotions of anger and unhappiness with her job, and instead becomes overly kind to publicly demonstrate her lack of anger and unhappiness.

B.  LESS PRIMITIVE, MORE MATURE DEFENSE MECHANISMS

Less primitive defense mechanisms are a step up from the primitive defense mechanisms

6.Repression:

 it is often reffered to as ‘selective forgettng.

it is a more complicated mechanism in which unpleasant or unacceptable experiences, emotions or motivations are actively forced into the unconscious and kept there. Unacceptable feelings are unconsciously kept out of awareness.  The key to repression is that people do it unconsciously, so they often have very little control over it. 

“Repressed memories” are memories that have been unconsciously blocked from access or view.

Example: a man is jealous of his good friend’s success but is unaware of his feelings of jealously.in the previous section. Many people employ these defenses as adults, and while they work okay for many, they are not ideal ways of dealing with our feelings, stress and anxiety. If you recognize yourself using a few of these, don’t feel bad – everybody does.

7. Displacement
Displacement is the redirecting of thoughts feelings and impulses directed at one person or object, but taken out upon another person or object.

example is the man who gets angry at his boss, but can’t express his anger to his boss for fear of being fired. He instead comes home and kicks the dog or starts an argument with his wife. The man is redirecting his anger from his boss to his dog or wife.

8. Intellectualization
Intellectualization is the overemphasis on thinking when confronted with an unacceptable impulse, situation or behavior 

 Example: A person who has just been given a terminal medical diagnosis, instead of expressing their sadness and grief, focuses instead on the details of all possible fruitless medical procedures.


9. Rationalization 
Rationalization is putting something into  a different explanation for one’s perceptions or behaviors in the face of a changing reality.

Example: A woman who starts dating a man she really, really likes and thinks the world of is suddenly dumped by the man for no reason. She reframes the situation in her mind with, “I suspected he was a loser all along.”

10. Undoing
Undoing is the attempt to take back an unconscious behavior or thought that is unacceptable or hurtful. By “undoing” the previous action, the person is attempting to counteract the damage done by the original comment, hoping the two will balance one another out.

Example: After realizing you just insulted your significant other unintentionally, you might spend then next hour praising their beauty, charm and intellect.