BH_E1_Defense_Mechanisms_Part_2

• Mental health, according to the WHO, involves realizing one's potential, coping with life's stresses, and contributing to the community.
• The CDC defines mental health as including emotional, psychological, and social well-being, influencing how individuals think, feel, act, handle stress, relate to others, and make healthy choices across their lifespan.

Defense Mechanisms

• Sigmund Freud originated the concepts of defense mechanisms.
• Defense mechanisms are processes developed by the ego to protect against physical and/or emotional pain or danger.
• These mechanisms operate unconsciously or partially unconsciously.
• Defense mechanisms are automatic responses.
• They subtly distort reality or involve dishonesty.
• Defense mechanisms are employed when an individual cannot cope with reality or lacks effective strategies.
• The ID is the part of the personality present from birth, demanding immediate satisfaction based on the pleasure principle.
• The ego begins around 18 months and operates on the reality principle, seeking to satisfy needs through socially acceptable means.
• The superego develops around age 4 and embodies the morality principle, incorporating the conscience and ideals learned from parents and society.

Purpose and Use

• Defense mechanisms protect against anxiety and suffering by helping one tolerate a reality that is too aggressive, painful, or discordant with self-image.
• Tensions and conflicts within one's personality and external pressures trigger defense mechanisms.
• External pressures triggering defense mechanisms include concerns about livelihood and acceptance.
• Fear of losing respect, fear of violence and other people's judgement also trigger defense mechanisms.
• Defense mechanisms are used by everyone to some extent.
• Defense mechanisms are categorized as pathological/immature/neurotic (anxiety-related) or mature.
• People under duress tend to use pathological defense mechanisms more often.

Various Defense Mechanisms

Affiliation

• Turning to others or organizations for support or to feel "right" or superior.
• Examples: joining "school spirit" groups, religious organizations, or the military.
• Can be a healthy defense mechanism, such as frontline workers supporting each other.

Acting Out

• Engaging in inappropriate behavior without considering the consequences, as a reaction to control or unspoken protest.
• Used for attention or freedom, such as unprotected sex or adopting a rock and roll persona.

Autistic Fantasy

• Excessive daydreaming to avoid engaging with reality.
• Actor, musician or athlete dream. Keeps people from risk.

Compensation

• Building up other aspects of oneself to compensate for perceived or real shortcomings.
• Someone not skilled in sports developing scholastic abilities.

Compliance

• Acquiescing to others' desires to maintain peace.
• It also enables a person to avoid conflict.

Controlling

• Attempting to control how others act, think, or feel.
• Examples include arguing, micromanaging, and domestic violence.

Denial

• Refusing to acknowledge painful, inconvenient, or overwhelming aspects of reality.
• Common with HIV/STDS and alcoholism/drug abuse.

Displacement

• Transferring negative feelings from one object to another.
• Examples: yelling at a spouse after being reprimanded at work.

Dissociation

• Lack of connection in a person's thoughts, memory, and sense of identity.
• Associated with movies, PTSD and de-realization/dissociative identity disorders.

Externalization

• Inaccurately blaming problems on another person, thing, or situation.
• Applicants attributing low grades to instructors.

Intellectualization

• Relying excessively on details or facts to maintain distance from painful emotions, or "a great case".

Inhibition

• Involuntary decrease or loss of motivation to engage in goal-directed activity to prevent arising anxiety from conflicts with "unacceptable" impulses.
• Religious prohibitions against sex, or becoming a lawyer instead of an actor.

Introjection (or Identification)

• Internalizing the qualities of an object or person.
• Development of the behaviour of his or her parents without conscious realization.
• Can be a advertising strategy.

Isolation

• Being alone to avoid uncomfortable feelings and interactions with others.
• Examples include needing "down time" and mature coping like solitude.

Passive-aggressive:

• Expressing anger/aggression indirectly towards others.
• The phrase "Why didn't pick you pick up the groceries?" "I forgot" or walking out of the door in late.

Projection

• Falsely assigning unacceptable or difficult feelings or character traits to another, whether positive or negative:
• Examples: falling in love or scapegoat/group persecution or racism.

Projective identification

• A person accepts and "takes on" the projection of another, positive or negative.
• Doctor or PA has god complex and "Dumb blonde" self reference.

Rationalization

• Justifying difficult or unacceptable feelings with seemingly logical reasons and explanations.
• If somebody does not get the job: saying "It did not pay enough".

Regression

• Acting like a younger, less mature person.
• They will use baby talk, thumb sucking, whine and or wet the bed.

Repression

• Expelling disturbing thoughts and feelings from consciousness.
• Can lead to to somatization: physical expression of repression.

Reaction formation

• Converting of unwanted or dangerous thoughts, feelings or impulses into their opposites.

Ritual and Undoing

• Performing superstious behavior.
• A few examples include, pre-game rituals, full moan, and bible dropping.

Sexualization

• Inappropriate imposition of sexuality upon a person, through objectification, overvaluing or emphasizing the persons appearance and/ or sexual behavior.
• Defense against uncomfortable emotions and a form of projection.

Splitting

• Making statements, such as "Good always 100%."
• People compartmentalize opposite affective states, "Good" or "Bad", with no middle ground.

Mature Defense Mechanisms/Coping Skills

• Objectivity, integration, sublimation, altruism, anticipation/affiliation, suppression and humor are considered mature defense mechanisms or coping skills.
• Mature defense mechanisms/coping skills are usually conscious or somewhat conscious.

Sublimation

• Channeling unacceptable and potentially disruptive impulses, thoughts, or emotions into socially acceptable behaviour, constructive activities, or muse.

Altruism

• Dedication to meeting other's needs rather than their own.
• Can be an advisor, sponsor in aa, improves depression and volunteer who will live longer.

Anticipation

• Think about and prepare for possible adversity and or worry.
• Examples include boy scout motto "Be prepared" and hurricanes.

Suppression

• Temporarily avoid thinking about stressor, the individual needs time to process.
• Common in trauma patients.

Humor

• Deal with stress by seeing irony, dark humor while not denying the reality.

"Pathological" Defense Mechanisms

• Pathological defense mechanisms are age-inappropriate.
• They exhibits a high intensity and a continuous and inappropriate use, even when uncalled for.
• With pathological defenses, the quantity of use exceeds the quality.
• Over-reliance on pathological defenses can lead to chronic suppression of feelings.
• Can lead to physical symptoms ,Damage to the self, leading to dependency on habits and fantasy.
• It impairs the ability to function or attain goals.

Interaction Techniques

• Problem solving: determine what emotion or pain the patient avoids by defence mechanisms.
• It is important to understand the patient and respect their denial by giving them time to build the energy o face the adversity.
• It is also important to use reframing, and using therapeutic self-disclose can be benefical.

Coping Mechanism

• Coping mechanisms are conscious and intentional.
• These mechanisms promote well-being and it is health-related.
• It helps handles future conflicts, with honesty.
• In short, deals with the source of anxiety.

Defense Mechanisms vs Coping Skills

• Defense mechanisms distort parts of the distressing events, feelings, and "self" story.
• Coping skills help manage events/feelings effectively.