Back حيلة دفاعية Arabic Защитни механизми Bulgarian Mecanisme de defensa Catalan Ego-obranný mechanismus Czech Forsvarsmekanisme Danish Abwehrmechanismus German Αμυντικός μηχανισμός Greek Mecanismo de defensa Spanish Kaitsemehhanismid Estonian سازوکار دفاعی Persian

Defence mechanism

For the biological concept, see Biological defense.

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In psychoanalytic theory, a defence mechanism is an unconscious psychological operation that functions to protect a person from anxiety-producing thoughts and feelings related to internal conflicts and outer stressors.[1][2][3]

According to this theory, healthy people normally use different defence mechanisms throughout life. A defence mechanism can potentially become pathological when its persistent use leads to maladaptive behaviour such that the physical or mental health of the individual is adversely affected. Among the purposes of ego defence mechanisms is to protect the mind/self/ego from anxiety or social sanctions or to provide a refuge from a situation with which one cannot currently cope.[4]

Examples of defence mechanisms include: repression, the exclusion of unacceptable desires and ideas from consciousness; identification, the incorporation of some aspects of an object into oneself;[5] rationalization, the justification of one's behaviour by using apparently logical reasons that are acceptable to the ego, thereby further suppressing awareness of the unconscious motivations;[6] and sublimation, the process of channeling libido into "socially useful" disciplines, such as artistic, cultural, and intellectual pursuits, which indirectly provide gratification for the original drives.[7]

Some psychologists follow a system that ranks defence mechanisms into seven levels, ranging from a high-adaptive defence level to a psychotic defence level. Assessments carried out when analyzing patients such as the Defence Mechanism Rating Scale (DMRS) and Vaillant's hierarchy of defense mechanisms have been used and modified for over 40 years to provide numerical data on the state of a person's defensive functioning.[8]

  1. ^ Mariagrazia DG, John CP, Ciro C, Omar CG, Alessandro G (December 2020). "Defense Mechanisms, Gender, and Adaptiveness in Emerging Personality Disorders in Adolescent Outpatients". The Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease. 12 (208): 933–941. doi:10.1097/NMD.0000000000001230. PMID 32947450. S2CID 221797283.
  2. ^ American Psychiatric Association (1994). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (4th ed.). Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Press
  3. ^ Schacter, Daniel L. (2011). Psychology (2 ed.). New York: Worth Publishers. pp. 482–483]. ISBN 978-1-4292-3719-2.
  4. ^ "defence mechanisms -- Britannica Online Encyclopedia". www.britannica.com. Retrieved 2008-03-11.
  5. ^ Chalquist, Craig. "A Glossary of Freudian Terms" Archived 2018-12-28 at the Wayback Machine 2001. Retrieved on 05 October 2013.
  6. ^ "Rationalization". American Psychological Association.
  7. ^ "Sublimation". American Psychological Association.
  8. ^ Perry, J. Christopher; Henry, Melissa (2004), "Studying Defense Mechanisms in Psychotherapy using the Defense Mechanism Rating Scales", Defense Mechanisms - Theoretical, Research and Clinical Perspectives, Advances in Psychology, vol. 136, Elsevier, pp. 165–192, doi:10.1016/s0166-4115(04)80034-7, ISBN 978-0-444-51263-5, retrieved 2024-05-02

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