Mental Defense Mechanism or Ego o ● Identification

Defense Mechanism o ● Transference

Defense mechanism o ● Intellectualization
o ● Introjection
o Introduced by Sigmund Freud year 1904
o Unconscious process that defends and Negative
protects anyone against anxiety, shame, o ● Suppression
loss of self-esteem, and conflict o ● Displacement
o It is the time that when the ID is in serious o ● Projection
conflict with ego and superego, the o ● Regression
individual suffers from tension or o ● Fixation
anxiety. o ● Fantasy
o ● Reaction Formation
o ● Conversion
o ● Dissociation
o ● Denial
Positive Defense Mechanism Examples
Compensation
o people overachieve in one area to
compensate for failures in another
Example:
A student who fails in academics compensate by
becoming an athlete in their school
Substitution
o Replacing non goal to an achievable goal
Example:
A student who was not able to be admitted in the
College of Law was able to make it in
Engineering course.
Sublimation
o socially unacceptable impulses or
idealizations which are transformed into
socially acceptable actions or behavior
Example:
1. An angry person to his neighbor may go
on jogging.
2. A young man who has been turned off by
his Gf, writes poetry instead.
Rationalization
o A person justify failures and
unacceptable behaviors by making
Classifications of Defense Mechanism excuses or formulating logical reasons
Positive Example:
o ● Compensation 1. A student fails the exam and blames the
o ● Substitution teacher for using tricky questions.
o ● Sublimation 2. A man who have turned down to a date
o ● Rationalization says he is not attracted to the lady
o ● Repression anyway.
o ● Undoing Repression
 o Unconscious forgetfulness of unpleasant Ana acts like her mother.
experiences Negative Defense Mechanism Examples
o Involuntary blocking of unpleasant Suppression
feelings and experiences.
➢ Blocking unpleasant feelings and experiences
Example:
to avoid anxiety or discomfort.
A child was bitten by a dog and soon develops
1. A student may not think of the insult thrown to
fear in the dog unknowingly when his fear comes
him so that he can concentrate on his
from.
studies.
Undoing
2. A woman doesn't want to talk to the loss of her
➢ Cancelling or reversing husband so she can move forward in her life.
an act which is not Displacement
acceptable. ➢ Feeling and emotions are transferred to
Example: another person or object who is less dangerous
1. Being overly nice to a person after being than those initially caused the emotion
aggressive. Example:
2. Angelo shouted at her father and then after A husband who is angry to his wife will shout
some time he offered his favorite and bangs the door.
food. Projection
Identification ➢ Placing blame to others.
➢ Acquiring certain characteristics of the one 1. A surgeon who had his patient die during
admires to increase self-worth. operation may blame the anesthesiologist.
Example: 2. A student may blame his alarm clock as having
A student nurse adapts her CI’s skills to malfunction for being late.
become a skillful nurse. Regression
Transference ➢ Immature ways of going backwards in
➢ An image of a person is unconsciously responding to stress.
transferred to another person 1. A person who's depressed may hide inside the
Example: blanket and curl his body like a baby.
A teacher who finds a student with the same age 2. A nurse who commits mistake in giving
as her child have positive emotions on that medication, will suddenly cry for his mistakes
student. done.
Intellectualization Fixation
➢ Avoids expressing actual emotions by using ➢ Certain aspects of development did not
reasoning and analysis. advance.
Example: 1. Thumb sucking in middle adulthood
A breakup was not expressed as emotions but 2. Dependency attitude on daily living activities
instead explained that it just enough because of to caregivers even if already in middle age.
long distance relationship. Fantasy
➢ Used to gratify frustrated desires by means of
imaginations and wishful thinking.
Introjection Example:
➢ Values and characteristic of A lady wish to win the lottery to be able to travel
another person is incorporated around the world.
in self/ owns personality.
Example:
Reaction Formation
➢ Feelings are repressed and the opposite
feelings are expressed
Example:
Acting like you are not interested or hate
someone you really have a crush on.
Conversion
➢ Emotional conflicts are converted to physical
symptoms.
Example:
Student who did not review for the upcoming
quiz may feel headache or develop fever.
Dissociation
➢ Suppression of mental function in a manner
that allows forbidden unconscious impulses that
will not have sense of responsibility.
Example:
Partial amnesia that prevents recall of
yesterdays’ motorbike accident.
Denial
➢ The process of escaping
from unpleasant realities
by ignoring its existence.
Example:
A patient denies that his physician’s diagnosis of
cancer is correct and keeps seeking another
opinion.