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Explore mental processes that protect individuals from strong emotions or stress: daydreaming, denial, displacement, projection, rationalization, regression, suppression, and compensation. Discover how these mechanisms manifest in everyday scenarios.
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DEFENSE MECHANISMS Mental processes that protect individuals from strong or stressful emotions and situations.
DAY DREAMING • Imagining pleasant things that take your mind off the unpleasant reality. • Day dreaming in detention about what it will be like when you get to go the beach spring break
DENIAL • Refusing to accept reality. • Unconscious lack of recognition of something that is obvious to others. • Telling everyone that you are still going out with your boyfriend even though he broke up with you.
DISPLACEMENT • Shifting feelings about one person or situation to another person or situation. Example: • Yelling at your family when you are angry at your teacher.
PROJECTION • Attributing your own feelings or faults to another person or group. • Seeing your own faults or feelings in someone else. Example: • Accusing your boyfriend of flirting with others because you flirt.
RATIONALIZATION • Making excuses to explain a situation or behavior, rather than taking responsibility for it. • Spending money for new clothes at the start of school because you just can’t attend in last year’s clothes.
REGRESSION • Reacting to emotions in a childlike or immature fashion. • Returning to behaviors characteristic of a younger age, rather than dealing with problems in a mature manner. • Kicking the lockers because you were sent to the principal’s office.
SUPPRESSION • Consciously and intentionally pushing unpleasant feelings out of one’s mind. • Examples: • Feeling sad because your girlfriend likes someone else but you refuse to think about it. • “I can't think about that right now. If I do, I'll go crazy. I'll think about that tomorrow” • Scarlett O‘Hara
COMPENSATION Making up for weaknesses and mistakes through gift giving, hard work, or extreme efforts. Trying to get an A in your other classes because you are doing poorly in Math.