Defence mechanisms - A brief insight - Where do you fall?

[IGoddessI]

Which category do you fall into? What about the people you know?

 

 

 

What are defence mechanisms? They are unconscious mental processes aimed at protecting the person from unpleasant emotions (particularly, anxiety) or bolstering pleasurable emotions.

 

 

 

Repression - The person keeps thought or memories that would be too threatening to acknowledge from awareness.

 

 

 

Denial - The person refuses to acknowledge external realities or emotions (such as anxiety). This type of person is usually the type that says 'it's nothing', quite often it is nothing but there are chances its not, nothing a small check up couldn't fix.

 

 

 

Projection - "People see their own strengths and insecurities in others". This is where the person attributes his own unacknowledged feelings or impulses to others. The hard-driving businessman who thinks his competitors, suppliers and customers are always trying to cheat him may in fact be the one with questionable ethics. To recognise his own greed and lack of concern for others would conflict with his conscience, so instead he sees these traits in others.

 

 

 

Reaction formation - A person turns unacceptable feelings or impulses into their opposites. For example, take the case of Liberal Party politician Ross Cameron, who won the federal seat of Parramatta in Sydney in 1996. Cam was known as a religious person who campaigned strongly in support of Conservative family and moral values. Yet in 2004, admitted to having an affair with a Canberra woman at the same time his wife was pregnant in 2001.

 

 

 

Sublimation - Converting sexual or aggressive impulses into socially acceptable activities. A young boy may turn his feelings of competition with his father or brother into a desire to excel in competitive sports or to succeed in business when he is older. If you teach your kids to aim high and to redirect their anger into activities you can help each of them obtain the desire to excel.

 

 

 

Rationalisation - This is where the person explains away action sin a seemingly logical way to avoid uncomfortable feelings, especially guilt or shame. A student who plagiarizes her assignment and justifies her actions by saying that passing the course will help her earn her public policy degree and server the community is using rationalisation to justify her dishonesty. Often after arguments, people will feel the need to explain their actions or reasons for why they said what they have; in fact it is a natural way to release feelings of guilt from their own mind.

 

 

 

Displacement - people directing their emotions, especially anger, away from the real target to a substitute. People may choose to vent their emotions on another object, animal or person instead of the real target of their feelings. For example, a man might take his frustrations out on the punching bag after a heated argument with his wife. An overweight male might find the motivation to lose 80 pounds after finding his girlfriend cheated on him. A university student may be a high distinction average because all their life they were told they were stupid or not good enough. This is the category people fall in when people tell them they can't do something and they go out of their way to prove them wrong and show results.

 

 

 

For example:

 

 

 

Beethoven composed his greatest works after becoming deaf. George Washington was snowed in through a treacherous winter at Valley Forge. Abraham Lincoln was raised in poverty. Albert Einstein was called a slow learner, [developmentally delayed]ed and uneducable. If Christopher Columbus had turned back, no one could have blamed him, considering the constant adversity he endured.

 

 

 

Harvey Mackay

 

 

 

Passive aggression - is the indirect expression of anger towards others. One administrator frustrated everyone around him by 'sitting on' important documents that required a fast turnaround. To be actively aggressive would run afoul of his moral standards and potentially lead to a reprimand from his boss, so he accomplished the same goal - frustrating co-workers and thus satisfying his aggressive impulses - in a way that allowed him to disavow any intention or responsibility.

[IGoddessI]

I'm guilty of a little of every category but mostly displacement. When something upsets me I conquer the hell out of something to make myself feel better. If I get angry, I go keep in shape, finish an assignment, study for an exam, write a poem, or compose a piano piece. In my first semester of Psych a lecturer actually put me down and made me feel stupid, so I studied extra hard and came out with a high distinction. He didn't have much to say to me after that or maybe that was his intention? Defense mechanisms can be a powerful tool.

[Bufoman]

you forgot good old reaction, if some thing or some one is causeing you harm why not react to stop their ability to do so? that is in my oppinion one of the best defence mechanisims and yet it has not been listed heer.

 

 

 

for instance: if some one is alway's putting you down tell them to stop it and if they won't tell them what you think of them.

 

 

 

of course if you could do that you wouldent have to resort to the above listed defence mechanisims.

 

 

 

I think the last 3 are the one's I Use the most to deal with situations but I reely prefer my above listed solution to problems and would rather do that than resort to any of the others listed. is their a reson why reaction is not listed as one of these? I would argue that to react consciously is indeed decided sub- consciously and there for a defence mechanisim by your deffinition.

 

 

 

if not I would like to know why since I don't reely know the first thing about phychology.

 

 

 

Thanks for the topic, It made an interesting read.

[IGoddessI]

Because the above have been studied empirically, there is more but this is what it teaches in the American Psychological Association Introductory.

 

 

 

Everything I learn is from the APA manual.

[Bufoman]

ahh.

 

 

 

well thanks for clearing that up.

