17 Types of Defence Mechanism in Psychology.Explained.
17 type of Defence Mechanism:Almost all of us have to deal with things in our lives that make us anxious and make us stressed. Researchers have come up with a lot of different ways to describe stress. They call it things like frustration and conflict. To protect ourselves from anxiety and stress, our ego comes up with ways to do this. These defence mechanisms are called "defense mechanisms." The defence mechanisms that people use aren't real, and they work on an unconscious level. While someone is using this kind of thing, they don't know about it. Defence mechanisms are not healthy ways to deal with anxiety and stress because they are a bad way to think about problems. It can be very bad for your mental health if you use defence mechanisms all the time. A person's personality, the circumstances, the length of time and how important or urgent the need is, the strength and quantity of conflicting forces and how soon they will be, the unfamiliarity or suddenness of the problem, the degree of thzeat, the individual's stress tolerance and external resources and supports, and so on, all affect how much stress a person is under.
17 Type of Defence Mechanism
Psychologists have broken down different defence mechanisms into different groups. Some put defence mechanisms into five or six main groups, while others put them into 17 or 18 groups. 1 defense mechanisms are learned and designed to fight self-esteem, anxiety, and hurt. They work automatically at habitual levels. Self-deception and distortion are usually part of them. A lot of the time, defense mechanisms are used in groups instead of alone, and they are often used with task-oriented behavior. Most of the time, they help to make failure less painful, lessen anxiety and hurt, and protect feelings of significance, adequacy, and worth. Normally, they are reactions that help you deal with stress, but sometimes they can be very bad for your ability to deal with stress. It's possible for defense mechanisms to be both bad and good at the same time.
- Projection
- Reaction formation
- Regression
- Repression
- Denial of reality
- Fantasy
- Displacement
- Emotional Insulation
- Intellectualisation (Isolation)
- Undoing
- Identification
- Introjections
- Compensation
- Acting out
- Selective forgetting
- Negativism
- Sublimation
Projection
In projection, someone else is made to blame for one's own flaw, mistake, misdeed, unacceptable impulses, thoughts, and desires. Projection is the most common way people try to protect their egos. If a student doesn't do well on an exam, he or she thinks the teacher did a bad job or was unfair. Truants and delinquents blame their parents for not taking care of them, not rejecting them, or not paying attention to their problems. Fate and bad luck are often used to make predictions. Many times, things that aren't alive are to blame. If a tall boy falls off a bicycle, he might kick it. if a player slips, he can go back to the spot as if that was the reason he fell.
In the most extreme cases, a person may think that other people are working against him and have delusions of persecution. Other reactions to the projective mechanism include the person blaming other people for his own bad desires. People who follow a strict set of moral rules often have this tendency. He might say that the girl is acting sexually toward him because he likes her. Girl: The man, on the other hand, is perfectly clean and doesn't even know that he has a bad heart.
Reaction Formation
When someone tries to stop himself from having a bad desire by developing a conscious attitude and behavior patterns that are against repression, he does this by "reaction formation." In this case, people hide their hate with love, their cruelty with kindness, and their sexual promiscuity with moralistic sexual attitudes and behavior. Thus, he makes obstacles or barriers that help him stay repressed. His real feelings and desires are hidden from him. Reaction formation helps people stay in line with social norms and not think about their fears of self-devaluating desires. People don't know how to control this mechanism, so they become very afraid and rigid in their beliefs.
Regression
Regression is a defense mechanism in which one acts in a way that was done in the past. Parents may not pay as much attention to an older child because there is a new member of the family. This may make the older child do things like wet the bed and act like a baby to get their parents' attention again. Getting out of a state of dependency isn't easy in life, so when things get stressful or difficult, people tend to go back to a more immature level of adapting. In regression, an individual goes back to the past and may act in ways that aren't normal for that person.
Repression
When someone doesn't think about painful things, he or she is using repression. Most of the time, it has been thought of as selective forgetting, but it is selective remembering. The things you don't want to think about and don't want to think about aren't really forgotten. People who see a friend or family member die by accident or quickly may not remember this painful experience, making them forgetful about it. Repression happens without the person even knowing about it. Someone deliberately doesn't say how they feel or think about something that makes them feel bad. Repression is a very important defense mechanism for the ego. It protects the ego from sudden traumatic experiences until the ego becomes used to the shock. When someone is shocked, this mechanism helps him or her control his or her own desires that aren't good for him or that could be bad for him or himself. At the same time, it reduces the fear that comes with having such a dangerous and unwelcome desire. Repression and other defense mechanisms can work together in different ways. When the repression mechanism doesn't work, the ego comes up with more bad ways to protect itself.
