What are defense mechanisms?
Defense mechanism is a name given by Freud to the Ego's manifestations in face of the demands of others psychic instances (Id and Superego), but Freudian psychoanalysis is not the only theory to use this concept. Other aspects of psychology also use this name.
Defense mechanisms are determined by how the ego is organized: when well organized, it tends to have more conscious and rational reactions. However, the various situations experienced can trigger unconscious feelings, causing less rational and objective reactions and then activating the different defense mechanisms, with the purpose of protecting the Ego from a possible psychic displeasure, announced by these feelings of anxiety, fear, guilt, between others. In short, defense mechanisms are psychological actions that seek to reduce manifestations that are imminently dangerous to the Ego.
All defense mechanisms require some energy investment and may or may not be satisfactory in ceasing to anxiety, which allows them to be divided into two groups: successful defense mechanisms and those ineffective. The successful ones are those who manage to lessen their anxiety about something that is dangerous. The ineffective ones are those that fail to reduce anxiety and end up constituting a cycle of repetitions. In this last group are found, for example, neuroses and other pathogenic defenses.
What are the defense mechanisms?
There are at least fifteen types of defense mechanisms known and explained by psychological theories. Among them, we can mention: compensation, atonement, fantasy, reaction formation, identification, isolation, denial, projection and regression.
How does each defense mechanism work?
Each defense mechanism has a specific way of functioning, let's get to know some of them briefly:
Compensation
This defense mechanism is characterized by the individual's attempt to balance their strengths and weaknesses, for example, a person who does not have good grades and consoles himself for being beautiful.
Displacement
The displacement mechanism is always linked to an exchange, in the sense that the representation changes place and is represented by another. This mechanism also comprises situations in which the whole is taken by the part. For example: someone who had a problem with a lawyer and then proceeds to reject all of these professionals, or even, in a dream, when a person appears but is actually representing another people.
Atonement
It is the psychic charging mechanism. The subject finds himself charged to pay for his mistakes at the exact moment he commits them, with the hope of believing that the error will be immediately or magically annulled.
Fantasy
In this defense mechanism, the individual creates a situation in his mind that is capable of eliminating the impending displeasure, but which, in reality, is impossible to materialize. It is a kind of mental theater where the individual plays a different story from the one he lives in reality, where his desires cannot be satisfied. In this created reality, desire is satisfied and anxiety lessened. Examples of fantasy are: daytime dreams, or conscious fantasies, unconscious fantasies, which are the result of some repression, and so-called original fantasies.
Reactive Formation
It is a mechanism characterized by adherence to a thought contrary to that which was, in some way, repressed. In reaction formation, repressed thinking remains as an unconscious content. Reactive formations have the peculiarity of becoming an alteration in the structure of the personality, putting the individual on alert, as if the danger were always present and ready to destroy him. An example, a person with homophobic behavior, who actually feels attracted to people of the same sex.
Identification
It is the mechanism based on the assimilation of characteristics from others, which become models for the individual. This mechanism is the basis of the constitution of the human personality. As an example, we can mention the moment when children assimilate parental characteristics, so that they can later differentiate themselves. This moment is important and has cognitive value as it allows the construction of a base where differentiation may or may not occur.
Isolation
It is the mechanism by which a thought or behavior is isolated from others, so that it is disconnected from other thoughts. It is a very common defense in cases of obsessional neurosis. Examples of this mechanism are diverse, such as rituals, formulas and other ideas that seek to split temporal with other thoughts, in an attempt to defend against the urge to relate to other.
Denial
It is the defense that is based on denying pain, or other feelings of displeasure. It is considered one of the least effective defense mechanisms. We can cite as an example the behavior of children of “lying”, denying actions they performed that would generate punishment.
Projection
Briefly, we can say that it is the displacement of an internal impulse towards the exterior, or from the individual to another. Projected contents are always unknown to the person who projects them, precisely because they had to be expelled, to avoid the displeasure of making contact with these contents. An example is a woman who feels attracted to another woman, but projects this feeling onto her husband, creating a suspicion that she will be betrayed, that is, that the attraction is felt by her husband. In addition to this, other examples of projection can be the cause of prejudice and violence.
Regression
It is the process of returning to an earlier stage of development, where satisfactions were more immediate, or displeasure was less. An example is the behavior of children who, in the difficulty in their relationships with others children, return, for example, to the oral phase and resume the use of pacifiers, or even eat overly.
Juliana Spinelli Ferrari
Brazil School Collaborator
Graduated in Psychology from UNESP - Universidade Estadual Paulista
Brief psychotherapy course by FUNDEB - Foundation for the Development of Bauru
Master's Student in School Psychology and Human Development at USP - University of São Paulo
Source: Brazil School - https://brasilescola.uol.com.br/psicologia/mecanismos-defesa.htm