[IGoddessI]

Here's an interesting one an anthropologist discovered culturally:

 

 

 

In the Kerala province of India, where cattle are considered sacred and cannot be killed, they observed that the mortality rate for male cattle was twice as high as for females (Harris, 1979). Although all the farmers espoused the Hindu prohibition against slaughtering cattle, they were essentially starving the males to death because males cannot give milk and were a drain on the scarce economic resources.

[arizark]

probably rationalism because i had an extreme case of anxiety last year due to me being uncomfortable in hospital because i was admitted for no good reason and i have a semi phobia of hospitals, knowing people are dieing in the same building as me really freaks me out. so anyway i tried to use rationalism when i had panic attacks and junk wasn't really helpful though always seems to make it worse but i can't help it :-k

[warri0r45]

Repression from the people around me and displacement into writing music. Works for me. :D

[knives669]

I fall under all of those. Mostly repression.

[____]

Hardcore repression.

[SuziAngel]

I guess all of them at some time or another. It depends on the situation. I think I use these three the most:

 

 

 

Rationalisation - I try to find a reason behind everything. I annoy myself with it and I'm sure I annoy the people around me with it because I ask too many questions.

 

 

 

Displacement - If I want to rid myself of my anger I quite often opt to lose myself in playing the piano.

 

 

 

Passive aggression - I can be positively vile when I want to be. I have been known to clean the toilet with someone's toothbrush after an argument.

[Death_By_Pod]

 

Sublimation - Converting sexual or aggressive impulses into socially acceptable activities. A young boy may turn his feelings of competition with his father or brother into a desire to excel in competitive sports or to succeed in business when he is older. If you teach your kids to aim high and to redirect their anger into activities you can help each of them obtain the desire to excel.

 

 

 

That's very Freudian, I guess these categories need to be named for diagnostic purposes, I suppose. What's up with all the "I'm doing a psychology course" posts lately?

 

 

 

Because the above have been studied empirically, there is more but this is what it teaches in the American Psychological Association Introductory.

 

 

 

Everything I learn is from the APA manual.

 

 

 

You're making the assumption that we can study psychology empirically and is quantifiable in diagnostic manuals. I find it rather odd that you can categorise the human mind so simply.

[Lateralus]

A mixture of repression and displacement through drinking I suppose. Now that doesn't sound very mentally healthy...

[IGoddessI]

 

Sublimation - Converting sexual or aggressive impulses into socially acceptable activities. A young boy may turn his feelings of competition with his father or brother into a desire to excel in competitive sports or to succeed in business when he is older. If you teach your kids to aim high and to redirect their anger into activities you can help each of them obtain the desire to excel.

 

 

 

That's very Freudian, I guess these categories need to be named for diagnostic purposes, I suppose. What's up with all the "I'm doing a psychology course" posts lately?

 

 

 

Because the above have been studied empirically, there is more but this is what it teaches in the American Psychological Association Introductory.

 

 

 

Everything I learn is from the APA manual.

 

 

 

You're making the assumption that we can study psychology empirically and is quantifiable in diagnostic manuals. I find it rather odd that you can categorise the human mind so simply.

 

 

 

Death,

 

 

 

It's just something I'm passionate about and like to share with other people who may also be interested in it. It appears that you are interested in it or you would not have read it or clicked on my post, agree?

 

 

 

I'm sure there has been times when you have clicked on a topic or contributed to it in some way because you have information you can share, yeah?

 

 

 

I apologise, perhaps what I typed is not clear enough for you, yes? There is an indeed broader field and I'm not categorising the human mind at all. It is actually the APA that has limited the categories to a smaller field.

 

 

 

You do have an interesting point, however not one I can answer for you. Perhaps you should write to them and ask them, yes?

 

 

 

I'm sure we have all had times where we have questioned sources; however just learn it because that is what is acquired of us.

 

 

 

In fact I respect your opinion and will go out of my way to ask the Dr who taught the Introduction, if you'd like?

 

 

 

Do you have any recommendations to suggest in teaching defence mechanisms for the future?And how would you teach it to the class without limiting anything?

[anonimu]

Repression

 

Denial

 

Reaction formation

 

Rationalisation

 

Displacement

 

Passive aggression

 

 

 

Mostly repression... If someone says something that is out of context, I repress it. If I do something stupid (which I convince myself that I do a lot every day), by the next day it's repressed.

 

 

 

Btw Goddess, noone says stuff like: "You are human, yes?", yes?

[Feared_Gear]

:shock:

[anonimu]

:shock:

 

Who was that @?

[Stilev]

im some what Rationalisation, Passive aggression, and Displacement

 

 

 

really demends on what the anger is about, who it involes, and my other small factors i.e. stress, good sleep, am i hungrey, etc

[hellbellz]

Sublimation.

 

 

 

I'm a blackbelt and before I quit, I had to help children roughly ages from 12 - 7. I'm also very competitive and play sports.

[IGoddessI]

Btw Goddess, noone says stuff like: "You are human, yes?", yes?

 

 

 

A lot of public, motivational and guest speakers use that approach, actually.

 

 

 

Perhaps you might like to find out why that is? If you get stuck let me know.