I am not a psychiatrist, and if I played one on TV, you'd switch to Doctors Moe, Larry, and Curley. But if you were thinking of diagnosing your former friends, just for fun, this might help:
In Freudian psychoanalytic theory, defense mechanisms are unconscious psychological strategies used by the mind to cope with the harsh realities of life and with the dangerous impulses flaring up from deep inside of us. Sometimes these defense mechanisms protect us from anxiety or social sanctions; sometimes they provide refuge from situations with which we cannot currently cope.
They are often called ego defense mechanisms because they protect the ego or the self from three things: one, the strong, unruly impulses of the id, two, situations where id impulses conflict with superego values and beliefs, and three, external threats.
What are the id, the ego and the superego?
Sigmund Freud proposed that each person’s mind is divided into three structures: the id, the ego and the superego. I don’t know if Freud or anyone else ever proved that this “trinity” exists, but it seems to make sense.
The id (or the “it”) is the selfish, primitive, childish, pleasure-oriented part of the personality; it is all instinct and impulse, with no ability to delay gratification; it is the source of unconscious drives like love and lust, aggression and hatred and fear.
The superego (or the “over-I”) is the conscience, where society’s standards and our parents’ teachings tell us what is right and what is wrong, what is good and what is bad. It helps us fit into society by getting us to act in socially acceptable ways. When we don’t act in an acceptable manner, the superego makes us feel guilty, or anxious, or inferior. The superego is often in conflict with the id. Much of the action of the superego is unconscious.
The ego (or the “I”) is the seat of conscious awareness, though some of its actions are unconscious. It is the moderator between the id, the superego and external reality; it seeks to make compromises between the raw impulses of the id, the internalized standards of the superego, and the hard facts of the real world. Some people think of it as the self.
When there is a strong conflict among the id, the superego and external reality, the ego employs defense mechanisms to help it deal with feelings of guilt, anxiety or inferiority. These mechanisms either block the impulses coming out of the id, or distort them into acceptable forms.
The id (or the “it”) is the selfish, primitive, childish, pleasure-oriented part of the personality; it is all instinct and impulse, with no ability to delay gratification; it is the source of unconscious drives like love and lust, aggression and hatred and fear.
The superego (or the “over-I”) is the conscience, where society’s standards and our parents’ teachings tell us what is right and what is wrong, what is good and what is bad. It helps us fit into society by getting us to act in socially acceptable ways. When we don’t act in an acceptable manner, the superego makes us feel guilty, or anxious, or inferior. The superego is often in conflict with the id. Much of the action of the superego is unconscious.
The ego (or the “I”) is the seat of conscious awareness, though some of its actions are unconscious. It is the moderator between the id, the superego and external reality; it seeks to make compromises between the raw impulses of the id, the internalized standards of the superego, and the hard facts of the real world. Some people think of it as the self.
When there is a strong conflict among the id, the superego and external reality, the ego employs defense mechanisms to help it deal with feelings of guilt, anxiety or inferiority. These mechanisms either block the impulses coming out of the id, or distort them into acceptable forms.
Most defense mechanisms are used without our conscious knowledge. Anna Freud, Sigmund’s daughter, wrote that, “All the defensive measures of the ego against the id are carried out silently and invisibly.”
Some of these defenses are used by healthy people every day. Others are used by those unfortunate people who have severe problems coping with life.
In 1977, American psychiatrist George Eman Vaillant arranged the various defense mechanisms into four categories. I’d like to list them in reverse order:
Young Anna Freud
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IV. Mature Defense Mechanisms. These are commonly found among healthy adults -- like you and me. They have been adapted by individuals through the years in order to optimize success in life and relationships. They help us integrate conflicting emotions and thoughts while still remaining effective. Their use enhances pleasure and feelings of control.
They include:
A. Altruism: You deal with feelings of anxiety or guilt by developing a great concern for others. You put much of your energy into constructive service to others, and that brings you pleasure and satisfaction.
