Defence Mechanisms Flashcards
Repression
Example: forgetting the details of a really bad car accident
Definition: painful feelings are conscious initially and then forgotten, but return occasionally.
Denial
Example: a child who is told that her parents are divorcing may deny that it is happening or deny that they are upset about it
Definition: unpleasant reality is ignored
Suppression
Example: fears can be replaced by thinking of a happy place, time, or event
Definition: unpleasant feelings are suppressed through a conscious effort to ignore them
Projection
Example: an angry person who believes others are angry at him/her.
Definition: the undesirable feelings are attributed to another person or persons
Displacement
Example: involves taking out our frustrations, feelings and impulses on people or objects that are less threatening
Definition: anger or another emotion that is initially felt
Reaction Formations
Example: treating someone you strongly dislike in an excessively friendly manner in order to hide your true feelings
Regression
Example: when confronted by stressful events, people sometimes abandon coping strategies and revert to patterns of behavior used in earlier development
Fixation
Example: people with an oral fixation have problems with drinking, smoking, and nail biting when they are experiencing stressful events
Identification
Example: taking on characteristics of someone important- parents, sports, etc.
Definition: taking on characteristics of someone else
Rationalization
Example: if a person says “I don’t care if I wasn’t chosen for the team; I didn’t want to play anyway.”
Definition: is an attempt to deny ones true motives by using reasons that are more logical
Isolation
Example: reading about the grieving process after a parents death
Definition: tuck away the painful feelings and keep them to yourself
Sublimation
Example: channeling aggressive tendencies into playing contact sports
Definition: rechanneling the energy into something more social acceptable
Compensation
Example: a young person becomes physically disabled and compensate by working hard academically and becomes a doctor
