Defense mechanism - Psychology for Nurses

1. Defense mechanisms
- SANDHYA NEGI
NURSING TUTOR
HCN,SRHU

2. INTRODUCTION
• Methods to cope with
basic drives or
emotionally painful
thoughts, feelings or
events.
• Purpose is to reduce or
eliminate anxiety by
manipulating, denying, or
distorting reality .

3. CONT.....
• Healthy or unhealthy consequences depending
on the circumstances and frequency with which
the mechanism is used.

4. Definition
• It is a pattern of adjustment through which an
individual relieves or decreases anxieties caused
by an uncomfortable situation that threatens
self esteem.
• These are learned during childhood.

5. Functions
• Deal with minor hurt, pain, anger, anxiety,
sadness, self-devaluation.
• Plays an important role in normal adjustment
mechanism.
• Protect from anxiety, stress.

6. Characteristics
• Compromise with situation.
• Depends on one’s ability.
• Use of defense mechanism varies with
individual.
• May be used consciously but usually act at
unconscious, or subconscious level.

7. Cont..
• These are healthy when:
✔ Not used frequently.
✔ One is able to form new acceptable behavior.
✔ Able to change external environment positively.
✔ Able to modify his needs.
✔ Uses mechanisms like rationalization, sublimation,
compensation etc.

8. Cont..
• These are unhealthy:
✔ Do not develop ability to change or modify
abnormal behavior.
✔ Retreats from the problem of reality.
✔ Mechanism like regression, denial, projection
etc.

9. Classification
• Level 1: Psychotic: denial, distortion, delusional
projection.
• Level 2: Immature: fantasy, projection, hypochondriacs,
passive aggression, acting out, regression.
• Level 3: Neurotic: displacement, dissociation, isolation,
intellectualization, reaction formation, repression.
• Level 4: Mature: altruism, sublimation, suppression,
humor, identification, introjections.

10. CONT...
• Level 1: Psychotic
✔ Severely pathological, eliminate the need to
cope with reality.
• Level 2: Immature
✔ Often present in adults and adolescence.
Overuse almost always lead to serious problems
in a person’s ability to cope.

11. • Level 3: Neurotic
✔ Common in adults. Have short term advantages but
often causes long term problems in relationships.
• Level 4: Mature
✔ Found among emotionally healthy adults, most mature.
✔ Help to integrate conflicting emotions and thoughts
while still remaining effective.

12. TYPES OF DEFENSE MECHANISMS
• Positive Defense Mechanism
• Negative Defense Mechanism

13. POSITIVE DEFENCE MECHANISMS
1. Compensation
2. Substitution
3. Sublimation
4. Rationalization
5. Repression
6. Undoing
7. Identification
8. Transference
9. Intellectualization
10. Introjection

15. 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.

19. UNDOING:-
• Undoing is the act symbolically cancelling
or reversing out a previous act which is
unaccetable.
• 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.

21. IDENTIFICATION:
• In this , 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.

22. IDENTIFICATION:
• 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.

23. 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.

25. 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

26. NEGATIVE DEFENCE MECHANISMS
1. Suppression
2. Displacement
3. Projection
4. Regression
5. Fixation
6. Fantasy
7. Reaction formation
8. Conversion
9. Dissociation
10. Denial

27. 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.

28. 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.

31. 5. FIXATION:-
• Fixation refers to the point in the
individual’s development at which certain
aspects of the emotional development do
not advance.
• EXAMPLE:- Thumb sucking continuously
till adult age.
• An unmarried, middle aged man still
depends on his mother to provide his
basic needs.

32. 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:- 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.

34. 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-
1. It resolves the conflict
2. 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.

35. 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.

36. 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

37. Use of mature defense mechanism
Leads to:
Excellent adjustment as an adult.
Happiness, job satisfaction.
Rich friendships, fewer hospitalizations.
Better overall health.
A lower incidence of mental illness.

38. Use of immature defenses (level 1,2,3)
Leads to:
Poor adjustment
Higher divorce rates and marital discord.
Poor friendships.
Higher incidence of mental illness
Greater number of sick leaves
Poorer health generally.

39. Advantages of Defense mechanisms
• It provide relief against stress and anxiety
until more realistics way of solving
problems are worked out.
• It may permit experimentation with new
roles and hence teach new modes of
adjustment.

40. DISADVANTAGES OF DEFENSE
MECHANISMS
• It may give rise to psychological disorders.
• Operates at unconcious level
• Involve a degree of self deception and
reality distortion so that the person is
incapable of direct problem solving.

41. Thank You