Sigmund Freud began studying human defense mechanisms in the late 1800s. His work became a solid foundation for the continued study into this topic for the last century, especially in regards to the work of his daughter, Anna Freud. Anna Freud believed that identifying a patient’s way of defending himself against his undesirable instincts would help psychotherapist discover the root of “unwelcome affects” (A. Freud, 1936, p. 32 via Sollod, Wilson and Monte, 2009, p. 199). Although there are a multitude of defense mechanisms to consider in psychoanalytic psychology, the five chosen for discussion include repression, denial, projection, displacement, and sublimation. The Harm in Use of Defense Mechanisms Indiscriminately The use of any one or combination of defense mechanisms can be extraordinarily harmful when used indiscriminately. A multitude of studies have been done to discover different results of immature defense mechanisms and have begun to identify ties with various clinical and pathological dysfunctions. A study done in Scotland determined that an individual with a reported use of immature defense mechanisms is associated with a greater risk of deliberate self harm (Brody and Carson, 2012, p. 766). Immature defense mechanisms have also been found to be linked with comorbid depressive symptoms, poorer physical health, severity of dependency in substance dependents, dissociative experiences and alexithymia (Evren et al., 2012). Repression Repression is one of the most common defense mechanisms found in human behavior, which has resulted in a large magnitude of studies done on how to treat patients in psychotherapy dealing with its harmful effects. Repression takes place in the unconscious superego functioning and can be ex... ... middle of paper ... ... of Anna Freud. New York: International Universities Press, 1966. Lannin, Daniel G.; Bittner, Karen E.; Lorenz, Frederick O. (2013) Longitudinal effect of defensive denial on relationship instability. Journal of Family Psychology, Vol 27(6), Dec 2013, 968-977 Mohiyeddini, C., Bauer, S., & Semple, S. (2013). Public self-consciousness moderates the link between displacement behaviour and experience of stress in women. Stress: The International Journal On The Biology Of Stress, 16(4), 384-392. Scholes, B. B., & Martin, C. R. (2010). Could repressive coping be a mediating factor in the symptom profile of individuals diagnosed with schizophrenia?. Journal Of Psychiatric And Mental Health Nursing, 17(5), 403-410. Sollod, R. N., Wilson, J. P., & Monte, C. F. (2009). Beneath the Mask: An Introduction to Theories of Personality (8th ed.). Danvers, MA: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
The Coping domain examines the extent to which individuals cope during stressful situations. Ms. M’s results indicated that she has a high tolerance for stressful situations. However, she is experiencing more stress than she can adequately tolerate, which caused her to experience some distress. Specifically, her need stated are not being adequately met and she is preoccupied on her perceived negative features. Her negative self-inspecting behaviors, then, have caused her to feel discomfort that manifests as shame and/or guilt.
Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy was developed by Sigmund Freud during the Victorian Era in Vienna, Austria. Sigmund Freud’s psychological works set the base for the profession of psychology as well as the practice of modern psychotherapy. Freud believed human behavior was motivated by “intrapsychic conflict” stemming from the three areas of the subconscious: id, ego, and superego (Murdock, 2009).
Schultz, D. P., & Schultz, S. E. (2013). Theories of personality (10th ed.). Belmont, CA: Cengage/Wadsworth.
These three defense mechanisms allow the child to at least form an attachment bond with the caregivers, even if it is an unhealthy one. Denial is the refusal to accept the reality of things. Regression is when a child reverts to early stages of life such as thumb sucking. Dissociation is the separation of traumatizing events from memory. The use of these defense mechanisms short-term may serve as a protective barrier for the psyche and decrease the damaging effects of trauma. But long-term use will consequently lead to internal confusion and conflict (Hosier 1). Many children learn to use multiple defense mechanisms interchangeably to cope with complex trauma throughout their childhood.
Feist, J., Feist, G. J., & Roberts, T. A. (2009). Theories of personality. New York:
Lazarus, R. S. (1966). Stress as a Psychological Problem. Psychological stress and the coping process (p. 3). New York: McGraw-Hill.
Sigmund Freud’s theories on the construction of the mind are simple, but fundamentally changed the field of psychology. He proposed, among other things, that the human mind is composed of three parts: the conscious, preconscious, and unconscious. The preconscious consists of information, such as a telephone number, that is “accessible to consciousness without emotional resistance” (Schellenberg 21). In Freud’s estimation, the unconscious is the most important area of the mind. The information stored within it has “very strong resistances” to becoming conscious (Freud 32). Residing in the unconscious is the id, which “contains everything…that is present at birth… – above all, therefore, the instincts which originate from somatic organization” (14). From birth, all action is instinctual, from the id. The id recognizes and entertains no desires but its own and is impatient to have its needs met. This phase lasts until a part of the id changes “under the influence of the real external world” (14). This changed portion b...
Feist, J., & Feist, G. J. (2009). Theories of Personality (7th ed.). New York, New York: McGraw-Hill.
Defense mechanism are a critical part of ego psychology. Used as a way to make reality a little less frightening, defense mechanism can be moderately adaptive, or damaging (Day, 2008). In order to...
Schultz, D. P., & Schultz, S. E. (2013). Theories of personality (10th ed.). Belmont, CA: Cengage/Wadsworth.
Freud believed that human nature is basically deterministic, and largely dependent on the unconscious mind. Irrational forces and unconscious motivations drive the human mind to a unique conduct and performance. Freud believed the choices we make are determined by biological and instinctual drives. The purposes of instincts are for survival and aggression. In the field of psychiatry, Freud founded his type of psychoanalytic therapy on curing mental illnesses. The basis for Freud’s work on treating mental patients was on an illness called hysteria. One popular case that Freud began the majority of his work on was the Anna O. case. She suffered many symptoms from repressed ideas that were outwardly from no physical cause. Repression is a way of excluding unconscious desires, wishes, or unpleasant memories into the conscious mind by holding them in the unconscious mind. “According to Freud, repressed ideas often retained their power and were later expressed without the patient's awareness of them. Through ps...
Magnavita, J. J. (2002). Theories of personality: Contemporary approaches to the science of personality. New York: Wiley.
Hergehhahn, B. R. and Olson, M. H. (1999). An Introduction to Theories of Personality. New Jersey: Prentice Hall.
Schultz, D.P. & Schultz, S.E. (2009). Theories of Personality, Ninth Edition. US: Wadsworth Cengage Learning.
In terms of the unconscious and conscious, Freud situates these conceptions in a topographic model of the mind. He divided it into two systems called the unconscious and the preconscious. Their knowledge in the unconscious system is repressed and unavailable to consciousness without overcoming resistances (e.g., defense mechanisms). Thereby, the repression does not allow unconscious knowledge to be completely aware; rather, it is construed by means of concealing and compromise, but only interpretable through its derivatives dream and parapraxes that overcome resistance by means of disguise and compromise. Within the preconscious system, the contents could be accessible, although only a small portion at any given moment. Unconscious thought is characterized by primary process thinking that lacks negation or logical connections and favors the over-inclusions and 'just-as' relationships evident in condensed dream images and displacements. Freud asserted that primary process of thinking was phylogenetically, and continues to be ontogenetically, prior to secondary process or logical thought, acquired later in childhood and familiar to us in our waking life (1900, 1915a).