A

PAPER
PRESENTATION ON
DEFENSE
MECHANISM
 INTRODUCTION

 Defense mechanisms are those adaptive

responses identified by Anna Freud in 1953
and that are employed by ego in face of
threat to biological or psychological
integrity.
 It is a coping technique that reduces

anxiety arising from unacceptable or

potentially harmful stimuli.
 Defense mechanism may result in healthy or

unhealthy consequences depending on the

circumstances and frequency with which the
mechanism is used.
 DEFINITION
 According to Freudian it’s termed as
unconscious avoidance of something
that produces anxiety or something
unpleasant emotion.

 “A defense mechanism is a strategy

used to cover-up or change
unconscious desire and wishes that
may be inappropriate or difficult to
express”.
LEVEL OF ANXIETY:-

PANIC
SEVERE
ANXIETY
MODERATE
ANXIETY
MILD
ANXIETY
 MILD ANXIETY
 mild anxiety is associated with the tension of
day to day living. It is characterized by
Restless, sleepless, hypersensitive to noise
and irritable etc.
 MODERATE ANXIETY
 Moderate anxiety in which person focus only
on immediate concern, involves the
narrowing of the perceptual field. It is
characterized by Muscles tension, dry mouth,
increased rate of speech, frequent urination,
diaphoresis and headache etc.
 SEVERE ANXIETY
 Severe anxiety is marked by a significant
reduction in the perceptual field. It is
characterized by the person can’t complete
task at time, can’t solve problem, severe
headache, crying, Ritualistic (purposeless,
repetitive) behavior etc.
 PANIC
 Panic is associated with dread and terror,
and the person feeling it is unable to do
thing even with direction. The panicked
person is unable to communicate or
function effectively. It is characterized by
personality disorganization, can’t
communicate verbally, and doesn’t
recognize danger, delusion or
hallucination possible.
2. Subsystem of 1. Level of
personality consciousness.
PSYCHOANALYTIC APPROACH
LEVEL OF CONSCIOUSNESS

 Conscious level: This include our

current thoughts whatever we are
thinking about or experiencing at a
given moment.

 Preconscious level: This contains

memories that are not part of current
thought but can readily be brought to
mind if the need arises.

 Unconscious level: This is the largest

part of mind; it is the storehouse for
all the memories.
SUBSYSTEM OF PERSONALITY
 The Id: In Freud’s theory, the portion of
personality concerned with immediate
gratification of primitive needs.
 Ego: Part of the personality that mediates the

demands of the id, superego and reality. Ego

protects itself against anxiety with defense
mechanism.
 Superego: It is the controlling mind,

represents internalized ideals and provides

standards for judgment.
 Managing
conflicts.

Defense
mechanism
Harmless.
is
reversible.
CHARACTER
-ISTIC

Socially
Adaptive.
acceptable.
USES OF DEFENSE MECHANISM
It helps to reduce anxiety.

It helps us to face conflicts.

It helps us to face frustration easily.

It protects our ego from being hurt.

It helps the individual to solving their problems.

It helps the individual to make adaptation to distressing experience.

LEVELS OF DEFENSE MECHANISM
 High adaptive level – This level of defensive
functioning results in optimal adaptation in
the handling of stressors. This defense usually
maximizes gratification and allows the
conscious awareness of feelings, ideas, and
their consequences. They also promote an
optimum balance among conflicting motives. 
 Mental inhibitors – Defensive functioning at
this level keeps potentially threatening ideas,
feelings, memories or fears out of awareness.
 Minor image-distorting – This level is characterized by
distorting image of self, body that may be used to
regulate self-esteem.

 Disavowal level – This level is characterized by keeping

unpleasant or unacceptable stressor stressors, impulses,
ideas, affects, or responsibility out of awareness with or
without a misattribution of these to external causes.

 Major image-distorting – This level is characterized by

gross distortion or misattribution of image of self or
others.

 Action level – this level is characterized by defensive

functioning that deal with internal or external stressors by
action or withdrawal.
 Level of defensive Dysregulation – This level
is characterized by failure of defensive
regulation to contain the individual’s reaction
to stressors leading to pronounced break
with objectives reality.
TYPES OF DEFENSE MECHANISM

DEFENSE MECHANISM

Primary. Immature/Neurotic. Narcissistic/Psychotic. Mature defense.

