This document discusses Sigmund Freud's concept of defence mechanisms, which are unconscious processes that protect a person's ego from anxiety, shame, loss of self-esteem or other uncomfortable feelings. Defence mechanisms operate at an unconscious level to resolve internal conflicts and reduce stress. They are classified as either positive or negative based on their effects. Positive mechanisms include compensation, sublimation and rationalization, while negative ones involve suppression, projection and fantasy. The document provides examples to illustrate common defence mechanisms.

1. INTRODUCTION
DEFENCE MECHANISM
BODILY DEFENCE
MECHANISM
EGO DEFENCE
MECHANISM

2. Mental defence mechanism or ego
defence mechanism
INTRODUCTION:-
Sigmund Freud in 1904 used this term “defence mechanism”
to refer to the unconscious process that defends or protects
a person against anxiety, shame, loss of self esteem, conflict
or unacceptable feelings.
According to Freud, when Id is in serious conflict with ego
and superego, the individual suffer from tension or anxiety.
Defence mechanism enables a person to resolve conflict
and reduce the stress and anxiety.
Usually all defence mechanisms are operated at
unconscious level.
Most of defence mechanisms are self-deceptive in nature.

3. DEFINITION:-
Defence mechanism is a pattern of adjustment through which an
individual relieves anxiety caused by an uncomfortable situation
that threaten self-esteem.
When these defence mechanisms are used moderately are
harmless but excessive and persistent defence use is harmful.
CLASSIFICATION OF DEFENCE MECHANISM:-
These defence mechanisms are classified according to its results-
 Positive defence mechanism
 negative defence mechanism
POSITIVE DEFENCE MECHANISMS:-
1. Compensation
2. Substitution
3. Sublimation
4. Rationalization
5. Repression
6. Undoing

4. 7. Identification
8. Transference
9. Intellectualization
10. Introjection
NEGATIVE DEFENCE MECHANISMS:-
1. Suppression
2. Displacement
3. Projection
4. Regression
5. Fixation
6. Fantasy
7. Reaction formation
8. Conversion
9. Dissociation
10. Denial

5. POSITIVE DEFENCE MECHANISMS
1. COMPENSATION:-
Compensation is a pattern
by which tension or
anxiety relieved by an
individual make up for
personal weakness.
EXAMPLE:-
 A student who fails in his
studies may compensate
by becoming the college
champion in atheletics.
 a plain girl, who cannot
compete with her more
beautiful sisters, may
compensate by studying
hard and come 1st in her
class.

6. 2. SUBSTITUTION:-
It is a mechanism by which
tension or anxiety reduced
by replacing the
unachievable goal with
achievable goal.
EXAMPLE:
 A student who has not been
able to get admission to the
MBBS course may try to
substitute it with a course of
physiotherapy or nursing.
 A person aspire to become a
national level cricket player
and not selected. He may
substitue this goal by being a
coach at college level.

7. 3. SUBLIMATION:-
It is a mechanism that causes
channelization of socially
unacceptable desires into
acceptable form.
In this mechanism primitive
impulses are transferred or
directed to a socially useful
goal.
EXAMPLE:-
A teenage boy with strong
competitive and aggressive
feelings becomes a football
player.
A young man who has lost his
lover may turn to write
poetry about love.
A person who has aggressive
feeling and cannot express
in society can become a
soldier or boxer.

8. 4. RATIONALIZATION:-
It is a defence mechanism in
which an individual justifies
his failures and socially
unacceptable feelings and
behaviors by making
excuses or formulate
logical reasons / socially
approved reasons.
EXAMPLE:
 A husband does not enjoy
the company of wife outside
the the home and usually
leave his wife at home. He
gives logic that his wife is
social shy.
 A girl fails to get admission
for the nursing course may
point out a number of
difficulties of nursing
profession.
 A person without a vehicle
says that he does not want
to risk his life by driving.

9. 5. REPRESSION:-
Repression is a process of
unconscious forgetfulness of
our unpleasant experiences.
Repression is the involuntary
bloking of unpleasant
feelings and experiences
from one’s awareness.
6. UNDOING:-
Undoing is the act symbolically
cancelling or reversing out a
previous act which is
unaccetable.
EXAMPLE:-
A man is jealous of his good
friend’s success but is unaware
of his feeling of jealousy.
EXAMPLE:
A daughter shout at her father as
there is no petrol in the car and
is getting late for office, brings
a favourite film for her father to
watch.
This is an example of undoing
her behavior of shouting and
then bringing a film.

10. 7. IDENTIFICATION:-
Through this process, an
individual attempts to
increase self worth by
acquiring certain attributes
and characteristics of an
another individual one
admires.
It plays a large part in the
development of personality.
In this individual feels personal
satisfaction in the success
and achievement of other
group or person.
EXAMPLE:-
The young son of a famous
civil rights worker adopts his
father’s attitudes and
behavior with the intent of
pursuing similar aspirations.
An illiterate father often takes
his son’s higher education
as his own achievement.

