MH Week 2 Defense Mechanisms

Denial

Unconscious refusal to admit an unacceptable idea or behavior
Mac, who is alcohol dependent, believes that he can control his drinking if he so desires.

Repression

Unconscious and involuntary forgetting of painful ideas, events, and conflicts
Anna, a victim of incest, has limited memory of her childhood.

Suppression

Conscious exclusion from awareness anxiety-producing feelings, ideas, and situations
Aaron states to the nurse that his recent divorce is no big deal.

Rationalization

Conscious or unconscious attempts to make or prove that one's feelings or behaviors are justifiable
John tells his mom that he bit his sister because she pushed him first.

Intellectualization

Consciously or unconsciously using only logical explanations without feelings or an affective component
Rene talks about her son's death from cancer as being merciful and shows no signs of her sadness or anger.

Dissociation

The unconscious separation of painful feelings and emotions from an unacceptable idea, situation, or object
Mrs. Adams recalls that when her husband was yelling at her, she didn't feel anything inside, she just went numb.

Identification

Conscious or unconscious attempt to model oneself after a respected person
Kelly states to her nurse, "When I get out of the hospital, I want to be a nurse just like you.

Introjection

Unconsciously incorporating values and attitudes of others as if they were your own
Without realizing it, Marie talks and acts similarly to her therapist, analyzing other patients.

Compensation

Consciously covering up for a weakness by overemphasizing or making up a desirable trait
Malcolm, who is depressed and unable to share his feelings with others, writes and becomes known for his expressive poetry.

Sublimation

Consciously or unconsciously channeling instinctual drives into acceptable activities
Guy, a former heroin addict, starts a local Narcotics Anonymous meeting.

Reaction formation

A conscious behavior that is the exact opposite of an unconscious feeling
Wren, whose parents are divorcing, tells her mother she doesn't want to spend time with her dad (so her mother doesn't get mad), even though she really misses him.

Undoing

Consciously doing something to counteract or make up for a transgression or wrongdoing
After accidentally eating another patient's cookies, Donnelly apologizes to his peer, cleans the refrigerator, and labels everyone's snack with their names.

Displacement

Unconsciously discharging pent-up feelings to a less threatening object
A husband comes home after a hard day at work and yells at his wife and kids.

Projection

Unconsciously or consciously attributing one's own repressed thoughts to someone else
Connie blames her husband for the fight last night, unable to recognize that she was the one who started it.

Conversion

Unconscious expression of intrapsychic conflict symbolically through physical symptoms
A student awakens with a migraine headache the morning of a final examination and feels too ill to take the test. If she doesn't pass the exam, she will flunk out of nu

Regression

Unconscious return to an earlier and more comfortable developmental level
A 5-year-old child has been wetting the bed at night since the birth of his baby sister.