 Primary Defense mechanism
 Repression – Most basic defense mechanism.
It is an active mental process by which person
forgets by pushing down in to the
unconscious.
 Example:-A man has a phobia of spider but

cannot remember the first time he was afraid

of them.
 Immature/Neurotic
1. Rationalization – It is an attempt to deny
one’s true motive by using a reason that is
more logical or socially acceptable.
 Example: - A boy who failed in his

mathematics examination explains by saying

“No one else passed as there were all stupid
questions for the examination.
2. Intellectualization – it is related to
rationalization but involves excessive
use of intellectual process to avoiding
unacceptable emotions connected with
an event.
 Example: - a nurse is being

transferred with his job to a city for

away from her parents. She hides
anxiety by explaining to her parents
the advantage associated with the
move.
3. Displacement – unconscious
shifting of emotions, usually aroused
by perceived threat.
 Example:-After parental scolding

young girl takes her anger out on

her little brother.

4. Reaction Formation - Behaving in a

way that is exactly the opposite of
one’s true feelings.
 Example:- A 35yrs old women has

unconscious feelings of anger

hatred for her father, but when he
visits, she is polite and sweet
mannered.
5. Isolation - Separation of a thought or
memory from the feeling or emotions
associated with it.
 Example: - A father calmly talks about the

total loss of his home after of earthquake.

 
6. Conversion - Elements of intrapsychic
conflict are disguised and expressed
symbolically through physical symptoms.
 Example: - A boy witnessed a very bad

accident become blind. He is unable to see

who all those are injured are hurt.
7. Undoing - Act of symbolically negative or canceling
about a previous action or experience that one finds
intolerable.
 Example: - husband and wife have an intense

emotional argument at breakfast. The husband

brings flowers for wife when he comes home from
work.

8. Acting out - The individual deals with emotion

conflict by actions rather than reflection or feelings.
 Example: - forgetting an appointment or coming late

to a dinner party given by someone with whom you

are angry.
9. Autistic fantasy - The individual deals with
emotional conflict by excessive day dreaming as a
substitute for human relationships, or problem
solving
 Example: - 35yr old women day dreams about

her ideal boyfriend and going on a romantic

vacation rather than dealing with fact of losing
her job.
10. Introjection - The symbolic assimilation of
loved or hated attitudes, wishes, ideas or person.
 Example: - A young boy walks and talks like his

father.
11. Inhibition: - Involuntary decreases
or loss of motivation to engage in some
goal directed activity arising out of
conflict with unacceptable impulses
 Example: - social shyness.

12. Compensation - A conscious or

unconscious attempt to overcome real or
imagined inferiority or inadequacies.
 Example: - an underweight short 15yrs

old boy joins the weight lifting club at

school.
 Splitting: - Unconscious viewing of self or
others as either good or bad without
considering the whole range of qualities.
 Example – A patient screams and accuses
one nurse at she does nothing right that
she is stupid, she complements a second
nurse, saying that nurse is perfect or there
no such thing as finding a little good in
everyone. If you are bad you all are bad.
  
Narcissistic/Psychotic
1. Projection - Attributing to another person
thoughts, feelings or motives that are unacceptable
to one.
 Example: - A 50yr old psychiatric patient is certain

that hospital food is poison and the staff wants to

kill her.

2. Denial - A person refuses to accept the reality of

situation or feeling associated with him.
 Example: - A young women diagnosed with

terminal cancer of liver plans for his retirement at

old age.
3. Psychotic distortion - A belief that has no
grounding in reality.
 Example: - wish fulfilling delusion such as

“If I’ll get in elevator, it will take me to hell.”

4. Regression –A return to previous stage of
development or functioning to avoid the
anxiety or hostilities involved in later child
hood. It is a way to try to recapture some
childhood satisfaction.
 Example: - A child start to suck his thumb

when admitted to the hospital.

