Defense Mechanisms

repression

most basic defense mechanism

repression

Whenever the ego is threatened by undesirable id impulses, it protects itself by repressing those impulses

repression

forces threatening feelings into the unconscious

repressed drives

drives that may be disguised as physical symptoms and may find an outlet in dreams, slips of the tongue, or one of the other defense mechanisms

reaction formation

repressed impulse may become conscious is through adopting a disguise that is directly opposite its original form

reaction formation

identified by its exaggerated character and by its obsessive and compulsive form

reaction formation

deceives oneself and clings to this formation that helps conceals the anxiety-arousing truth

reaction formation

freud believed that its limited to a single object

displacement

redirect their unacceptable urges onto a variety of people or objects so that the original impulse is disguised or concealed

displacement

sexual object can be transformed onto a variety of other objects, including one's self

displacement

used to refer to the replacement of one neurotic symptom for another

displacement

involved in dream formation

fixation

strategy of remaining at the present, more comfortable psychological stage

fixation

permanent attachment of the libido onto an earlier, more primitive stage of development

oral & anal fixation

fixation < (2&)

oral fixation

FIXATION:

People who continually derive pleasure from eating, smoking, or talking

anal fixation

FIXATION:

those who are obsessed with neatness and orderliness

regression

Once the libido has passed a developmental stage, it may, during times of stress and anxiety, revert back to that earlier stage

regression

reversion

regression

quite common and are readily visible in children

regression

adults revert to earlier, safer, more secure patterns of behavior

regression

adults invest their libido onto more primitive and familiar objects

regression

rigid & infantile but temporary

projection

When an internal impulse provokes too much anxiety

projection

ego may reduce that anxiety by attributing the unwanted impulse to an external object

projection

defined as seeing in others unacceptable feelings or tendencies that actually reside in one's own unconscious

paranoia

extreme type of projection

paranoia

mental disorder characterized by powerful delusions of jealousy and persecution

paranoia

not an inevitable outcome of projection but simply a severe variety of it

paranoia

mental disorder always characterized by repressed homosexual feelings toward the persecutor

introjection

people incorporate positive qualities of another person into their own ego

introjection

adopt the mannerisms, values, or lifestyle of someone else

introjection

gives an inflated sense of self-worth

introjection

keeps feelings of inferiority to a minimum

sublimation

the repression of the genital aim of Eros by substituting a cultural or social aim

sublimation

aim is expressed most obviously in creative cultural accomplishments