Defense Mechanism Flashcards
Panful feelings are conscious initially and then forgotten, but return occasionally. Repression can range from momentary memory lapses to forgetting the details of a catastrophic event, such as a murder or an earthquake. Ex, forgetting the details of a really bad car accident.
Repression
Unpleasant reality is ignored, and a realistic interpretation of potentially threatening events are replaced by benign but inaccurate ones. Ex; a child who is told that her parents are divorcing may deny that it is happening or deny that she is upset about it.
Denial
Unpleasant feelings are suppressed through a conscious effort to ignore them. Ex, fears can be replaced by thinking of a happy place, time, or event. Considered one of the more mature and healthy defense mechanisms.
Suppression
In projection, the undesirable feelings are attributed to another person or persons. Ex, an angry person believes others are angry at him/ her; a person who is critical of others believes they are critical of him/her.
Projection
Object displacement, or anger or another emotion is initially felt toward a person against whom it is unsafe to express it (in children, for example, toward a parent) Ex, displacement involves taking out our frustrations, feelings and impulses on people or objects that are less threatening.
Displacement
Reduces anxiety by taking up the opposite feeling, impulse or behavior. Ex, an example of reaction formation would be treating someone you strongly hate and killing them with kindness.
Reaction formation
When confronted by stressful even, people sometimes abandon coping strategies and revert to patterns of behavior used earlier in development.
Regression
Example; people with an oral fixation have problems with drinking, smoking, and nail biting when they are experiencing stressful events.
Fixation
Taking on the characteristics of someone else. Ex, taking on characteristics of someone important- parent, sports celebrity, etc.
Identification
Is an attempt to deny one’s true motives by using a reason that is more logical or socially acceptable than one’s own reasons. Ex, if a person says “I don’t care if I wasn’t chosen for the team; I didn’t really want to play soccer anyway”
Rationalized
It involves compartmentalizing ones experience so that an even becomes separated from the feelings that associated with it, allowing it ti be part of your conscious mind without the threat of painful feelings. Ex, reading about grieving process after a parents death, or not reacting in an expected way.
Isolation
Involves re channeling the energy connected with an unacceptable impulse into one that is more socially acceptable.
Sublimation
Devoting unusual efforts to achievement in order to overcome feelings of inferiority. Ex, a young person becomes physically disabled and compensates by working hard academically and becomes a doctor.
Compensation
