Psychological defense mechanisms: Defense is an important concept in psychoanalytic theory, and in the structure of personality it belongs to the function of the ego. When the ego becomes aware of an impulse from the ego, it experiences a certain amount of anxiety in an anticipatory way and tries to stop it with certain strategies, a process known as defense, or the ego’s defense. Defenses are used by the ego to repel conscious impulses, internal drives, desires and thoughts, which are mainly directed against sexual desires and aggressions that can cause anxiety in the individual. Generally, defenses are subconscious, so the individual is not aware that they are functioning. Depending on the level of functioning of individual defense mechanisms, the result is different.
Psychoanalytic theory classifies psychological defense mechanisms into four categories.
1. Narcissistic defense mechanisms: These defense mechanisms are common in children before the age of 5, in adults with dreams and fantasies, and in patients with schizophrenia, and include: psychotic denial, delusional projection, splitting effects, and distortion effects.
2. Immature defense mechanisms: These defense mechanisms are common in children and adolescents between the ages of 3 and 16, in personality and affective disorders, and in patients with neurosis, and include: nonpsychotic projection, defensive identification, passive aggression, and seeker action.
3, Neurotic defense mechanisms: common in neurotic patients or adults during stress reactions, mainly: repression, replacement, regression, isolation, reverse formation, counteracting, rationalization, etc.
4, mature defense mechanism: is a common defense mechanism for adults, mainly altruism, sublimation, humor, etc..
In fact, in layman’s terms, all people use “defense mechanisms” to keep painful feelings and memories out of their consciousness, and those patients who are undergoing psychotherapy are no exception. It can be said that defense mechanisms are used to adapt oneself to stressful states from within the psyche (internal drive or superego) or from outside the psyche (external world). In our actual counseling process, the client’s defense mechanism is an important cause of impedance.
The 18 specific manifestations of defense mechanism are listed as follows.
1.Suppression
As the first defense mechanism described by Fuchs, repression is the active exclusion of painful memories, feelings and impulses from consciousness. For example, a female hysterical client suffering from lack of sexual desire represses all feelings that may lead to sexual arousal, and may also repress memories of sensuality that caused psychological conflict in early childhood.
2. Denial
Similar to repression, denial blocks the client’s attention to painful ideas or feelings, temporarily separating them from consciousness. Using denial, the client stops paying attention to painful realities as if they did not exist. For example, a “colon” who has stepped down dishonorably, still assumes the same old headly demeanor.
3. Reverse effect
The vast majority of counselors have some degree of reverse effect. It exaggerates one emotional tendency in order to suppress the other emotional tendency that opposes it. The reverse effect is particularly prominent in OCD patients. They resist the desire to be punctual, frugal, and tidy to be tired, extravagant, and dirty.
4. Transference
Refers to the transfer of one’s emotions from the real object to a safer object. For example, a person who gets on a boss with a belly full of anger yells and kicks the dog when he gets home. During the consultation, the client often transfers the emotions he or she experiences to the consultant (empathy), and if the consultant thinks he or she loves (hates) you, then “the Yangtze River embraces the enzyme pro-print thin
5.Reversal
The impulse from active to passive (or from passive to active) or from towards others to themselves (and vice versa). For example, “it’s my fault” to condemn themselves to express disappointment in others is a common example.
6. Inhibition
Thinking or activities will be narrowed down, so as not to cause anxiety due to these thoughts or activities. Common in phobias. These patients avoid situations that cause terror, such as high places, airplanes, certain animals, etc.; also seen in order to avoid anxiety and the performance of afraid to make the decision, afraid to interact with the opposite sex.
7.Identification with authority
This refers to imitating authority and overpowering people with power. For example, children who are just learning to control their impulses often imitate the tone and posture of adults and criticize their own little ones. Similarly, the counselor may be overly harsh to cover up his or her fear of authority.
8. Abstinence
Abstinence is a defense mechanism used especially by young people to control strong sexual urges during adolescence. Abstinence is its own denial of pleasure. This denial, which may involve food, sleep, exercise and sexual satisfaction, and the resulting sense of superiority, that is quite beneficial to them.
9. Rationalization
This refers to experiencing and talking about the topic of the conflict without the corresponding emotional overtones.
10.Emotional isolation
Related to rationalization, it is the suppression of feelings associated with particular thoughts. Both rationalization and emotional isolation are typical of OCD patients.
11. Degeneration
Also called “regression”. This refers to a retreat to an earlier stage of psychological development in order to avoid experiencing the conflicts that come with subsequent development. Regression to the oral and anal phases to avoid Oedipal conflict is very common in clinical practice.