MENTAL HEALTH PSYCHOLOGY

1. Defense Mechanism in
Psychology
Developmental Psychology
ADNAN AKBAR

2. Definition
• Defense Mechanisms are the methods the ego
uses to avoid facing emotions or ideas that
cause pain or stress.
• Defense Mechanisms, like the id, ego and
superego operates beneath our conscious.

3. Cont….
• Before we can talk more about this, we need to
understand what drives the id, ego, and
superego. According to Freud, we only have
two drives; sex and aggression. In other
words, everything we do is motivated by one
of these two drives.

4. Cont...
• Sex, also called Eros or the Life force,
represents our drive to live, prosper, and
produce offspring. Aggression, also called
Thanatos or our Death force, represents our
need to stay alive and stave off threats to our
existence, our power, and our prosperity.

5. List of Defense Mechanism
• Repression
• Rationalization
• Displacement
• Regression
• Projection
• Reaction Formation
• Denial
• Sublimation

6. Repression
• Pulling into the
unconscious.
• Like a tea-kettle holds in
steam, people hold in their
urges.
http://images.google.co.th/images?gbv=2&hl=en&q=hold+your+breath

7. Problem with repression
• When steam builds
up, the tea-kettle
pops it’s lid.

8. • When people let their emotions and urges
build up inside of them they eventually
explode through outbursts of anger and
maybe developing other psychological and
emotional problems.

9. Rationalization
• Supplying a logical or rational reason as
opposed to the real reason.
Example;
• Stating that you were fired because you didn't
kiss up the boss, when the real reason was
your poor performance

10. Displacement
• Taking out impulses on a less
threatening target.
• To transfer an impulse or
idea from a threatening
object to a LESS threatening
object. Example: If you are
yelled at by your boss you
can’t yell back you’ll get
fired!
• So, you go home and yell at
your loved ones! http://www.clipartof.com/im
ages/thumbnail/930.jpg

11. Regression
• Returning to a previous stage of development.
For Example;
• sitting in a corner and crying after hearing bad
news; throwing a temper tantrum when you
don't get your way.

12. Projection
• Placing unacceptable
impulses in yourself
onto someone else.
• They see their own
faults in other people.
http://stanleybronstein.com/blog/blame.jpg

13. Reaction Formation
• Taking the
opposite belief
because the true
belief causes
anxiety
http://www.arcticnunavut.ca/images/Opposites

14. Example
• Acting like you
hate someone
you really have
a crush on.

15. Denial
A person refuses to accept the reality of
anything that is bad.
http://i209.photobucket.com/albums/bb44/spadum/de-
motivational%20posters/denial.jpg

16. Example of Denial
• People think that they
won’t get sick and die
from smoking because
they are in denial.
http://thecia.com.au/reviews/t/images/thank-you-for-smoking-poster-0.jpg

17. Sublimation
Acting out unacceptable
impulses in a socially
acceptable way.
For Example;
Someone who is aggressive…

18. Suppression
• Pushing into the unconscious
Example:
• Trying to forget something that causes you
anxiety

19. Cont…
• The lack of these defenses, or the inability to
use them effectively can often lead to
problems in life. However, we sometimes
employ the defenses at the wrong time or
overuse them, which can be equally
destructive.

20. Reference
• Psychiatric Mental Health Nursing 2nd Edition,
Noreen Cavan Frisch Lawrence Frisch

22. 22