Immature defense mechanisms

Question 1

delusions

Answer 1

frank delusions about external reality, usually persecutory

Question 2

denial

Answer 2

refusal to accept external reality

Question 3

distortion

Answer 3

reshaping external reality to meet own needs

Question 4

splitting

Answer 4

categorizing people as all good or all bad

Question 5

extreme projection

Answer 5

denial of own moral deficiency that is projected onto another group (bigotry, racism)

Question 6

acting out

Answer 6

behaving in a socially unacceptable way

Question 7

fantasy

Answer 7

retreat to fantasy to solve conflicts

Question 8

idealization

Answer 8

unconsciously perceiving a person to have more positive qualities that he or she actually has

Question 9

passive aggression

Answer 9

aggression towards other expressed indirectly

Question 10

projection

Answer 10

shifting of unacceptable thoughts onto someone else, such that the other person is perceived to have those thoughts

Question 11

somatization

Answer 11

transforming conflict into physical symptoms

Question 12

displacement

Answer 12

shifting impulses from one target to a less threatening target

Question 13

dissociation

Answer 13

drastic modification in one’s personal identity to avoid emotional distress

Question 14

hypochondriasis

Answer 14

excessive pre-occupation with having serious illness

Question 15

isolation of affect

Answer 15

separation of feelings from ideas

Question 16

intellectualization

Answer 16

focusing on the intellectual aspects of a situation to distance self from the emotions

Question 17

rationalization

Answer 17

use of false reasoning to convince self no wrong was done

Question 18

reaction formation

Answer 18

behaving in the exact opposite way of what one thinks/feels

Question 19

regression

Answer 19

temporary reversion to an earlier state of development

Question 20

repression

Answer 20

unconscious exclusion of painful thoughts

Question 21

undoing

Answer 21

tries to undo unhealthy/guilt producing action by engaging in the opposite

Question 22

withdrawal

Answer 22

removing one’s self from things that could trigger painful thoughts or feelings

Question 23

associated with paranoid PD

Answer 23

delusions, extreme projection

Question 24

associated with borderline PD

Answer 24

splitting, identification

Question 25

associated with OCD

Answer 25

isolation of affect