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14-September-2008 12:50:30 - Defence mechanism For the biological concept, see Defence mechanism biology. Goya, Los Caprichos. Goya, Los Caprichos. In Freudian psychoanalytic theory, defence mechanisms or defense mechanisms see -ce/-se are psychological strategies brought into play by various entities to cope with reality and to maintain self-image. Healthy persons normally use different defences throughout life. An ego defence mechanism becomes pathological only when its persistent use leads to maladaptive behavior such that the physical and/or mental health of the individual is adversely affected. The purpose of the Ego Defence Mechanisms is to protect the mind/self/ego from anxiety, social sanctions or to provide a refuge from a situation with which one cannot currently cope.1 They are more accurately referred to as ego defence mechanisms, and can thus be categorized as occurring when the id impulses are in conflict with each other, when the id impulses conflict with super-ego values and beliefs, and when an external threat is posed to the ego. The term defence mechanism is often thought to refer to a definitive singular term for personality traits which arise due to loss or traumatic experiences, but more accurately refers to several types of reactions which were identified during and after daughter Anna Freud's time. Contents 1 Structural model: The id, ego, and superego 1.1 Definitions of individual psyche structures 1.2 Primary and secondary processes 1.3 The reality principle 1.4 Formation of the superego 1.5 The ego's use of defence mechanisms 2 Categorization of Defence Mechanisms 2.1 Level 1 Defence Mechanisms 2.2 Level 2 Defence Mechanisms 2.3 Level 3 Defence Mechanisms 2.4 Level 4 Defence Mechanisms 3 Other theories and classifications 4 Notes 5 References 6 External links Structural model: The id, ego, and superego The concept of id impulses comes from Sigmund Freud's structural model. According to this theory, id impulses are based on the pleasure principle: instant gratification of one's own desires and needs. Sigmund Freud believed that the id represents biological instinctual impulses in ourselves, such as aggression Thanatos or the Death instinct and sexuality Eros or the Life instinct. For example, when the id impulses e.g. desire to have sexual relations with a stranger conflict with the superego e.g. belief in societal conventions of not having sex with unknown persons, the feelings of anxiety come to the surface. To reduce these negative feelings, the ego might use defence mechanisms. Freud also believed that conflicts between these two structures resulted in conflicts associated with psychosexual stages. The iceberg metaphor is often used to explain the psyche's parts in relation to one another. The iceberg metaphor is often used to explain the psyche's parts in relation to one another. Definitions of individual psyche structures Freud proposed three structures of the psyche or personality: Id: a selfish, primitive, childish, pleasure-oriented part of the personality with no ability to delay gratification. Superego: internalized societal and parental standards of good and bad and right and wrong behavior. Ego: the moderator between the id and superego which seeks compromises to pacify both. Can be viewed as our Sense of Self. Primary and secondary processes In the ego, there are two ongoing processes. First, there is the unconscious primary process, where the thoughts are not organized in a coherent way, the feelings can shift, contradictions are not in conflict or are just not perceived that way, and condensations arise. There is no logic and no time line. Lust is important for this process. By contrast, there is the conscious secondary process, where strong boundaries are set and thoughts must be organized in a coherent way. Most conscious thoughts originate here. The reality principle Id impulses are not appropriate for civilized society, so society presses us to modify the pleasure principle in favor of the reality principle; that is, the requirements of the external world. Formation of the superego The superego forms as the child grows and learns parental and social standards. The superego consists of two structures: the conscience, which stores information about what is bad and what has been punished and the ego ideal, which stores information about what is good and what one should do or be. Interestingly, the Freudian conscience became cognitive-behavioral therapist Albert Ellis' focus. The ego's use of defence mechanisms When anxiety becomes too overwhelming it is then the place of the ego to employ defence mechanisms to protect the individual. Feelings of guilt, embarrassment and shame often accompany the feeling of anxiety. In the first definitive book on defence mechanisms, Ego and mechanisms of defense 1936, Anna Freud introduced the concept of signal anxiety; she stated that it was not directly a conflicted instinctual tension but a signal occurring in the ego of an anticipated instinctual tension. The signaling function of anxiety is thus seen as a crucial one and biologically adapted to warn the organism of danger or a threat to its equilibrium. The anxiety is felt as an increase in bodily or mental tension and the signal that the organism receives in this way allows it the possibility of taking defensive action towards the perceived danger. Defence mechanisms work by distorting the id impulses into acceptable forms, or by unconscious blockage of these impulses. Categorization of Defence Mechanisms Level 1 Defence Mechanisms The mechanisms on this level, when predominating, almost always are severely pathological. These three defences, in conjunction, permit one to effectively rearrange external reality and eliminate the need to cope with reality. The pathological users of these mechanisms frequently appear crazy or insane to others. These are the psychotic