Self Defense Mechanism to Face Uncertainty
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"Nothing is as important as passion. No matter what you want to do with your life, be passionate"
jon bon jovi
We are all agree that humankind is unique. Every single person in this world has unique style if they face the uncertainty situations.
Some of my students send me personal messages said, "Ma'am.. It's really difficult times nowdays, since the virus Covid-19 spreads all over the world, and we should stay at home and study from home. We want to meet our friends in person."
Well, I understand, this situations are not easy to been through, not only for the students but also for the teacher as well.
"What do you do in this situations, if you feel get bored?", I asked them back. They said, they do their hobbies, such as cooking, reading, gardening, etc. But some of them said, they don't know what to do, seems like all the creativities are stuck on the wall. Feel anxiety and want to destroy something, such as cups or just hit the door, and scream aloud.
For many of us, any situation that brings uncertainty triggers an unconscious protective measure that allows us to cope with unpleasant emotions. Sometimes tapping into defense mechanisms can be useful; it helps us avoid dwelling or doing something with potentially damaging ramifications. We keep ourselves in a better state – at least in the short term.
Yet in the long run, the effect of these defense mechanisms is actually the opposite. Due to defense mechanisms psychology, when we routinely employ our defenses, it can actually reduce the effectiveness of our emotional processing. We begin to feel as if we are not in charge of our own emotions, which prevents us from working through issues.
Self Defense Mechanism
Sigmund Freud (1894, 1896) noted a number of ego defenses which he refers to throughout his written works. His daughter Anna (1936) developed these ideas and elaborated on them, adding ten of her own. Many psychoanalysts have also added further types of ego defenses.
We use defense mechanisms to protect ourselves from feelings of anxiety or guilt, which arise because we feel threatened, or because our id or superego becomes too demanding.
Defense mechanisms operate at an unconscious level and help ward off unpleasant feelings (i.e., anxiety) or make good things feel better for the individual.
Ego-defense mechanisms are natural and normal. When they get out of proportion (i.e., used with frequency), neuroses develop, such as anxiety states, phobias, obsessions, or hysteria.
Examples of Self Defense Mechanism
* REPRESSION
Repression is an unconscious defense mechanism employed by the ego to keep disturbing or threatening thoughts from becoming conscious.
Thoughts that are often repressed are those that would result in feelings of guilt from the superego.
This is not a very successful defense in the long term since it involves forcing disturbing wishes, ideas or memories into the unconscious, where, although hidden, they will create anxiety.
Repressed memories may appear through subconscious means and in altered forms, such as dreams or slips of the tongue ('Freudian slips').
Examples :
- A soldier back from the Middle East represses a memory of killing a civilian. He has recurrent nightmares about the incident, but doesn’t consciously remember it.
- A young child forgets being bitten by a dog but develops a phobia of dogs as he gets older.
- An adult represses memories of an abusive childhood in order to maintain the illusion of a healthy, functional family. The family unit remains intact, but the individual suffers from depression without understanding why.
*PROJECTION
Projection is a psychological defense mechanism proposed by Anna Freud in which an individual attributes unwanted thoughts, feelings and motives onto another person.
Examples:
- You really dislike your manager at work who treats you just like they treat everyone else. Instead of admitting your dislike, you tell everyone the manager has a grudge against you and is trying to sabotage your career.
- A woman is in a bad mood all day and comes home to her husband. After greeting her warmly and asking about her day, she instantly accuses him of being in a bad mood and ruining her evening.
- A father has body image issues but refuses to make lifestyle changes that would help him lose weight. Instead, he berates his daughter for her weight, projecting his lack of self-confidence onto her.
*DISPLACEMENT
Displacement is the redirection of an impulse (usually aggression) onto a powerless substitute target. The target can be a person or an object that can serve as a symbolic substitute.
Displacement occurs when the Id wants to do something of which the Super ego does not permit. The Ego thus finds some other way of releasing the psychic energy of the Id. Thus there is a transfer of energy from a repressed object-cathexis to a more acceptable object.
Examples:
- A woman who is frustrated because her boss made her work late again comes home and yells at her son for asking what’s for dinner.
- A man who is mad that he can’t seem to get ahead at work constantly criticizes his wife for not making more money.
- An employer who is frustrated with his business’ losses blames his employees instead of rethinking his business strategy.
*SUBLIMATION
Sublimation is similar to displacement, but takes place when we manage to displace our unacceptable emotions into behaviors which are constructive and socially acceptable, rather than destructive activities.
Sublimation is one of Anna Freud's original defense mechanisms.
Examples:
- A man has issues controlling his temper so he joins a rugby league so he can take out his aggression in a socially acceptable manner.
- A woman is frustrated that her daughter has once again neglected to call on her birthday and instead of calling her to voice her upset, she spends three hours scrubbing floors and windows.
- Instead of working to improve his overall health and fitness, a man lacking self-confidence pours all his energy into his career.
*DENIAL
Denial is a defense mechanism proposed by Anna Freud which involves a refusal to accept reality, thus blocking external events from awareness.
If a situation is just too much to handle, the person may respond by refusing to perceive it or by denying that it exist.
As you might imagine, this is a primitive and dangerous defense - no one disregards reality and gets away with it for long! It can operate by itself or, more commonly, in combination with other, more subtle mechanisms that support it.
Examples:
- A smoker denies that his habit has negative health consequences so he can continue smoking.
- A parent denies that her son has dropped out of college even though the school administrator has left her three voicemails telling her so.
- A business owner denies that her business is failing despite declining profits.
*REGRESSION
Regression is a defense mechanism proposed by Anna Freud whereby the the ego reverts to an earlier stage of development usually in response to stressful situations.
Regression functions as form of retreat, enabling a person to psychologically go back in time to a period when the person felt safer.
Examples:
- A ten-year-old is in the hospital to get his tonsils removed and begins sucking his thumb like he did when he was a toddler.
- A woman gets in an argument with someone at work and starts sobbing uncontrollably.
- Instead of utilizing mature parenting techniques like empathy and boundaries, a father resorts to temper tantrums to scare his children into obedience.
*RATIONALIZATION
Rationalization is a defense mechanism proposed by Anna Freud involving a cognitive distortion of "the facts" to make an event or an impulse less threatening. We do it often enough on a fairly conscious level when we provide ourselves with excuses.
But for many people, with sensitive egos, making excuses comes so easy that they never are truly aware of it. In other words, many of us are quite prepared to believe our lies.
Examples:
- A man forgets to take out the garbage even though his wife has reminded him four times. Instead of apologizing, he rationalizes that she hasn’t loaded the dishwasher so it’s only fair that he not take out the garbage.
- A woman stands up her friend for lunch and tells herself it’s okay because her friend is always late for their morning yoga sessions.
- A student rationalizes cheating on a test by saying the test was too demanding anyway.
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