Glossary / Lexicon

Deutsch: Abwehr / Español: Defensa / Português: Defesa / Français: Défense / Italiano: Difesa

Defense includes mechanisms strategies the ego uses to disguise or transform unconscious wishes.

Defense in the psychology context refers to defense mechanisms, a concept originally proposed by Sigmund Freud and further elaborated by his daughter Anna Freud, among others. Defense mechanisms are unconscious psychological strategies used by individuals to protect themselves from anxiety and the perception of internal or external stresses or threats.

Description

Defense mechanisms operate at an unconscious level and help individuals reduce or avoid anxiety, cognitive dissonance, or uncomfortable thoughts and feelings by distorting reality in various ways. These mechanisms are not inherently negative; they can help individuals cope with transient stressors and can be adaptive in certain situations. However, when overused or misapplied, they can lead to unhealthy patterns of behavior and emotional functioning.

Application Areas

Defense mechanisms are studied in various areas of psychology:

• Clinical Psychology: Understanding and addressing defense mechanisms is crucial in psychotherapy, especially in treating anxiety disorders, depression, and personality disorders.
• Developmental Psychology: Examines how defense mechanisms evolve with age and cognitive development.
• Social Psychology: Studies how defense mechanisms influence social interactions and relationships.

Well-Known Examples

Commonly recognized defense mechanisms include:

• Denial: Refusing to accept reality or fact, acting as if a painful event, thought, or feeling did not exist.
• Repression: Unconsciously blocking unpleasant feelings, desires, and experiences from conscious awareness.
• Projection: Attributing one’s own unacceptable or threatening feelings, motivations, or desires to others.
• Rationalization: Creating plausible but false excuses to justify unacceptable behavior or feelings.
• Displacement: Redirecting emotions or responses from their original source to a safer substitute target.
• Sublimation: Channeling unacceptable impulses into socially acceptable or constructive activities.

Treatment and Risks

Recognizing and modifying maladaptive defense mechanisms can be a significant part of psychotherapy, helping individuals to face reality more directly and reduce their psychological distress in healthier ways. Over-reliance on immature or maladaptive defenses (like denial and projection) can lead to issues in personal growth, relationships, and overall mental health.

Similar Terms

Related concepts include:

• Coping Strategies: Unlike unconscious defense mechanisms, coping strategies are typically more conscious efforts to manage stress.
• Adaptive Behaviors: Actions or behaviors that allow individuals to meet their needs and adapt to their environment effectively, which can sometimes overlap with more mature defense mechanisms.

Weblinks

• space-glossary.com: 'Defense' in the space-glossary.com
• quality-database.eu: 'Defense' in the glossary of the quality-database.eu

Articles with 'Defense' in the title

• Defense mechanism: Defense mechanism: defense mechanism refers to the common pattern of behavior, often an adaptive coping style when it occurs in moderation, observed in response to a particular situation
• Ego defense mechanisms: Ego defense mechanisms refer to the strategies available to the ego for distorting the anxiety-provoking aspects of reality, thus making them more tolerable
• Insanity defense: Insanity defense: Insanity defense refers to the argument, presented by a lawyer acting on behalf of the client, that, because of the existence of a mental disorder, the client should not be held legally responsible for criminal actions
• Cultural defense: Cultural defense refers to a defense to a criminal charge in which the defendant's culture is taken into account in judging his or her culpability.
• Nonimmunologic defenses: Nonimmunologic defenses are body defenses and barriers which do not rely on the cells of the immune system. Examples include the skin, mucus, and the process of coughing
• Perceptual defense: Perceptual defense is defined as the unwillingness to report perceiving unpleasant material, in contrast to an inability to perceive such material

Summary

In psychology, defense refers to defense mechanisms, which are unconscious strategies used by individuals to protect themselves from psychological distress. These mechanisms, while protective, can distort reality and potentially lead to dysfunctional behaviors if not managed properly. Understanding and addressing these mechanisms is crucial for effective psychological therapy and personal development.

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