defences, common in overt psychosis. However, they are found in dreams and throughout childhood as healthy mechanisms. They include: Denial: Refusal to accept external reality because it is too threatening; arguing against an anxiety-provoking stimulus by stating it doesn't exist; resolution of emotional conflict and reduction of anxiety by refusing to perceive or consciously acknowledge the more unpleasant aspects of external reality. Distortion: A gross reshaping of external reality to meet internal needs. Delusional Projection: Grossly frank delusions about external reality, usually of a persecutory nature. Level 2 Defence Mechanisms These mechanisms are often present in adults and more commonly present in adolescence. These mechanisms lessen distress and anxiety provoked by threatening people or by uncomfortable reality. People who excessively use such defences are seen as socially undesirable in that they are immature, difficult to deal with and seriously out of touch with reality. These are the so-called immature defences and overuse almost always lead to serious problems in a person's ability to cope effectively. These defences are often seen in severe depression and personality disorders. In adolescence, the occurrence of all of these defences is normal. These include: Fantasy: Tendency to retreat into fantasy in order to resolve inner and outer conflicts Projection: Projection is a primitive form of paranoia. Projection also reduces anxiety by allowing the expression of the undesirable impulses or desires without becoming consciously aware of them; attributing one's own unacknowledged unacceptable/unwanted thoughts and emotions to another; includes severe prejudice, severe jealousy, hypervigilance to external danger, and injustice collecting. It is shifting one's unacceptable thoughts, feelings and impulses within oneself onto someone else, such that those same thoughts, feelings, beliefs and motivations as perceived as being possessed by the other. Hypochondriasis: The transformation of negative feelings towards others into negative feelings toward self, pain, illness and anxiety Passive aggression: Aggression towards others expressed indirectly or passively Acting out: Direct expression of an unconscious wish or impulse without conscious awareness of the emotion that drives that expressive behavior. Idealization: Subconsciously choosing to perceive another individual as having more positive qualities than they may actually have.2 Level 3 Defence Mechanisms These mechanisms are considered neurotic, but fairly common in adults. Such defences have short-term advantages in coping, but can often cause long-term problems in relationships, work and in enjoying life when used as one's primary style of coping with the world. These include: Displacement: Defence mechanism that shifts sexual or aggressive impulses to a more acceptable or less threatening target; redirecting emotion to a safer outlet; separation of emotion from its real object and redirection of the intense emotion toward someone or something that is less offensive or threatening in order to avoid dealing directly with what is frightening or threatening. For example, a mother may yell at her child because she is angry with her husband. Dissociation: Temporary drastic modification of one's personal identity or character to avoid emotional distress; separation or postponement of a feeling that normally would accompany a situation or thought. Isolation: Separation of feelings from ideas and events, for example, describing a murder with graphic details with no emotional response. Intellectualization: A form of isolation; concentrating on the intellectual components of a situation so as to distance oneself from the associated anxiety-provoking emotions; separation of emotion from ideas; thinking about wishes in formal, affectively bland terms and not acting on them; avoiding unacceptable emotions by focusing on the intellectual aspects e.g. rationalizations. Reaction Formation: Converting unconscious wishes or impulses that are perceived to be dangerous into their opposites; behavior that is completely the opposite of what one really wants or feels; taking the opposite belief because the true belief causes anxiety. This defence can work effectively for coping in the short term, but will eventually break down. Repression: Process of pulling thoughts into the unconscious and preventing painful or dangerous thoughts from entering consciousness; seemingly unexplainable naivety, memory lapse or lack of awareness of one's own situation and condition; the emotion is conscious, but the idea behind it is absent. Level 4 Defence Mechanisms These are commonly found among emotionally healthy adults and are considered the most mature, even though many have their origins in the immature level. However, these have been adapted through the years so as to optimize success in life and relationships. The use of these defences enhances user pleasure and feelings of mastery. These defences help the users to integrate conflicting emotions and thoughts while still remaining effective. Persons who use these mechanisms are viewed as having virtues. These include: Altruism: Constructive service to others that brings pleasure and personal satisfaction Anticipation: Realistic planning for future discomfort Humor: Overt expression of ideas and feelings especially those that are unpleasant to focus on or too terrible to talk about that gives pleasure to others. Humor, which explores the absurdity inherent in any event, enables someone to call a spade a spade, while wit is a form of displacement see above under Category 3. Wit refers to the serious or distressing in a humorous way, rather than disarming it; the thoughts remain distressing, but they are 'skirted round' by the witticism. Identification: The unconscious modeling of one's self upon another person's character and behavior Introjection: Identifying with