This document discusses different types of defense mechanisms. It divides defenses into four clusters: narcissistic, borderline/hysterical, obsessive-compulsive, and psychotic. Within each cluster, several specific defense mechanisms are defined and examples are provided. Some of the defenses discussed include projection, denial, splitting, repression, displacement, intellectualization, humor, sublimation, and suppression. The document aims to comprehensively outline and explain various psychological defense mechanisms.

2. Defense MechanismsDefense Mechanisms
Defense Mechanisms, like the id, ego and
superego.

3. FOUR CLUSTER OF DEFENSESFOUR CLUSTER OF DEFENSES

4. NARCISSISTIC DEFENSESNARCISSISTIC DEFENSES

5. 1. Projection1. Projection
• A person attributes his or
her own desire, wishes,
thoughts or emotions to
some one else.
• E.g.:- A man who has
committed adultery
becomes convinced that
his wife is having an affair
even though there is no
evidence of it.
• Paranoid delusions
results 4rm use of
projection.

6. 2. Denial2. Denial
• A person refuses to accept the reality of anything that is bad.
• E.g. A woman prepares dinner for her husband expecting
him to come home even thoughhe died a month earlier

7. 3.SPLITTING3.SPLITTING
• “People or things in world are perceived as all
bad or all good”
• E.g.
“He’s just so perfect and wonderful,” says a
teenage girl in love.
Borderline personality disorder use
splitting

9. 1.BLOCKING1.BLOCKING
• Temporary or transient block in thinking,
or inability to remember.
• E.g. In the middle of the conversation a
woman pauses , looks confused & asked ,
“What was I just talking about”

10. 2. Regression2. Regression
Returning to an earlier stage
of development. “acting
childish”
e.g. A husband speaks to his
wife in a “baby talk”
A patient lies in bed curled
up in a fetal position

11. 3. SOMATIZATION3. SOMATIZATION
• Psychic derivatives are converted into
bodily symptoms.
• E.g. Getting a headache while taking an
exam.
• Developing a ringing in the ears while
making a presentation for grand rounds.

12. 4.INTROJECTION4.INTROJECTION
• (Identification) features of external world or
persons are taken in and made part of the self.
The opposite of projection.
• E.g. A teenager adopts the style & mannerisms
of a rock star.
• A resident dresses and act like the attending
physician.

14. 1. Displacement1. Displacement
 Changing the target of an
emotion or drive , while the
person having the feeling
remains the same.
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!
 A man who is sexually
aroused by a woman he meets
goes home and makes love to
his wife.

15. 2. Repression2. Repression
• An idea or feeling is eliminated
from consciousness. Note that
content may once have been
unknown, but now has become
inaccessible.
• E.g. You forget, then forget that
you forgot.
• Differentiated 4rm denial in that
the reality was once accepted,
but is now discarded.
• One of the most basic defense
mechanisms.

16. 3.ISOLATION OF AFFECT3.ISOLATION OF AFFECT
• Reality is accepted, but without the expected
human emotional response to that reality.
• E.g.
• A child who has been beaten discusses the
beatings without any display of emotions.
• A patient who has had a finger severed in an
accident describes the incident to his physician
without any emotional reaction.
• Conversion disorder is manifestation of this
defense mechanism.

17. 4.INTELLECTUALIZATION4.INTELLECTUALIZATION
• Affect is stripped away & replaced by an excessive
use of intellectual processes. Cognition replaces
affect. The intellectual content is academically, but not
humanly, relevant.
• E.g. A boy is about to ask a girl out on a date 4 the 1st
time talks with his friend about the importance of
mating rituals for the long term survival of the
species & the mechanisms by which societies
arrange 4 these rituals.
• In obsessive compulsive disorder,
rumination can result 4rm this defense
mechanism.

19. 1.HUMOR1.HUMOR
• Permits the overt expression of feelings
and thoughts without personal discomfort.
• E.g. A man laughs when he is going to
be fired.
• Laughter covers the pain and anxiety.

20. 2. Sublimation2. Sublimation
• When people channel
impulses into socially
acceptable behavior.
• Example:- An executive
who is attracted to a female
associate becomes her
mentor and advisor.
• It is considered to be the
most mature defense.

21. 3.SUPPRESSION3.SUPPRESSION
• Conscious decision to postpone attention to an
impulse or conflict, conscious setup &
unconscious follow-through. The suppressed
content temporarily resides in the unconscious.
• E.g. A terminally ill cancer patient puts aside
his anxiety and enjoys a family gathering.
• A student decides to 4get about a pending
exam to go out and have a good time for an
evening.
Forget, but remember that you forgot.