Personality organisation and defense mechanisms

Question 1

What is personality organization?

Answer 1

A continuum to identify the severity of mental illness; ranging from reasonably healthy to severely ill

Question 2

What are the three types of personality organization?

Answer 2

1. Neurotic PO
2. Borderline PO
3. Psychotic PO

Question 3

What are the three most important factors for the type of personality organization?

Answer 3

Defense, identity integration and reality testing

Question 4

What are all the factors that define the type of personality organization?

Answer 4

1. Defense
2. Identity integration
3. Reality testing
4. Observing ego
5. Primary conflict
6. Counter/transference

Question 5

Neurotic PO: explain defense, identity integration, reality testing, observing ego, primary conflict and counter/transference

Answer 5

1. Defense: Mature
2. Identity integration: Yes
3. Reality testing: Intact
4. Observing ego: Yes
5. Primary conflict: Oedipal
6. Counter/transference: Working alliance

Question 6

Psychotic PO: explain defense, identity integration, reality testing, observing ego, primary conflict and counter/transference

Answer 6

1. Defense: Immature
2. Identity integration: No
3. Reality testing: No
4. Observing ego: No
5. Primary conflict: Existential
6. Counter/transference: Parental

Question 7

Borderline PO: explain defense, identity integration, reality testing, observing ego, primary conflict and counter/transference

Answer 7

1. Defense: Immature
2. Identity integration: No
3. Reality testing: Intact
4. Observing ego: Limited
5. Primary conflict: Separation-individuation
6. Counter/transference: All good/bad

Question 8

Cluster A is which type of personality organization?

Answer 8

Psychotic PO

Question 9

Cluster C and healthy people are which type of personality organization?

Answer 9

Neurotic PO

Question 10

PPO: defense, identity and reality testing?

Answer 10

Defense: primitive
Identity: diffused (no boundaries)
Reality testing: compromised

Question 11

BPO: defense, identity and reality testing?

Answer 11

Defense: primitive
Identity: diffused (polarization)
Reality testing: intact

Question 12

NPO: defense, identity and reality testing?

Answer 12

Defense: mature
Identity: integrated
Reality testing: intact

Question 13

What are defense mechanisms?

Answer 13

Psychological strategies, unconsciously used, to protect us or help us cope with (the anxiety related to) unwanted/unaccepted thoughts and emotions. They help protect the sense of self.

Question 14

What are the three types of defense mechanisms?

Answer 14

• Mature
• Neurotic
• Immature

Question 15

Mature defense mechanisms?

Answer 15

• Help the individual in dealing with his or her psychologically stressful experiences by integrating affects with ideas, therefore optimizing and possibly resolving the internal or external cause of distress
• Internal and external stressors are fully perceived without distortion and the need to adapt to them is fully appropriated to oneself
• Positive coping

Question 16

Neurotic defense mechanisms?

Answer 16

• Reflect the experience that awareness of a wish, thought or motive is unacceptable or threatening and must be kept out of awareness
• The individual can experience feelings associated with an internal conflict or external stressors as long as full awareness of the idea is blocked and expressed indirectly

Question 17

Immature defense mechanisms?

Answer 17

• Characterized by severe alteration of painful mental contents and/or radical distortion of external reality
• Unacceptable feelings are kept outside of consciousness
• Feelings and impulses are not recognized as being one’s own

Question 18

Examples of mature defense mechanisms?

Answer 18

• Humor
• Sublimation
• Suppression
• Altruism

Question 19

Humor

Answer 19

Expressing uncomfortable feelings (in the form of jokes, for example) without causing oneself discomfort

Question 20

Sublimination

Answer 20

Expressing a personally unacceptable or unattainable feeling in a socially acceptable or useful way. Considered a more adaptive defense mechanism in that it can transform negative anxiety into positive energy.

Question 21

Supression

Answer 21

Pushing the unpleasant or unacceptable feeling, thought, or desire deliberately out of consciousness. It is the only defense mechanism to have some sort of conscious effort, albeit partial. Suppression involves attempting not to think about a memory or feelings.

Question 22

Which is the only defense mechanism that involves some sort of conscious effort?

