Defense mechanism- 17 ( chapter 15) PSYCH Flashcards
Sublimation
Dealing with unacceptable feelings or impulses by unconsciously substituting acceptable forms of expression
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Adaptive use
- a person who has feelings of anger and hostility towards their work supervisor sublimates those feelings by working out vigorously at the gym during the lunch period.
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Maladaptive use
- N/A
Conversion
responding to stress through the unconscious development of physical manifestations not caused by physical illness
- adaptive use:
- N/A
- maladaptive use:
- a person experiences deafness after their partner tells them they want a divorce
Identification
Conscious or unconscious assumption of the characteristics of another individual or group.
- adaptive use:
- child who has chronic illness pretend to be a nurse for their dolls
- maladaptive use:
- a child who observes their parent be abusive behavior toward the other parent becomes a bully at school
Altruism
Dealing with anxiety by reaching out to others
- adaptive use:
- a nurse who lost a family member in a fire is a volunteer firefighter.
- Maladaptive use:
- N/A
Intellectualization
separation of emotions and logical facts when analyzing or coping with situation or events
- adaptive use:
- a law enforcement officer blocks out the emotional aspect of a crime so they can objectively focus on the investigation.
- maladaptive use:
- A person who learns they have a terminal illness focuses on creating a will and financial matters rather than acknowledging their grief.
Compensation
emphasizing strengths to make up for weaknesses
- adaptive use:
- an adolescent who is physically unable to play contact Sports excels in academic competitions
- maladaptive use:
- a person who is shy learns computer skills to avoid socialization
maladaptive showing faulty adaptation More (Definitions, Synonyms, Translation)
- a person who is shy learns computer skills to avoid socialization
Regression
sudden use of childlike or primitive behaviors that do not correlate with the person’s current developmental level
- adaptive use
- A young child temporarily what’s the bed when they learned that their pet died
- maladaptive use:
- a person who has a disagreement with a co-worker begins throwing things at their office
Suppression
Voluntarily denying unpleasant thoughts and feelings
- adaptive use:
- a student puts off thinking about a fight they had with a friend so they can focus on a test
- Maladaptive use
- a person who has lost their job states that they will worry about paying bills next week
Undoing
performing in Act to makeup for prior Behavior, most commonly seen in children
- adaptive use:
- an adolescent completes their chores without being promoted after having an argument with their parents
- maladaptive use:
- an individual buys their significant other Flowers and Gifts after an incident of partner abuse
Reaction formation
unacceptable feelings or behaviors that are controlled or kept out of awareness by overcompensating or demonstrating. overcompensating or demonstrating the opposite behavior of what is felt.
- adaptive use:
- a person who is trying to quit smoking repeatedly talks to an adolescent about the dangers of nicotine
- maladaptive use:
- a person who resents having to care for an aging parent becomes overprotective and restricts their freedoms
Rationalization
creating reasonable and acceptable explanations for unacceptable Behavior.
- adaptive use:
- An Adolescent says “they must already have a boyfriend” when rejected by another adolescent
- maladaptive use:
- A young adult explains they have to drive home from a party after drinking alcohol because they had to feed the dog
Projection
attributing one’s unacceptable thoughts and feelings onto another who does not have them.
- adaptive use:
- N/A
- maladaptive use:
- a married client who is attracted to another person accuses their partner of having an extramarital affair .
dissociation
A disruption in consciousness, memory, identity, or perception of the environment that results in compartmentalization of uncomfortable or unpleasant aspects of oneself.
- adaptive use:
- a parent blocks out the distracting noise of their children in order to focus while driving in traffic.
- maladaptive use:
- a person forgets who they are following a sexual assault.
Splitting
demonstrating an ability to reconcile negative and positive attributes of self or others into a cohesive image.
- adaptive use:
- N/A
- maladaptive use:
- a client tells a nurse that the nurse is the only one who cares about them, yet the following day, the client refuses to talk to the nurse.
Denial
Pretending the truth is not reality to manage unpleasant, anxiety-causing thoughts or feelings.
- adaptive use:
- a person initially says, no that can’t be true when told they have cancer.
- maladaptive use:
- a parent who is informed that their child was killed in combat tells everyone one month later that the child is coming home for the holidays.
