ego defenses Flashcards
unacceptable feelings and thoughts are expressed through actions
acting out
eg tantrums
temporary, drastic chnage in personality, memory, conciousness, or motor behavior to avoid emotional stress
dissacoiation (extreme forms —> dissociative identity disorder)
avoidance of awareness of some painful reality
denial
process where by avoided ideas and feelings are transferred to some neutral person or object
eg mom yells at her child b/c her husband yelled at her
displacement
partially remaining at a more childish level of development
fixation
modeling behavior after another person who is more powerful (not necessarily admired)
identification
separation of feelings from ideas and events
describing murder in graphic detail w/no emotional response
isolation(of affect)
an unacceptable internal impsule is attributed to an external source(vs. displacement)
a man who wants another woman thinks his wife is cheating on him
projection
proclaiming logical reaons for actions actualy performed for other reasons, usually to avoid self blame
ie after getting fired, claiming job was not important anyway
rationalization
process whereby a warded-off idea or feeling is replaced by an (unconciously derived) emphasis on its opposite (vs. sublimation)
reaction formation
a patient w/libidinous thoughts enters a monastery
turning back maturaltion clock and going back to earlier modes of dealing w/world (vs. fixation)
regression
**involuntary ** w/holding of an idea or feeeling from concious awareness (vs. suppression)
_repression _
not remembering a conflictual or traumatic experience; pressing bad thoughts into the unconsious
belief that people are all good or all bad at diff times due to intolerance of ambiguity. seen in borderline personality disorder
splitting
guilty feeling allevaited by unsolicited generosity toward others
mafia boss makes large donation to charity
altruism
appreciating the amusing nature of an anxiety provoking or adverse situation
humor
nervous medical student jokes about boards