Answer 22

Suppression

Question 23

Altruism

Answer 23

Helping others feel better about oneself, thereby avoiding negative personal feelings. Gratification is achieved from the response of others.

Question 24

Examples of neurotic defense mechanisms

Answer 24

• Undoing
• Reaction formation
• Intellectualization
• Repression
• Idealization
• Displacement

Question 25

Undoing

Answer 25

Behaving or acting in a way to reverse unacceptable behavior. "Correcting" a past mistake. May involve rituals to "un-do" a "sinful" thought or action

Question 26

Reaction formation

Answer 26

A manifestation of a feeling and/or action that is diametrically opposite to that of the underlying unacceptable impulse. Thus, there is a transformation of the feeling to its exact opposite.

Question 27

Intellectualization

Answer 27

Using higher functions (excessively) instead of affect to deal with unpleasant facts or situations. Dealing with emotions is avoided, and the intellectual content may be too academic in nature, drained of any affective content

Question 28

Repression

Answer 28

An unpleasant or unacceptable feeling or thought is pushed out from consciousness. Differs from suppression in that the thought or feeling is unconsciously eliminated and the content can no longer be obtained.

Question 29

Idealization

Answer 29

Creating an ideal impression of a person, place or object by emphasizing their positive qualities and neglecting the negative

Question 30

Displacement

Answer 30

The emotion remaining the same, the target of the emotional outlet is changes. This is different from acting out in that the primary emotion is not masked, only redirected.

Question 31

Examples of immature defense mechanisms

Answer 31

- Projection - Acting out - Denial - Dissociation - Regression - Passive aggression - Isolation - Splitting - Autistic fantasy - Somatization

Question 32

Projection

Answer 32

Attributing one's own feelings, desires, or thoughts to someone else. This is associated with or may lead to paranoia.

Question 33

Acting out

Answer 33

A strong display of emotions or behavior in order to hide the unacceptable underlying feelings or ideas. May be socially inappropriate. The actual emotion is being masked.

Question 34

Denial

Answer 34

Avoiding an obvious aspect of reality by pretending that it is false or that it does not exist thus blocking the external events from awareness

Question 35

Dissociation

Answer 35

To momentarily lose connection to the world around, feel separated from the outside world, as though one exist in another realm.

Question 36

Regression

Answer 36

Reverting to a behavior that is more childlike (or otherwise younger than age). Seen in people (also without mental disability) who are sick or otherwise uncomfortable.

Question 37

Passive-aggressive behavior

Answer 37

A passive (indirect) way of expressing aggression. Manifested as setting up an expectation and then not meeting it. However, this feeling often operates at a subconscious level.

Question 38

Isolation (of affect)

Answer 38

To separate ideas or feelings from the rest of your thoughts. In distinguishing an emotion or impulse from others in this way, a person attempts to protect the ego from anxieties caused by a specific situation

Question 39

Splitting

Answer 39

Splitting occurs when the ego attempts to reconcile multiple aspects or rationales, but resorts to understanding the world in "black and white" terms. A person who experiences splitting may take an "either or" approach when making evaluations of the world around them, including objects, situations, and people.

Question 40

Autistic fantasy/ autistic withdrawal

Answer 40

An autistic retreat into an imaginary life to avoid facing unacceptable feelings or the unpleasant reality

Question 41

Somatization

Answer 41

Occurs when the internal conflicts between the drives of the id, ego and super ego take on physical characteristics

Question 42

Marianne is a 27y old young woman with borderline personality organization (BPO), as such Marianne is likely to present with a (1) and/but she is (2) to distinguish what is real from what is not: 1. (1) fragmented sense of self (2) unable 2. (1) fragmented sense of self (2) able 3. (1) consistent sense of self and others (2) unable 4. (1) consistent sense of self and others (2) able

Answer 42

2. (1) fragmented sense of self (2) able

Question 43

Which defense mechanism is commonly described as “To momentarily lose connection to the world around, feel separated from the outside world, as though one exist in another realm.” 1) Dissociation 2) Projective identification 3) Splitting 4) Denial

Answer 43

1) Dissociation