11. 8. TRANSFERENCE:-
In transference, the image of
one person is unconsciously
identified with that of
another.
EXAMPLE:-
A patient who is fond of his
daughter finds the nurse of
the same age and height as
his daughter. So he transfer
his positive emotions to the
nurse as his daughter.
It is also possible that if he
dislikes his daughter he
transfers his negative
emotions to the nurse by
being rude, abusive, or
aggressive without any
cause.

12. 9. INTELLECTUALIZATION:-
Intellectualization is an attempt
to avoid expressing actual
emotions associated with a
stressful situation by using the
intellectual processes of logic,
reasoning and analysis.
10. INTROJECTION:-
In introjection the values and
characteristics of significant
persons are incorporated in
one’s personality.
EXAMPLE:-
a young professor receives a
letter from his fiancee
breaking off their
engagement. He shows no
emotion when discussing this
with his best friend.
Instead he analyzes his
fiancee’s behavior and tries to
reason why the relationship
failed
EXAMPLE:-
A women who likes to live in a
simple way introjects in her
the sophisticated way, of
living likes her husband.

13. NEGATIVE DEFENCE MECHANISMS:-
some defence mechanisms have negative impact over relations or
development of person.
1. SUPPRESSION:-
Suppression is the voluntary
blocking of unpleasant
feelings and experiences
from one’s awareness to
avoid discomfort and
anxiety.
EXAMPLE:-
Student consciously decides
not to think about her insult
in examinations hall so that
he can study effectively.
A patient may refuse to
consider his difficulties by
saying that he does not want
to talk about it.

14. 2. DISPLACEMENT:-
In this defence mechanism an
unconsciously emotional
feeling is transferred to
person or object who are
less dangerous than those
who initially aroused the
emotion.
An individual who is using
displacement is unaware of
this at that time, but later he
can realize it.
EXAMPLE:-
A person who is angry with his
boss but cannot show it for
fear of losing the job may
fight with his wife on return
from the office.

15. 3. PROJECTION:-
Placing blame for own
difficulties upon others.
Here, others are seen as
responsible for own
mistakes.
One’s own unacceptable
feelings and thoughts are
expressed as they are due
to others.
EXAMPLE:-
A surgeon who did mistake in
operation may insist that it
happened because theatre
nurse and ward boy did their
task badly.
A businessperson who values
punctuality is late for a
meeting and states , “sorry
I’m late. My assistant forgot
to remind me of the time.

16. 4. REGRESSION:-
Regression means an immature
way of responding to a stress
or go backwards.
In this the adult revert back to an
earlier developmental level in
order to deal with reality.
An individual does less mature
form of behavior when faced
with difficulties, where he finds
less conflict hence less anxiety.
Adults too may regress to the
oral stage of development and
suck their thumb when life gets
stressful.
EXAMPLE:-
Nurse makes an error in giving
medication and starts crying.
A person who is depressed may
withdraw to his or her room,
curl up in a fetal position on the
bed.

17. 5. FIXATION:-
Fixation refers to the point in
the individual’s
development at which
certain aspects of the
emotional development do
not advance.
6. FANTACY:-
Fantacy is used to gratify
frustrated desires by
imaginary achievements
and wishful thinking.
The tendency of day
dreaming is most common
during adolescence.
EXAMPLE:-
Thumb sucking continuously
till adult age.
An unmarried, middle aged
man still depends on his
mother to provide his basic
needs.
EXAMPLE:-
A young boy who could not
help his ailing father due to
shortage of money, day
dreams that he has got lot
of money from lottery ticket
and his father, mother and
family members has best of
the facilities for everything.

18. 7. REACTION
FORMATION:-
In this defence mechanism
the unacceptable real
feelings are repressed
and acceptable opposite
feelings are expressed.
It is defined as unconscious
transformation of
unacceptable impulse into
exactly opposite attitudes,
impulse, feelings or
behaviors.
EXAMPLE:-
Women who actually dislike
her mother in law hide her
feelings by being always
nice to her.

19. 8. CONVERSION:-
In this pattern of defence
mechanism strong
emotional conflicts which
are not expressed are
converted into physical
symptoms.
It has two benefit for person-
 It resolves the conflict
 It brings him a great deal of
attention and sympathy.
EXAMPLE:-
A student nurse, who is very
anxious about her
examination, may develop a
headach.

20. 9. DISSOCIATION:-
Dissociation is involuntary
suppression of a mental
function from rest of
personality in a manner that
allows expression of
forbidden unconscious
impulse without having any
sense of responsibility for
actions.
EXAMPLE:-
Partial amnesia.

21. 10. DENIAL:-
Any individual refuses to face
the reality.
It protect the individual from
shock of reality.
Person unconsciously use this
mechanism and this reaction
is for sometime.
Denial is quite harmless if
practiced in moderation but
can lead to serious
difficulties in health and life
style if practiced in excess.
EXAMPLE:-
When some very near and
dear one die in the family.
Some people say no, he is
still alive.