Rationalization
When someone justifies their bad behaviour with false logic or claims that it is motivated by noble reasons that aren't there, this is called rationalisation, and it is bad. The rationalisation mechanism has two main flaws. a) It helps to justify specific behaviour and b) It helps to lessen the pain of not meeting goals.
When someone is using the rationalisation mechanism, they think logically and give socially acceptable reasons to back up their actions. As long as one knows that what he is doing is wrong and unreasonable, he has an inexorable desire to make it look like it is reasonable, common, and moral. To make oneself feel better when one's usually bad desires don't come true, one can use reasoning. There is a well-known example of rationalization called the "sour grapes" reaction. Fox: The fox, who couldn't get to a bunch of tasty grapes, decided not to eat them after all because they were probably sour. Many times, students say that their grades aren't good because they haven't been part of the competitive rat race of society. Sometimes, failing to reach a goal will make people say that the goal itself is worthless. It's hard to say where objective thought or reality ends and rationalisation starts. The following are signs of rationalisation:
- Search for reasons to justify behaviour, not being able to see inconsistencies or contradictions, and becoming angry if one's reasoning isn't accepted or questioned are some of the things that happen when someone doesn't accept or believe one's reasoning.
Denial of reality
Denial of reality is the most basic way to defend yourself, and this may be the simplest one. In this case, the person doesn't or won't accept or agree with reality that isn't good or acceptable to him. Stress can make people not want to talk about something they don't like. When a person is in a traumatic situation, this mechanism can make him faint, deny criticism to show that he's busy with other things, and doesn't have time to deal with issues like child-rearing or job situations that are important to him. Such a defensive reaction under very stressful circumstances gives a short respite from the full impact of the traumatic situation.
Fantasy
When a person meets his needs or achieves a goal only in his mind, his ego uses a fantasy defence mechanism. Fantasy is when you want to be a great leader, a famous cricketer, an athlete, or a film actor who does good work. These are some of the characteristics of fantasy. Using this method, one thinks that they are powerful, capable, and respected. Fantasies give the person who has them a sense of relief and are a way to keep them safe.
Displacement
Because the person feels hostility and anxiety toward someone else, he or she shifts those feelings of hostility and anxiety to someone else. Displacement is often used in emotional situations that are hard to deal with. Displacement is when bad things happen at work, which makes you angry and causes a fight with your spouse at home. Some times, the person makes a lot of false accusations about himself and feels a lot of guilt and shame. Such a response protects the person from expressing dangerous hostility, becoming depressed, or thinking about taking their own life.
Displacement becomes very complicated and weird when it goes through a process of symbolic association. Swearing is often used as a way to let out feelings that have been bottled up. Destructive criticism and gossip are ways to hide hostility.
Emotional Insulation
People have a lot of disappointments and frustrations in their lives, so they learn how to keep their expectations in check. They don't get too excited and don't do anything prematurely for their first birthday. This is a way to protect yourself from emotional damage, and it works. The person who is looking forward to a prestigious job may not get too excited or excited for fear that it might not happen. In a very bad situation, where the person is frustrated for a long time, they may lose hope and start living in a small space. Such a person avoids the bitterness of long-term frustration by adopting a passive attitude and refusing to accept any healthy ways out. To some extent, emotional insulation is a good way to protect yourself from disappointment that isn't important. In life, we often take risks and do things that could be dangerous, but we use an emotional insulation mechanism to protect ourselves from the pain of the past. The use of this defence mechanism cuts down on the person's vigorous and healthy involvement in life.
Intellectualisation (Isolation)
This defence mechanism is linked to both emotional protection and reasoning. By giving a rational explanation, one can relieve stress, avoid a stressful emotional reaction, and feel more at ease (intellectualizstion). When a close friend or relative dies, we try to lessen our pain by saying that he or she lived a long and happy life or died without any pain. To lessen one's guilt, one may look for flaws in others. Intelligence can be used in stressful situations that are very stressful and also in situations that are stressful but not as bad.