B. Anticipation: You engage in realistic planning to deal with future discomfort, and thereby reduce some of your current stress.
C. Humor: You deal with unpleasant ideas and feelings by making jokes about them.
D. Identification: This is the unconscious modelling of one’s self on another person’s character and behavior. It can include identification with either positive or negative role models. For example, an individual might derive strength by identifying with a team, a club, a nation, or a religion. On the negative side, a boy might become an aggressor or a bully so he won’t have to fear an aggressor or a bully.
E. Introjection: You identify with some idea or object so deeply that it becomes a part of your self. This seems similar to Identification.
F. Sublimation: This is the process of transforming libido (sex drive) into creative or socially useful achievements such as art, science, or sports. It can transform instincts or negative emotions into positive actions, behavior, or emotions.
G. Thought suppression: You deliberately push thoughts out of your conscious mind. “I’ll deal with that problem later -- I have enough to do now.”
Note: Into the above category, some experts would put mature "coping mechanisms" such as Acceptance, Forgiveness, Patience and Tolerance.
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III. Neurotic Defense Mechanisms. These are fairly common in adults. They offer short-term advantages in coping, but can often cause long-term problems in relationships, in work and in enjoying life.
They include:
A. Displacement: This is the shifting of sexual or aggressive impulses to a more acceptable or less threatening target; redirecting emotion to a safer outlet. For example: a mother may yell at her child because she is angry with her husband.
B. Dissociation: This is the temporary modification of one’s personality or character to avoid emotional distress. It allows the mind to distance itself from experiences that are too much for the psyche to process at that time. In its most common form, mild dissociation includes day dreaming, or "zoning out." More serious traumas can bring on amnesia.
C. Hypochondria: Hypochondriacs are convinced that they have a serious illness, or are about to have a serious illness, even if the medical evidence shows otherwise.
D. Isolation: This is the separation of feelings and emotions from ideas and events. For example: describing a murder with graphic details while showing no emotional response.
E. Intellectualization: This is a form of isolation. You concentrate on the intellectual components of a situation so as to distance yourself from the anxiety-provoking emotions. You think it but you don’t feel it.
F. Rationalization (making excuses): You convince yourself of something through faulty reasoning. For example, you think: “It’s not wrong to steal from a big corporation since they can afford it.” Or you tell yourself: “The grapes I could not reach were probably sour anyway.”
G. Reaction Formation: This is converting unconscious wishes or impulses that are perceived to be dangerous into their opposites. The result is behavior that is completely the opposite of what one really wants or feels. For example: a very aggressive man becomes a pacifist. Or: a person who secretly likes pornography joins an organization that fights it. Or: two people who are really fond of each other fight all the time to suppress their desire of love for each other.
H. Regression: This involves a temporary reversion of the ego to an earlier stage of development rather than handling unacceptable impulses in a more adult way. An adolescent who feels overwhelmed by new challenges in life might revert to sucking his thumb or wetting the bed. Or, an individual fixated at the oral stage might begin eating or smoking excessively, or might become very verbally aggressive. A fixation at the anal stage might result in excessive tidiness or messiness.
I. Repression: This involves burying an unpleasant idea in the unconscious mind. One result might be: seemingly unexplainable memory lapses or lack of awareness of one’s situation. Another might be: failure to acknowledge input from a sense organ.
J. Undoing: A person tries to undo an unhealthy, destructive or threatening thought by engaging in contrary behavior. For example, after thinking about being violent with someone, one would then be overly nice or accommodating to them. Another example: Lady Macbeth washes her hands over and over again to clean up her guilt.
K. Withdrawal: You remove yourself from events and interactions that could remind you of painful thoughts and feelings.
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II. Immature Defense Mechanisms. People who use these too often are seen as immature, hard to deal with, or out of touch with reality. Their occasional use by adolescents is considered normal. These defenses are often present in adults with severe depression and personality disorders.
