You and Your Armor

DEFENSE MECHANISM
Psychological strategies brought into play by the unconscious mind to manipulate, deny, or distort reality in order to defend ones self against feelings of anxiety and unacceptable impulses

BASIC CONCEPT

INTRAPSYCHIC CONFLICT (id, ego, superego)

ANXIETY

RELIANCE TO DEFENSE MECHANISM

PURPOSES OF DEFENSE MECHANISMS

Allow individuals a period of respite to master changes in self-image as a result of puberty, amputation, promotion or changes in reality at large Deflect or deny sudden increase in biological drives Enable individuals to mitigate unresolved conflicts with living or dead people Keep anxiety, shame, and guilt within bearable limits during sudden conflicts with conscience and culture

3 MAJOR TYPES OF DEFENSE MECHANISMS

1. Aggressive Reaction 2. Withdrawal Reaction 3. Compromise Reaction

AGGRESSIVE REACTION
(TYPES OF DEFENSE MECHANISMS)

Range of behaviors that can result in both physical and psychological harm to oneself, other
EXAMPLE: Bullying

FORMS OF AGGRESSION
(attack to defend)

PURPOSES OF AGGRESSION
To express anger and hostility To assert dominance To intimidate or threaten To achieve goal To express possession To respond to fear To react to pain To compete with others

DISPLACEMENT (AGGRESSION)
mind substitutes either a new aim or a new object for goals felt in their original from to be dangerous or unacceptable redirection of emotional response from a dangerous object to a safe one
EXAMPLE: Taking your anger toward your boss out on your spouse or children by yelling at them

TYPES OF DISPLACEMENT
1. SCAPEGOATING
Singling out any party for unmerited negative treatment or blame(scapegoat) Can be conducted as:
Individuals against individuals Individuals against groups Groups against individuals Groups against groups EXAMPLE: Racial discrimination or Gender Biases.

TYPES OF DISPLACEMENT
2. FREE FLOATING
Generalized debilitating apprehensive mood, which unlike a phobia, is not triggered by any specific object or occurrence EXAMPLE: Feeling of non-belongingness in the campus

TYPES OF DISPLACEMENT
3. SUICIDE
Act of killing yourself, most often as a result of depression or other mental illness
EXAMPLE: Drinking poison, slicing through your veins, etc.

3 MAJOR TYPES OF DEFENSE MECHANISMS

1. Aggressive Reaction 2. Withdrawal Reaction 3. Compromise Reaction

TYPES OF WITHDRAWAL REACTION

FANTASY (going into other worlds/dimensions)
Temporary escape from the difficulties of real life into a world of fantasy where ones desires can be fulfilled in imagination
Conquering Hero Daydream
Picturing ones self as the hero who does great deeds or achieves the things he desires

Suffering Hero Daydream

Picturing ones self as the underdog EXAMPLE: Cartoonists and poets are fond of creating fictional characters and stories out of anxiety

TYPES OF WITHDRAWAL REACTION

IDENTIFICATION(forge of an alliance)
Forming imaginary/real alliance with some person or group usually exhibited by insecure people

EXAMPLE: Teen agers join fraternities and sororities to make themselves feel that they have comrades behind them

TYPES OF WITHDRAWAL REACTION

BEATNIK REACTION
Manifested by someone who stands apart from society and avoids most responsibilities of a citizen
EXAMPLE: People who do not usually care anything about the society(TAMBAYS)

TYPES OF WITHDRAWAL REACTION

REPRESSION(unconscious burying)
Pushing unacceptable impulses and traumatic experiences back into the unconscious mind and out of awareness Block of threatening memory from consciousness EXAMPLE: Forgetting what was painful memories of the past like love life or death of a loved one

TYPES OF WITHDRAWAL REACTION

SUPPRESSION(consciously burying)
Pushing into the unconscious things that have hurt you More of the emotions repressed in the mind and suppressed to the heart
EXAMPLE: An older man has sexual feelings towards a teenager and quickly suppresses the thought. As her college career draws to a close, a woman deliberately pushes away her worries about losing touch with her school friends after graduation.

