Defense Mechanisms

Question 1

Psychotic denial / Denial

Answer 1

Psychotic / Narcissistic-Psychotic

Obliteration of external reality (Levenson) affects perception of external reality more than perception of internal reality. Seeing but refusing to acknowledge. (Kaplan)

Question 2

Delusional projection

Answer 2

Psychotic / Narcissistic-Psychotic

Externalization of inner conflicts and giving them tangible reality - minimal reality testing (Levenson)

Perceiving and reacting to unacceptable inner impulses and their derivatives as though they were outside the self. On this level, it takes the form of frank delusions. (Kaplan)

Question 3

Schizoid fantasy (Psychotic)

Answer 3

Psychotic

Withdrawal from conflict into social isolation and fantasizing (Levenson)

Question 4

Splitting

Answer 4

Immature

Experiencing oneself and others as all good or all bad (Levenson)

Question 5

Idealization

Answer 5

Immature

Seeing oneself of others as all-powerful, ideal, or God like. (Levenson)

Question 6

Devaluation

Answer 6

Immature

Depreciating others (Levenson)

Question 7

Projection (non-psychotic level)

Answer 7

Immature

Attributing unacceptable impulses or ideas to others (Levenson)

Attributing one’s own unacknowledged feelings to others (Kaplan)

Question 8

Repression (and its 2 types)

Answer 8

Neurotic

Involuntary forgetting of painful feeling or experience (Levenson)

Expelling and withholding from conscious awareness of an idea or feeling (Kaplan)

1. Secondary Repression - excluding from awareness what was once experienced on a conscious level
2. Primary Repression - may curb ideas and feelings before they have reached consciousness
   (Kaplan)

Question 9

Control

Answer 9

Neurotic

Manipulation of external events to avoid unconscious anxiety (Levenson)

Excessive attempt to manage or regulate events or objects in the environment in the interest of minimizing anxiety and solving internal conflicts (Kaplan)

Question 10

Displacement

Answer 10

Neurotic

Transfer of an experienced feeling from one person to another or to something else (Levenson)

Purposeful, unconscious shifting of impulses or affective investment from one object to another in the interest of solving a conflict. Object changed but instinctual nature and aim remains unchanged. (Kaplan)

Question 11

Reaction formation

Answer 11

Neurotic

Expression of unacceptable impulses as directly opposite attitudes and behaviors (Levenson)

Management of unacceptable impulses by permitting expression of the impulse antithetical form. Expression of the impulse in the negative (Kaplan)

Question 12

Intellectualization

Answer 12

Neurotic

Replacing feelings with facts or details (Levenson)

Control of affects and impulses by way of thinking about them instead of experiencing them. A systematic excess of thinking (Kaplan)

Question 13

Rationalization

Answer 13

Neurotic

Inventing a convincing, but usually false, reason why one is not bothered (Levenson)

Justification of attitudes, beliefs, or behavior that might otherwise be unacceptable by an incorrect application of justifying reasons or the invention of a convincing fallacy (Kaplan)

Question 14

Isolation / Isolation of affect

Answer 14

Neurotic

Separating a painful idea or event from feelings associated with it (Levenson)

Intrapsychic splitting or separation of affect from content resulting in repression of either idea or affect or the displacement of affect to a different substitute content (Kaplan)

Question 15

Undoing

Answer 15

Neurotic

Ritualistic “removal” of an offensive act, sometimes by atoning for it. (Levenson)

Question 16

Suppression

Answer 16

Mature

Consciously putting a disturbing experience out of mind (Levenson)

Conscious or semiconscious decision to postpone attention to a conscious impulse or conflict (Kaplan)

Question 17

Altruism

Answer 17

Mature

Vicarious but instinctively gratifying service of others (Levenson) even to the detriment of the self (Kaplan)

Question 18

Humor

Answer 18

Mature

Overt expression of normally unacceptable feelings without unpleasant effect (Levenson) and without personal discomfort or immobilization (Kaplan)

Question 19

Sublimation

Answer 19

Mature

Attenuated expression of drives in alternate fields without adverse consequences (Levenson)

Gratification of an impulse whose goal is retained but whose aim or object is changed from a socially objectionable one to a socially valued one (Kaplan)

Question 20

Anticipation

Answer 20

Mature

Realistic planning for inevitable discomfort (Levenson)

Question 21

Asceticism

Answer 21

Mature

Elimination of directly pleasurable affects attributable to an experience (Kaplan)

Question 22

Dissociation

Answer 22

Neurotic

A temporary but drastic modification of character or sense of personal identity to avoid emotional distress. Fugue states and hysterical conversion reactions. (Kaplan)

Question 23

Externalization

Answer 23

Neurotic

Tendency to perceive in the external world and in external objects components of one’s own personality, including instinctual impulses, conflicts, moods, attitudes, and styles of thinking (Kaplan)

Thoughts and feelings are attributed to the external world. (G)

Question 24

Inhibition

Answer 24

Neurotic

Unconsciously determined limitation or renunciation of specific ego functions to avoid anxiety arising out of conflict with instinctual impulses, superego or environmental forces (Kaplan)

Question 25

Sexualization

Answer 25

Neurotic

Endowing an object of function with sexual significance that it did not previously have, or possess to a lesser degree, to ward off anxieties connected with prohibited impulses (Kaplan)

Question 26

Distortion

Answer 26

Narcissistic-Psychotic

Grossly reshaping the experience of external reality to suit inner needs (Kaplan)

Question 27

Acting out

Answer 27

Immature

Direct expression of an unconscious wish or impulse in action to avoid being conscious of the accompanying affect (Kaplan)

Express urges, conflicts and fantasies in uncontrolled action. Usually, in order to get relief from tension or anxiety. (G)

Question 28

Blocking

Answer 28

Immature

An inhibition, usually temporary in nature, of affects especially, but possibly also thinking and impulses. Similar to repression in its effects but has a component of tension arising from the inhibition of the impulse, affect or thought (Kaplan)

Question 29

Hypochondriasis

Answer 29

Immature

Transformation of reproach toward others arising from bereavement, loneliness, or unacceptable aggressive impulses, into self-reproach in the form of somotic complaints (Kaplan)

Question 30

Introjection

Answer 30

Immature

Internalization of characteristics of the object with the goal of ensuring closeness to and constant presence of the object. (Kaplan)

Keyword is characteristics.

Question 31

Passive-aggressive behavior

Answer 31

Immature

Aggression toward an object expressed indirectly and ineffectively through passivity, masochism, and turning against the self (Kaplan)

Question 32

Regression

Answer 32

Immature

A return to a previous stage of development or functioning to avoid the anxieties or hostilities involved in later stages (Kaplan)

Question 33

Somatization

Answer 33

Immature

Defensive conversion of psychic derivatives into bodily symptoms; tendency to react with somatic rather than psychic manifestations. (Kaplan)

Question 34

Schizoid fantasy (Immature)

Answer 34

Immature

Tendency to use fantasy and to indulge in autistic retreat for the purpose of conflict resolution and gratification (Kaplan)