Defense mechanisms

Defense MechanismsDefense MechanismsDefense Mechanisms, like the id, ego and

superego.

FOUR CLUSTER OF DEFENSESFOUR CLUSTER OF DEFENSES

NARCISSISTIC DEFENSESNARCISSISTIC DEFENSES

1. Projection1. Projection• A person attributes his or

her own desire, wishes, thoughts or emotions to some one else.

• E.g.:- A man who has committed adultery becomes convinced that his wife is having an affair even though there is no evidence of it.

• Paranoid delusions results 4rm use of projection.

2. Denial2. Denial• A person refuses to accept the reality of anything that is

bad. • E.g. A woman prepares dinner for her husband expecting

him to come home even thoughhe died a month earlier

3.SPLITTING3.SPLITTING• “People or things in world are perceived as all

bad or all good”

• E.g.

“He’s just so perfect and wonderful,” says a teenage girl in love.

Borderline personality disorder use splitting

1.BLOCKING1.BLOCKING

• Temporary or transient block in thinking, or inability to remember.

• E.g. In the middle of the conversation a woman pauses , looks confused & asked , “What was I just talking about”

2. Regression2. Regression

Returning to an earlier stage of development. “acting childish”

e.g. A husband speaks to his wife in a “baby talk”

A patient lies in bed curled up in a fetal position

3. SOMATIZATION3. SOMATIZATION

• Psychic derivatives are converted into bodily symptoms.

• E.g. Getting a headache while taking an exam.

• Developing a ringing in the ears while making a presentation for grand rounds.

4.INTROJECTION4.INTROJECTION• (Identification) features of external world or

persons are taken in and made part of the self. The opposite of projection.

• E.g. A teenager adopts the style & mannerisms of a rock star.

• A resident dresses and act like the attending physician.

1. Displacement1. Displacement Changing the target of an

emotion or drive , while the person having the feeling remains the same. Example:

If you are yelled at by your boss you can’t yell back you’ll get fired! So, you go home and yell at your loved ones!

A man who is sexually aroused by a woman he meets goes home and makes love to his wife.

2. Repression2. Repression• An idea or feeling is eliminated

from consciousness. Note that content may once have been unknown, but now has become inaccessible.

• E.g. You forget, then forget that you forgot.

• Differentiated 4rm denial in that the reality was once accepted, but is now discarded.

• One of the most basic defense mechanisms.

3.ISOLATION OF AFFECT3.ISOLATION OF AFFECT• Reality is accepted, but without the expected

human emotional response to that reality.

• E.g.

• A child who has been beaten discusses the beatings without any display of emotions.

• A patient who has had a finger severed in an accident describes the incident to his physician without any emotional reaction.

• Conversion disorder is manifestation of this defense mechanism.

4.INTELLECTUALIZATION4.INTELLECTUALIZATION• Affect is stripped away & replaced by an excessive

use of intellectual processes. Cognition replaces affect. The intellectual content is academically, but not humanly, relevant.

• E.g. A boy is about to ask a girl out on a date 4 the 1st time talks with his friend about the importance of mating rituals for the long term survival of the species & the mechanisms by which societies arrange 4 these rituals.

• In obsessive compulsive disorder, rumination can result 4rm this defense mechanism.

1.HUMOR1.HUMOR

• Permits the overt expression of feelings and thoughts without personal discomfort.

• E.g. A man laughs when he is going to be fired.

• Laughter covers the pain and anxiety.

2. Sublimation2. Sublimation• When people channel

impulses into socially acceptable behavior.

• Example:- An executive who is attracted to a female associate becomes her mentor and advisor.

• It is considered to be the most mature defense.

3.SUPPRESSION3.SUPPRESSION• Conscious decision to postpone attention to an

impulse or conflict, conscious setup & unconscious follow-through. The suppressed content temporarily resides in the unconscious.

• E.g. A terminally ill cancer patient puts aside his anxiety and enjoys a family gathering.

• A student decides to 4get about a pending exam to go out and have a good time for an evening.

Forget, but remember that you forgot.