it’s important to understand right from the beginning that not all defense mechanisms are “bad” or unhealthy. some defense mechanisms allow for self-protection while maintaining a full awareness of the thoughts and feelings involved in dealing with the challenge facing you.
healthy defenses mechanisms that lead to mature coping behaviour.
01. affiliation. you seek out others for emotional support or physical help.
02. altruism. dealing with emotional stressors by dedication to meeting the need of others. you do good and kind things for others, rather than worry about your own immediate satisfaction or fears.
03. anticipation. you think ahead to events that might occur in the future and consider realistic responses or solutions.
04. concentration. selective awareness in time (opposite to denial).
05. empathy. selective sensitivity. being aware of your own feelings (opposite to projection).
06. humor. you notice the amusing or ironic aspects of something. some persons, however, use humor to hide aggressive impulses.
07. identification. as a normal childhood developmental process of taking in of experience symbolically in order to identify with other persons (especially parents), this is often called introjection.
08. introjection. as a normal childhood developmental process of taking in of experience symbolically in order to identify with other persons (especially parents),
09. logical analysis. by means-end symbolization (opposite to rationalization).
10. objectivity. as a mechanism for discrimination, looking for the whole truth and analyzing total reality (opposite to dissociation).
11. playfulness. a time reversal process for safe learning and exploring possibilities as in role-playing.
12. self-assertion. You act toward others in a way that is emotionally genuine and honest and that is not coercive or manipulative.
13. self-observation. you reflect upon and consider your emotions and thoughts, so as to act responsibly.
14. sublimation. you direct socially harmful impulses into socially acceptable forms of behaviour or you redirect the feeling into a socially productive activity.
15. substitution. a form of displacement to redirect feelings into socially acceptable forms.
16. suppression. you avoid thinking about disturbing experiences or feelings. restraining impulses (opposite to repression). done in moderation, and in the proper circumstances, this can be healthy and protective. but in excess it becomes avoidance, one of the characteristic qualities of post-traumatic stress disorder.
inhibitory defenses this sort of defensive functioning serves to keep threatening thoughts, feelings, memories, wishes, or fears out of conscious awareness.
01. aggression. identified in assault and destruction. direct aggression targets the source of the threat. indirect aggression shades into the mechanism of displacement.
02. aggressive humor. i am really frightened of conflict, so don’t take seriously anything i say, lest you be offended by it and want to challenge me.
03. compulsive movements. blepharospasm, blinking, gestures, hair-picking, mannerisms, rituals and tics. isolation and/or dissociation of (involuntary) movements.
04. displacement. when a person redirects his feelings on to someone else. you transfer your feelings about one object to another, less threatening object.
05. dissociative amnesia. partial memory loss hidden by repressive mechanism. motives anxiety or guilt.
06. dissociation. you separate yourself from reality by a breakdown of normal conscious functions of memory or identity.
07. identification with the aggressor. identification as a defensive function.
08. indirect aggression. shades into the displacement mechanism of the impulse diversion.
09. intellectualization. you focus on abstract logic or philosophy and minimize feelings about an event.
10. isolation. when a person is unable to experience the thought and feeling together of an event. his feelings remain hidden.
11. isolation of affect. you remain aware of the descriptive details of an event but lose connection with the feelings about the event itself.
12. reaction formation. your behaviors, thoughts, or feelings are the complete opposite of your actual (unconscious) desires.
13. repression. you lose all conscious memory of an event, in contrast to dissociative amnesia in which selective elements of an event are “forgotten.” also, in repression you may retain certain emotional components of the event even though you have no memory of the event.
14. somatization. when a person became preoccupied with his health.
15. total amnesia. the memory is hidden by repressive mechanisms. motives anxiety or guilt.
16. transference. a displacement of esteem away from appropriate objects to the analist, and occasionally to the patient’s self.
17. undoing. you use symbolic means to negate or make amends for unacceptable thoughts or feelings.
defenses involving disavowal this sort of defensive functioning serves to keep unpleasant or unacceptable thoughts or feelings out of conscious awareness.
01. denial. you refuse to acknowledge what is readily apparent to others. when you’re in denial, the truth is your enemy and your accuser.
02. projection. you falsely attribute to others your own unacceptable feelings.
03. rationalization. you conceal your true motives by making incorrect, self-serving explanations.
04. self-deception. two forms denial and disguise (all other defens mechanisms).
distorting defenses (minor) this sort of defensive functioning serves to distort images of self or body or others in order to regulate self-esteem.
01. compensation. faced with feelings of inadequacy or incompetence the subject seeks to excel in some other arena.
02. devaluation. you tell yourself that something desirable but immediately unattainable is somehow defective.
03. idealization. you attribute exaggerated positive qualities to an other.
04. omnipotence. you feel or act as if you possessed special powers or abilities superior to others.
distorting defenses (major) this sort of defensive functioning involves gross distortion in images of self or others.
01. autistic fantasy. you withdraw into excessive daydreaming rather than take effective action.
02. fantasy. escape into a dreamworld is an immature response, but may be a safe strategy for coping in the form of a role-play.
03. over-identification. the subject fails to differentiate positive and negative aspects of the role-model’s character. even in the most positive role-model in that it substitutes for real personal growth.
04. projective identification. as in projection, you falsely attribute to others your own unacceptable feelings, but here you remain aware of the feelings yet believe they are justifiable reactions to another person.
04. self-fulfilling prophecy. continuous projective identification. for example, an insecure and jealous person who is intensely afraid of abandonment can so often impute feelings of infidelity into others that they eventually get sick of such suspicion and criticism and end up actually abandoning him or her.
05. splitting. you see everything as either all good or all bad, sometimes alternating between the two in regard to one person.
defenses involving action or withdrawal this sort of defensive functioning involves action or withdrawal.
01. acting-out. you use physical actions instead of dealing with challenges directly by reflecting on and speaking about your feelings.
02. apathetic withdrawal. you simply withdraw from interaction with the world rather than deal with its assaults and challenges.
03. avoidance. or suppression in excess. one of the characteristics of post-traumatic stress disorder.
04. help-rejecting complaining. you make a show of asking for help, yet because of hidden feelings of hostility you reject all help or advice that is offered.
05. passive aggression. you present a façade of compliance, yet, because of hidden resentment, something always happens (you get sick, the bus is late, your car breaks down) so that you ultimately obstruct, rather than complete, the task.
06. primitivation. falling back on a more primitive state of development.
07. regression. returning to a previous state of development.
08. retrogression. falling back on a state already experienced in the past.
09. withdrawal. the most extreme of defense mechanisms beyond regression. depression sufferers are particular prone to withdrawal, almost a hallmark of the disorder. “burning bridges” right up to suicide.