Undoing (Atonement)
It is called a "undoing mechanism." It is used to make socially unacceptable actions, feelings, expressions, and thoughts not work. To apologize for mistakes, accept punishment, confess, or say you're sorry for something you did in the past that you didn't like are all ways to undo things. People learn how to undo things when they are young, during the process of socialization. By saying sorry or getting punished for bad behavior, you can make your mistakes go away and be forgotten if you do it early on in life. In this early stage of life, people learn how to make up for their mistakes. Such methods protect the ego for the time being, but they are unhealthy. An unfaithful husband giving his wife a lot of money, or a person who isn't moral giving a lot of money to a religious cause, are examples of atonement. Confession and a promise to forgive are two things that people can do in different religions to let go of their guilt and start over. Undoing a defence mechanism is done at a subconscious level. The person lessens his guilt by changing his actions, but he doesn't know why he did it.
Identification
Identification may be used as a defence mechanism because it makes the person feel more important and protects them from feeling bad about themselves. During childhood, when a child looks up to older people to be role models, the process starts. When a child grows up, he or she learns how other people see him and how important his family and other members of the group are to him. When a child reaches adolescence or adulthood, his ability to identify people and groups grows and covers a wide range of people and groups. On the one hand, society looks at the individual as a member of a group, but the individual also looks at himself in the same way. Students and employees often identify with the power and prestige of the college or company where they work, and this can make them feel like they belong there. These people, to a certain point in their lives, have fulfilled their desire to be a part of the group's power and prestige. Identification is important for people who feel like they aren't good enough and need help.
Introjection
Introjection and identification are linked. Introjection, a defence mechanism, means that one accepts the values and norms of the other person even if they don't match one's own. After a change in government, people put the values and beliefs of the new government into their own lives as a way to protect themselves from being rejected or humiliated by other people. The values and faith of a new religion are accepted when a person changes his religion. Introjection can lead to bad behaviour, and it has also been thought of as a way to identify with the person who is bullying you. It is a defence reaction that says that if you can't win over your enemy, you should join him.
Compensation
People make up for things that make them feel bad about themselves, like a real or imagined weakness or setback in their lives, by making things better. Such a reaction can come in any form, and it could be good for the task at hand or done on purpose. Overcoming a physical disability through long-term effort and exercise is an example of compensating for a disability. A person's compensatory reaction or behavior could be a big factor in how well they do in life. Most of the time, compensatory behavior is indirect. People try to hide a flaw or a weakness in order to get more attention. Most of the time, a person who isn't very attractive or who isn't very strong can become a good scholar instead of becoming an athlete. All compensatory reactions are not good. Angry and neglected people sometimes have bad eating habits. Insecure kids act in a way that may get them more attention from their parents or other family members, which can make them feel better. Criticizing other people can help people bring them down to their level. In very bad situations, a person might do something antisocial or become very eccentric in order to get people's attention.
Acting out
By expressing his or her reactions, a person alleviates the worry and tension associated with a harmful urge. If a person believes he has been treated unfairly or discriminated against, he may become physically violent toward the person he believes is to blame. Acting out may be witnessed in instances of property damage or destruction. Many of us encounter active stress or conflict throughout our lives, escalating tension and anxiety to the point where nearly any activity is welcomed as a solution. Oftentimes, acting out is ineffective since it only temporarily alleviates tension and anxiety. Acting out is not always possible, as people frequently act in accordance with social values rather than their own.
Selective Forgetting
Selective forgetting is a method for escaping or avoiding undesirable or painful experiences by forgetting them. This technique causes significant facts or thoughts to fade from one's awareness. This technique has no detrimental consequence because it occurs naturally during the forgetting process. After the painful situation has passed, this selective forgetting passes and the person's memory returns to its visual form.
Negativism
Flatly refusing to do something is part of this defence mechanism, even though it isn't good for you to do. When the person can't fight the conflict on their own, this is a procedural situation. Work is where it happens most of the time. They may not be willing to help in any conflict situation if they are asked at the time of the conflict. The reason for this is that people are afraid of failing.
Sublimation
If you can't get what you want directly from your emotions, you might try to get what you want through socially acceptable ways. Sublimation is the name for this type of process. Having sex with someone isn't easy or direct because of social rules and other inhibitions. If you don't connect or talk about your feelings, you might have mental problems. Sublimation is when socially acceptable ways of venting or channelling feelings that have been suppressed are made available for those feelings. A person who is short-tempered may be able to get rid of some of his negative feelings by doing physical work like cultivating, gardening, woodworking, and so on. Through the sublimation mechanism, a person can sometimes feel better and use his suppressed feelings in art, literature or science to make the world a better place. Sublimation is a process that comes up on its own.
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