TYPES OF WITHDRAWAL REACTION

APATHY
Shown by indifference or inactivity
EXAMPLE: The Story of Juan Tamad

TYPES OF WITHDRAWAL REACTION

NOMADISM
geographic cure; inability to stay in one place shown with inconsistency and change in class/group and even frequent change of content of materials
EXAMPLE: People who are culturally discriminated resort to migration or people who want to leave a horrible past in a specific place

TYPES OF WITHDRAWAL REACTION

REGRESSION(reverting to immaturity)
Abandoning coping strategies and revert to patterns of behavior used earlier in development Reverting to childlike behavior and defenses EXAMPLE: Adults who cant keep up with the problems of matured people or married life resort to playing games even act childish

TYPES OF WITHDRAWAL REACTION

INTELLECTUALIZATION(converting into safe concepts)
Utilized to impede conflict with an insentient confrontation and its linked emotional anxiety Thinking abstractly about stressful situations as a way of detaching oneself from them
EXAMPLE: A person who has just been diagnosed with a terminal illness might focus on learning everything about the disease in order to avoid distress and remain distant from the reality of the situation.

TYPES OF WITHDRAWAL REACTION

DENIAL(pretention)
Most primitive defense mechanism as it is a characteristic of early childhood development Refusal to acknowledge a painful or threatening reality
EXAMPLE: Common to people who cant speak out their hidden admirations and politicians who corrupt.

TYPES OF WITHDRAWAL REACTION

FIXATION
Persistence of anachronistic sexual traits Cessation of the development process at a stage short of complete and uniform nature independence
EXAMPLE: A person who is fixated at the oral stage may be over-dependent on others and may seek oral stimulation through smoking, drinking, or eating

3 MAJOR TYPES OF DEFENSE MECHANISMS

1. Aggressive Reaction 2. Withdrawal Reaction 3. Compromise Reaction

TYPES OF COMPROMISE REACTION

REACTION FORMATION
Expression of exaggerated ideas and emotions opposite of ones belief and feelings
EXAMPLE: Being overprotective of and lavishing attention on an unwanted child

TYPES OF COMPROMISE REACTION

PROJECTION(putting feelings to someone)
Attribution to others of characteristics that are unacceptable in ones self
EXAMPLE: Accusing your boyfriend of cheating on you because you have felt like cheating on him

TYPES OF COMPROMISE REACTION

SUBLIMATION(converting into art)
Reflection of wishes that one may not feel comfortable with Replacing unacceptable impulses with socially acceptable behavior(usually art)
EXAMPLE: Channeling aggressive drives into playing football or inappropriate sexual desires into art

TYPES OF COMPROMISE REACTION

SUBSTITUTION
Securing alternative or substitutive gratification comparable to those that would have been employed
EXAMPLE: Someone who has been thinking about their love life and is then asked how happy they are might substitute how happy they are with their love life rather than other areas.

TYPES OF COMPROMISE REACTION

COMPENSATION
Applied to the process of overcorrecting for a handicap or limitation Overemphasis of another to counter frustration or failure
EXAMPLE: People who are runners-up in competition compensate their losing by saying they tried their best and that they deserve the win as well.

TYPES OF COMPROMISE REACTION

RATIONALIZATION
Attempt to justify maladaptive behavior by substituting good reasons for real ones
EXAMPLE: justifying cheating on an exam by saying everyone else cheats. SOUR GRAPES
A fox tries desperately to reach some grapes on a nearby vine, but is unsuccessful. As the fox gives up, he decides that the grapes were sour anyway.

SWEET LEMONS
Insisting something unpleasant is in fact desirable especially if it was actively sought for earlier

USE OF MATURE AND IMMATURE DEFENSES

MATURE DEFENSES Excellent adjustment as an adult Happiness Job satisfaction Rich friendships Fewer medical hospitalizations over life Better overall health Lower incidence of mental illness IMMATURE DEFENSES Poor adjustment as an adult Higher divorce rates and marital records Poor friendship patterns Higher incidence in mental health Greater number of sick leave taken Poorer health generally

DEFENSES IN DISORDERS
DISORDERS PARANOID PHOBIA AMNESIA ANOREXIA BIPOLAR DISEASE BORDERLINE SCHIZOPHRENIA SUBSTANCE ABUSE DEPRESSION ONSESSSIVE COMPULSIVE DEFENSE MECHANISMS Projection Displacement Dissociation Suppression Reaction Formation Splitting Regression Denial Introjection Undoing

CATATONIC

Repression