Defense Mechanisms Flashcards
Repression
EXAMPLE: forgetting the details of a really bad car accident
Denial
EXAMPLE: a child who is told that her parents are divorcing may deny that it is happening or deny that she is upset about it
Suppression
EXAMPLE: fears can be replaced by thinking of a happy place, time, or event
Projection
EXAMPLE: An angry person believes others are angry at him/her; a person who is critical of others believes they are critical of him/her.
Displacement
EXAMPLE: Displacement involves Taking out our frustrations, feelings and impulses on people or objects that are less threatening
Reaction formation
EXAMPLE: An example of reaction formation would be treating someone you strongly dislike in an excessively friendly matter 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 earlier in 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 in characteristics of someone important
Rationalization
EXAMPLE: if a person says, “I don’t care if I wasn’t chosen for the team, I didn’t wanna play soccer anyways”
Isolation
EXAMPLE: reading about the grieving process after a parents death
Sublimination
EXAMPLE: channeling aggressive tendencies into play contact sports
Compensation
EXAMPLE: a young person becomes physically disabled and compensates by working hard academically and becomes a doctor