some idea or object so deeply that it becomes a part of that person Sublimation: Transformation of negative emotions or instincts into positive actions, behavior, or emotion Suppression: The conscious process of pushing thoughts into the preconscious; the conscious decision to delay paying attention to an emotion or need in order to cope with the present reality; able to later access uncomfortable or distressing emotions and accept them Other theories and classifications The list of particular defence mechanisms is huge and there is no theoretical consensus on the number of defence mechanisms. It has been attempted to classify defence mechanisms according to some of their properties i.e. underlying mechanisms, similarities or connections with personality. Different theorists have different categorizations and conceptualizations of defence mechanisms. Large reviews of theories of defence mechanisms are available from Paulhus, Fridhandler and Hayes 19973 and Cramer 19914. Also Journal of Personality 19985 has a special issue on defence mechanisms. Otto Kernberg 1967 has developed a theory of borderline personality organization which one consequence may be borderline personality disorder. His theory is based on ego psychological object relations theory. Borderline personality organization develops when the child cannot integrate positive and negative mental objects together. Kernberg views the use of primitive defence mechanisms central to this personality organization. Primitive psychological defences are projection, denial, dissociation or splitting, and they are called borderline defence mechanisms. Also devaluation and projective identification are seen as borderline defences. 6 In George Eman Vaillant's 1977 categorization defences form a continuum regarding to their psychoanalytical developmental level 7. Levels are: Level I - psychotic defences i.e. psychotic denial, delusional projection Level II - immature defences i.e. fantasy, projection, passive aggression, acting out Level III - neurotic defences i.e. intellectualization, reaction formation, dissociation, displacement, repression Level IV - mature defences i.e. humour, sublimation, suppression, altruism, anticipation Robert Plutchik's 1979 theory views defenses as derivatives of basic emotions. Defence mechanisms in his theory are in order of placement in circumplex model: reaction formation, denial, repression, regression, compensation, projection, displacement, intellectualization. 8 Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders DSM-IV published by American Psychiatric Association 1994 includes tentative diagnostic axis for defence mechanisms 9. This classification is largely based on Vaillant's hierarchical view of defences, but has some modifications. Notes ^ defense mechanism -- Britannica Online Encyclopedia. www.britannica.com. Retrieved on 2008-03-11. ^ Vaillant, George Eman 1992. Ego Mechanisms of Defense: A Guide for Clinicians and Researchers. American Psychiatric Publishing, 238. ISBN 0880484047. ^ Paulhus, D.L., Fridhandler B., Hayes S. 1997. Psychological defense: Contemporary theory and research. In R. Hogan, J. Johnson S.R. Briggs Ed., Handbook of personality psychology 543-579. California: Academic Press. ^ Cramer, P. 1991. The Development of Defense Mechanisms: Theory, Research, and Assessment. New York, Springer-Verlag. ^ Special issue on defence mechanisms. Journal of Personality 1998, 666 ^ Kernberg, O. 1967. Borderline Personality Organization. Journal of the American Psychoanalytic Association, 15:641-685 ^ Vaillant, G. E. 1977. Adaptation to life. Boston: Little Brown. ^ Plutchik, R., Kellerman, H., Conte, H. R. 1979. A structural theory of ego defenses and emotions. In C. E. Izard Ed., Emotions in personality and psychopathology pp. 229--257. New York: Plenum Press. ^ American Psychiatric Association. 1994. Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders 4th ed.. Washington, DC: Author. References Fonagy, P. and Target, M. 2003. Psychoanalytic Theories: Perspectives from Developmental Psychopathology. London: Whurr Publishers. Freud, A. 1937. The Ego and the Mechanisms of Defence. London: Hogarth Press and Institute of Psycho-Analysis. The Complete Guide to Social Work. Independent Study for the ASWB exam Vaillant, George 19__ Adaptation to Life ____ Garrett, F. 2002. Addiction and its Mechanisms of Defense Heffner, C.L. 2001. Psychology 101 Niolon, R. 1999. PsychPage: Defenses Stanescu, C. and Morosanu, P. 2005. Neuroticism, Ego Defense Mechanisms and Valoric Types: a Correlative Study Tucker-Ladd, C.E. 1996-2000. Psychological Self-Help Wagner, K., van 2006. Psychology About External links Garrett, F. 2002. Addiction and its Mechanisms of Defense. Schafer, Roy 1968. The Mechanisms of Defence. Int. J. Psycho-Anal., 49:49-62. - access requires online subscription Heffner, C.L. 2001. Psychology 101. Niolon, R. 1999. PsychPage: Defenses. Stanescu, C. and Morosanu, P. 2005. Neuroticism, Ego Defense Mechanisms and Valoric Types: a Correlative Study. Tucker-Ladd, C.E. 1996-2000. Psychological Self-Help. Wagner, K., van 2006. Psychology About. Retrieved from http://en..org/wiki/Defence_mechanism Categories: Psychoanalytic theory | Psychoanalysis | Psychiatry | Defence mechanism Views Article Discussion this page History Personal tools Log in / create account Navigation Main page Contents Featured content Current events Random article Search Go Search Interaction Community portal Recent changes Contact Donate to Help Toolbox What links here Related changes Upload file Special pages Printable version Permanent link Cite this page Languages العربية Dansk Deutsch Español Français Bahasa Indonesia Ã?slenska Italiano עברית Lietuvių Magyar МакедонÑ?ки Nederlands 日本語 Polski Português SlovenÄ?ina СрпÑ?ки / Srpski Suomi Svenska ไทย УкраїнÑ?ька ä¸æ–‡ This page was last modified on 11 September 2008, at 06:04
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