They include:
A. Acting out: A person expresses an unconscious wish or impulse in action. An example would be a temper tantrum in a young child. In adolescent years, acting out in the form of rebellious behaviors such as smoking, shoplifting and drug use can be understood as "a cry for help."
B. Fantasy: A troubled person retreats into fantasy in order to resolve inner and outer conflicts.
C. Idealization: You unconsciously perceive another individual as having more positive qualities than he or she may actually have.
D. Passive aggression: You don’t like someone, and you deal with them indirectly or passively by using such tactics as procrastination and obstructionism. You sulk or speak to them in ambiguous language to frustrate them.
E. Projection: This is when you have unacceptable or unwanted thoughts or emotions, and you project them onto another person or group. Some examples: 1. when you blame another person for your own failures, 2. a man wants to cheat on his wife, and feels guilty about it; he projects that his wife has thoughts of infidelity and may be having an affair. 3, a person who really doesn’t like blacks projects his own prejudice onto another group of people, and says that they don’t like blacks.
F. Projective identification: This is when one’s behavior towards the object of projection invokes in that person precisely the thoughts, feelings or behaviors projected. For example: A delusional person, Dan, believes he is being persecuted by police; so, when he is near police officers, he acts strangely; this raises the suspicions of the police officers and makes them “persecute” Dan. It is, in a sense, a self-fulfilling prophecy. How does it help Dan? Dan felt that he had done something wrong. He projected that anxiety onto the police officers; now, he can feel that they have done something wrong, not him.
G. Somatization: You transform negative feelings about others into negative feelings toward yourself, into anxiety, or into pain or illness. Sigmund Freud’s famous case study of “Anna O.” featured a woman who suffered from numerous physical symptoms, which Freud believed were the result of repressed grief over her father's illness. This seems similar to Hypochondria.
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I. Pathological Defense Mechanisms. These defenses permit one to rearrange external experiences to eliminate the need to cope with reality. The users of these defenses frequently appear irrational or insane to others. In “normal” people, these defenses are found in dreams and throughout early childhood, but when used by adults in their waking hours, they are considered “psychotic” defenses.
They include:
A. Delusional projection: This involves gross delusions about external reality, usually of a persecutory nature. The person views others as the cause of his difficulties in order to preserve a positive self-view. Examples: 1. a person mistakenly believes that he is under constant police surveillance; 2. a person believes that aliens have removed his brain; 3. a person falsely believes that someone else is controlling his thoughts, feelings, or behavior.
B. Denial: You refuse to accept external reality because it is too painful or threatening. For example, you say: “I don’t really have a drinking problem; I can stop any time I want.” Or, you think: “My husband isn’t cheating on me -- it’s just that his job requires him to work a lot of late hours.”
C. Distortion: This is a gross reshaping of external reality to meet internal needs. Examples might include: 1. taking isolated cases and using them to make wide generalizations; 2. focusing almost exclusively on negative or upsetting aspects of an event while ignoring other positive aspects; 3. drawing conclusions from little (if any) evidence; 4. magnifying an incident beyond its reasonable significance, or minimizing a truly important incident.
D. Splitting: This is when negative and positive impulses are split off and unintegrated. For example: a person sees other individuals as either all good or all evil, rather than as whole continuous beings.
E. Extreme projection: You deny a moral or psychological deficiency in yourself, and you perceive the same deficiency in another individual or group.
F. Multiple personality disorder : Some call this Dissociative Identity Disorder. It involves the splitting of the personality as the result of severe trauma during early childhood -- usually extreme, repetitive physical, sexual, and/or emotional abuse. Each distinct personality (or alter ego) has its own pattern of perceiving and interacting with the environment, its own unique set of memories, behaviors, thoughts and emotions. Vaillant did not put this disorder on his list, but others do consider it "a defense mechanism out of control". A famous example from literature would be: The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.
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Far side cartoon by Gary Larson
copyright © Steven J. Maricic 2019