 Mature defense
1. Anticipation: - The realistic thinking and planning
about future unpleasurable events or discomfort.
 Example: - Nursing student presenting a case study

to a treatment team, believes she will do the best she

can and that comments and criticism will help her to
learn.

2. HUMOR: - The overt expression of feelings and

thoughts with comedy without personal discomfort or
without unpleasant effect on others..
 Example – A person’s treatment for cancer makes him

lose his hair. So he make joke about being bald.

3. Sublimation - Acting out unacceptable
impulses in a society acceptable way.
 Example: - Aggressive impulses toward a

career as a boxer, becoming a surgeon

because of your desire to cut, lifting weights
to release pent up energy.

4. Suppression:- The conscious or

semiconscious decision to postpone attention
to a conscious impulse or conflict.
 Example: - A nurse working on the ward has

a very sick child at home but she keep it out

of her mind until she finishes her duty time.
REMOVE DEFENSE MECHANISM BY-

Reading about Writing about your

defense mechanism. feelings and actions

Talking to a close
Meditating
friend or therapist.

Emotional freedom
Praying
technique
 NURSES ROLE
 Understanding the defense mechanism will
enable nurse to support patient and his family.
 Nurse should allow denying the situation until

they are prepared to face the reality by family.

 Nurse can motivate patients with withdrawal

symptoms while involving in family interaction.

 Nurse should encourage the patient to explore

his feelings and try to adopt the surroundings

atmosphere.
 Nurse should support patient acting while
immaturely.
 Nurse can achieve in maintain patient
behavior through advice and support whose
patient rely heavily on nurses.
 It is important for the nurse to recognize
that identification can be used while
teaching health care.
 Patient those who have stress of serious
illness may be blame nurse for their
conditions. Nurse should understand the
patient condition and talk calmly should not
show anger to patient.
 RELATED RESEARCH
 STATEMENT -Defense Mechanism in psychology
today further process for adaptation.
 ABSTRACT - although the concept of defense
mechanism was rejected from academic
psychology for a number of year recent empirical
studies show renewed interest in defense.
Cognitive psychologist have confirmed the
existence of unconscious psychological
processes a requsite for defense. Developmental
personality and social psychologist have all found
evidence for defense mechanism that explicate
psychological functioning. The relevance of this
new information for clinical practice is discussed.
 PRESENTER VIEW
The nurse must recognize and understand
maladaptive defense mechanism that patient
use. the nurse has to carefully point out these
mechanism and work pateints to encourage
such behavior and discourage adaptive ones.
 SUMMARY
Copying is the way one adapts to a stressor
psychologically physically and behaviorally. The
ego usually copes with anxiety through rational
means anxiety is too painful the individual
copes by using defense mechanism to protect
the ego and diminished anxiety.
 CONCLUSION
Adjustment is process by which an individual
maintains balance between his needs and
circumstances that influence the satisfaction of
these needs. defense mechanism are
adjustment mechanism
 Point for Discussion
 As a nurse what are your role in defense
mechanism.
 How its benefited for you.
 BIBLIOGRAPHY
 Brar, Navdeep kaur, (2015). Textbook of Advanced
Nursing Practice, NewDelhi, Jaypee medical publishers.
 Anthikad Jacob (2009)psychology for graduate
nurses,4th edition jaypee medical publishers.
 Boyd Ann Mary, psychiatric nursing contemporary
practice (2002), 2nd edition, Lippincott Philadelphia.
 Burgess Wolbert Ann, psychiatric nursing, promoting
mental health (1997) simon & Schuster company.
 Towns and .C. Mary (2012), psychiatric mental health
nursing, 7th edition, New Delhi Jaypee brothers.
 Basheer Shabeer. P, Khan Yaseen .S (2013), A
concise text book of advanced nursing practice,
1st edition Bangalore, EMMESS medical publishers.
 M.Grohal john, Common defense mechanism
retrieved on 10th may 2016 , from
www.pschocentral.com /lib/15-coomen defense
mechanism/.
 Mc.Leod, S.(2009), Defense mechanism retrived
on 10th may 2016 from
www.simplepsychology.org/defense mechanism.
html
.
THANK YOU