Psychological Defenses
Psychological defense mechanisms are an important aspect of a person’s mental growth that he
or she must become familiar with. These are psychological strategies that individuals use to
cope with the reality of life, and to maintain their self-image in one piece. All of us use many
different defenses during our lifetimes but these become pathological if they’re used all the time,
and lead to maladaptive behaviors that threaten the person’s wellbeing. We have pathological,
immature, neurotic, and mature types of defenses.
Pathological defenses are those that prevent the person from being able to deal with a real
threat and see reality clearly. An example of this would be a person who is so deeply in denial
that there is a problem; a controlling husband who says his marriage is “perfect,” an alcoholic
who says he is not addicted to alcohol, a person who keeps on making the same mistakes over
and over again, destroying her or his life, and keeps on blaming everyone but herself for the
mistakes, etc. An immature type of defense is the one used in childhood and adolescence, but
mostly discarded in adulthood, since they may lead to socially unacceptable behavior. As
children and teenagers we can’t see reality as it really is. We see the surface part of everything,
people, places etc. But as we grow, our ability to comprehend should be growing, if we’re being
nurtured in a healthy environment and along with that our psychological defenses should
become more evolved.
The other type of defense, which is neurotic, is the one that does not deal with reality and can
cause many problems in all areas of life, especially in interrelationships and enjoying life. And
finally, the last defense, which is the mature defense, is used by “mentally healthy” adults. Let’s
put the defenses into levels according to severity of problems they may cause in the person.
Then you can try to process it and reflect it back to yourself.
Level 1 defenses are the ones that are almost always pathological, because the person uses
them to rearrange external reality so he or she won’t have to deal with it. These are denial,
distortion, and delusional projection. An example of denial is a person who refuses to accept
reality. We see people who deny they have a problem, despite the obvious signs of having one.
For example, a father who blames his bad relationship with his children as being his ex wife's
fault and keeps on feeding this so he wont have to feel the guild of being an inappropriate father.
The next one is distortion, which is when someone reshapes external reality to meet internal
needs. This would be a wife who is extremely unhappy in her marriage, but will reshape her
reality of what she sees in a way to be able to get some form of inner satisfaction.
In the next defense, delusional projection, one projects his or her inner blockages onto the
other. This is a person who suffers from extreme anger and sees everyone else threatening her
in an angry way. This is called delusional, because it is, in its extreme forms.
The second group of defense mechanisms includes fantasy, projection, hypochondria, and
passive-aggressive behaviors. This group of defenses is used by many adults and adolescents.
If one just uses them every once in a while, these may adjust distress and anxiety imposed by
other people or the real world. For those who use these on a regular basis, they are considered
to be immature defenses, and lead to serious problems in the person’s ability to cope with the
real world.
In fantasy, people draw back into fantasy to resolve inner and outer conflicts. For example,
these people would go into a made-up and imaginary world to escape their problems, rather
than concentrating on a solution. In projection, the person blames another for his feelings.
Prejudice and severe jealousy may come from this type of defense. In the passive-aggressive
type of defense, the person expresses his aggression toward another indirectly and passively.
In the last defense, which is acting-out behavior, the person directly expresses an unconscious
wish or impulse to avoid being conscious of the emotion that goes with that impulse. For
example, a person who is very angry and acts out in an angry way may have some very painful
emotions that he’s trying to hide, because he’s not ready to face them.
Then comes level three of the defense mechanisms. These are fairly common in adults, and
many normally functioning adults use them. These may have short-term benefits but used too
often and for too long they can create long-term problems in relationships and daily life and
enjoying life in general. These are intellectualization, repression, reaction formation,
displacement, and distortion.
Intellectualization is when one tries to separate oneself from emotions, thinking, not acting.
Repression is when the emotion is conscious but the idea that is behind it is absent. For
example, “I’m feeling really sad, but I won’t think about it.”
Reaction formation is to act completely opposite from what one wants or feels, for example
taking care of someone when you want to be taken care of. This will or may work in short run,
but will break down in the long run.
The other defense at this level is displacement, which is separating an emotion and redirecting
the intense emotion toward someone or something that is less unpleasant or threatening in
order to avoid dealing with what is frightening or directly threatening. Another defense is
dissociation, which is a temporary and extreme adjustment of one’s personal identity or
temperament to avoid emotional suffering.
Then there is the last level of defenses, which are common among the most mentally healthy
adults. At this level, the individual can use these defenses to master his pleasure and feelings,
and to integrate many of the conflicting emotions and thoughts and still make them be effective.
These are sublimation, altruism, suppression, anticipation, and humor.
Sublimation is converting negative emotions into positive actions. This is an example of
someone who turns his anger toward someone and does some kind things for another person.
Altruism is when one gives constructive services to others that brings himself a sense of
satisfaction.
Suppression is the conscious decision to postpone paying attention to an emotion or need in
order to cope with the present reality, but then the emotion is attended to and processed.
At a later time, anticipation is a realistic planning for future unpleasant events.
And humor is an over-expression of ideas and feelings that gives pleasure to others.
At the end, the more mature and evolved a human being become, the more she is capable of
functioning through the higher levels of defenses.
