Defense Mechanism Flashcards
Emotional conflict is dealt with through negative actions rather than expression of feelings (Feelings of neglect lead to getting in trouble for attention)
Acting Out
Making up for real or imagined deficiencies (person who stutters becomes a writer)
Compensation
Subconsciously repressing an urge by losing control of bodily function
Conversion
Deterioration of Existing Defenses
Decompensation
Inability to acknowledge the significance of thoughts/behaviors/etc.
Denial
Attributing exaggerated negative qualities to self or another; often seen in Borderline PD.
Devaluation
Separate ones self from inappropriate thoughts/impulses via amnesia, fugue states, neurosis, daydreaming, etc.
Dissociation
Directing negative impulse, thought, or feeling toward a less threatening option than the source of emotion
Displacement
Overestimation of an admired aspect or attribute of another
Idealization
Patterning self after a significant other, affecting personality development significantly
Identification
Mastering/masking anxiety and fear by identifying with powerful aggressor and behaving similarly
Identification With the Aggressor
Primitive mechanism where psychic representation of a person is (or parts of a person are ) figuratively ingested
Incorporation
Loss of motivation to engage in (usually pleasurable) activity
Inhibition
Internalizing ideas or voices of other people
Introjection
Avoiding emotions by focusing on facts or logic, sometimes using complex terminology
Intellectualization
Removing emotional association from a memory by separating the unacceptable piece from the original memory source
Isolation of Affect
Attributing your own feelings onto another
projection
Unconsciously perceiving others’ behavior as a reflection of one’s own identity; Common in Borderline PD
Projective Identification
Giving believable explanation for irrational behavior or choices
Rationalization
Adopting affects and attitudes that are opposite and contradict/mask actual beliefs
Reaction Formation
Return to more infantile patterns of reacting or thinking
Regression
Forgetting memories that are unacceptable, uncomfortable, or negative; clinical amnesia
Repression
Perceiving self and others as either all good or all bad; common in those with Borderline PD
Splitting
Expression of negative feelings through a socially acceptable channel (athletics for someone with anger)
Sublimation
Unattainable or unacceptable goal is replaced with a more obtainable one
Substitution
Mental representation that stands in the place of something real, which may be otherwise unacceptable to the ego
Symbolization
Deflecting hostile aggression or unacceptable impulse from the intended person to oneself
Turning Against Self
Using words or actions to symbolically reverse or negate unacceptable thoughts, feelings, or actions
Undoing
