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Defense Mechanisms Explained

The document discusses various defense mechanisms that the human psyche uses to reduce anxiety from unacceptable thoughts and feelings. It provides examples of common defense mechanisms such as projection, where people attribute their own unconscious feelings to others; denial, where people pretend something did not happen; regression, where people revert to more childish behaviors; sublimation, where negative energy is channeled into acceptable behaviors; and displacement, where anger is expressed towards less threatening people or objects. The document aims to explain these defense mechanisms and provide illustrative examples of how they might manifest.

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217 views2 pages

Defense Mechanisms Explained

The document discusses various defense mechanisms that the human psyche uses to reduce anxiety from unacceptable thoughts and feelings. It provides examples of common defense mechanisms such as projection, where people attribute their own unconscious feelings to others; denial, where people pretend something did not happen; regression, where people revert to more childish behaviors; sublimation, where negative energy is channeled into acceptable behaviors; and displacement, where anger is expressed towards less threatening people or objects. The document aims to explain these defense mechanisms and provide illustrative examples of how they might manifest.

Uploaded by

Noman A
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Noman Rasheed

BBA191011
Understanding Human Psychology & Behavior

Defense Mechanisms
A defense mechanism is the act of coping mechanisms that reduce anxiety
generated by threats from unacceptable or negative impulses. The procedure is
generally oblivious. The person usually adapts these methods subconsciously. For
instance, if we face any upsetting situation our brain decides to overlook it and
maintains a strategic distance from it. In addition to overlooking, other defense
mechanisms include Humor, Sarcasm, Projection, Repression and Sublimation.
Following are the examples of the common defense mechanisms mentioned
above.

1. Projection:
One of the key defense mechanism is called Projection. What happens in
projection is that somebody attributes their own hidden and unconscious
thoughts or emotions and actually attributes them to somebody else.
For example, if someone is really very jealous, they can actually project out
that jealousy and say 'Oh, that other person has problems with jealousy
and it's not really me'. It's a way of being able to shift one's own feelings to
somebody else and identify somebody else as possessing those
unacceptable thoughts or feelings.

2. Denial:
While there are several defense mechanisms the most important one is
called the denial in which the person just pretend that something has not
happened or is not true.
For example, if someone is diagnosed with breast cancer defense
-mechanism would be for them to deny that such a thing has happened or
deny that they have breast cancer.
3. Regression:
We also have another neurotic defense mechanism by the name of
regression and what happens in regression is that we end up performing
behaviors as if we were at a much younger stage in our lives.
For example, if we can talk and speak and move about and do things
normally we may resort to whining or throwing a tantrum or acting in a way
that is much more like somebody that was at a much younger stage in life
some people might say acting like a baby.

4. Sublimation:
Sublimation means taking energy or frustration or the difficult and negative
feelings from an issue or a problem and channeling that energy into an
acceptable behavior, something else instead of dealing with it or focusing
on what you need to be focusing.
An example for sublimation can be seen when in the movie Barbados, the
character Amelia has to mask her disappointment after her child Sam is
uninvited from a birthday party he was previously invited to because of his
behavioral issues

5. Displacement:
In displacement, an individual expresses the anger towards other people
that are less threatening. Displacement defense mechanism involves
getting feelings, frustrations, and impulses on people or objects that are
less threatening.
For displacement, again we can apply the previous example from
Babadook, the mother Amelia is distressed because of the problems her
son is facing and one night as she’s sitting by his bed contemplating her
miserable life she sees an innocent dog and kills him instead of letting out
her anger on her son, who is the person responsible for her negative
feelings.

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