Source: Roya Rohani Rad, MA, PsyD
March 2007
Copyright@2007RoyaRohaniRad
Psychological defense mechanisms are an important aspect of a person’s mental growth that he
or she must become familiar with. These are psychological strategies that individuals use to
cope with the reality of life, and to maintain their self-image in one piece. All of us use many
different defenses during our lifetimes but these become pathological if they’re used all the time,
and lead to maladaptive behaviors that threaten the person’s wellbeing. We have pathological,
immature, neurotic, and mature types of defenses.
Pathological defenses are those that prevent the person from being able to deal with a real
threat and see reality clearly. An example of this would be a person who is so deeply in denial
that there is a problem; a controlling husband who says his marriage is “perfect,” an alcoholic
who says he is not addicted to alcohol, a person who keeps on making the same mistakes over
and over again, destroying her or his life, and keeps on blaming everyone but herself for the
mistakes, etc. An immature type of defense is the one used in childhood and adolescence, but
mostly discarded in adulthood, since they may lead to socially unacceptable behavior. As
children and teenagers we can’t see reality as it really is. We see the surface part of everything,
people, places etc. But as we grow, our ability to comprehend should be growing, if we’re being
nurtured in a healthy environment and along with that our psychological defenses should
become more evolved.
The other type of defense, which is neurotic, is the one that does not deal with reality and can
cause many problems in all areas of life, especially in interrelationships and enjoying life. And
finally, the last defense, which is the mature defense, is used by “mentally healthy” adults. Let’s
put the defenses into levels according to severity of problems they may cause in the person.
Then you can try to process it and reflect it back to yourself.
Level 1 defenses are the ones that are almost always pathological, because the person uses
them to rearrange external reality so he or she won’t have to deal with it. These are denial,
distortion, and delusional projection. An example of denial is a person who refuses to accept
reality. We see people who deny they have a problem, despite the obvious signs of having one.
For example, a father who blames his bad relationship with his children as being his ex wife's
fault and keeps on feeding this so he wont have to feel the guild of being an inappropriate father.
The next one is distortion, which is when someone reshapes external reality to meet internal
needs. This would be a wife who is extremely unhappy in her marriage, but will reshape her
reality of what she sees in a way to be able to get some form of inner satisfaction.
In the next defense, delusional projection, one projects his or her inner blockages onto the
other. This is a person who suffers from extreme anger and sees everyone else threatening her
in an angry way. This is called delusional, because it is, in its extreme forms.
The second group of defense mechanisms includes fantasy, projection, hypochondria, and
passive-aggressive behaviors. This group of defenses is used by many adults and adolescents.
If one just uses them every once in a while, these may adjust distress and anxiety imposed by
other people or the real world. For those who use these on a regular basis, they are considered
to be immature defenses, and lead to serious problems in the person’s ability to cope with the
real world.
In fantasy, people draw back into fantasy to resolve inner and outer conflicts. For example,
these people would go into a made-up and imaginary world to escape their problems, rather
than concentrating on a solution. In projection, the person blames another for his feelings.
Prejudice and severe jealousy may come from this type of defense. In the passive-aggressive
type of defense, the person expresses his aggression toward another indirectly and passively.
In the last defense, which is acting-out behavior, the person directly expresses an unconscious
wish or impulse to avoid being conscious of the emotion that goes with that impulse. For
example, a person who is very angry and acts out in an angry way may have some very painful
emotions that he’s trying to hide, because he’s not ready to face them.
Then comes level three of the defense mechanisms. These are fairly common in adults, and
many normally functioning adults use them. These may have short-term benefits but used too
often and for too long they can create long-term problems in relationships and daily life and
enjoying life in general. These are intellectualization, repression, reaction formation,
displacement, and distortion.
Intellectualization is when one tries to separate oneself from emotions, thinking, not acting.
Repression is when the emotion is conscious but the idea that is behind it is absent. For
example, “I’m feeling really sad, but I won’t think about it.”
Reaction formation is to act completely opposite from what one wants or feels, for example
taking care of someone when you want to be taken care of. This will or may work in short run,
but will break down in the long run.
The other defense at this level is displacement, which is separating an emotion and redirecting
the intense emotion toward someone or something that is less unpleasant or threatening in
order to avoid dealing with what is frightening or directly threatening. Another defense is
dissociation, which is a temporary and extreme adjustment of one’s personal identity or
temperament to avoid emotional suffering.
Then there is the last level of defenses, which are common among the most mentally healthy
adults. At this level, the individual can use these defenses to master his pleasure and feelings,
and to integrate many of the conflicting emotions and thoughts and still make them be effective.
These are sublimation, altruism, suppression, anticipation, and humor.
Sublimation is converting negative emotions into positive actions. This is an example of
someone who turns his anger toward someone and does some kind things for another person.
Altruism is when one gives constructive services to others that brings himself a sense of
satisfaction.
Suppression is the conscious decision to postpone paying attention to an emotion or need in
order to cope with the present reality, but then the emotion is attended to and processed.
At a later time, anticipation is a realistic planning for future unpleasant events.
And humor is an over-expression of ideas and feelings that gives pleasure to others.
At the end, the more mature and evolved a human being become, the more she is capable of
functioning through the higher levels of defenses.
Source: Roya Rohani Rad, MA, PsyD
March 2007
Copyright@2007RoyaRohaniRad
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