Below, we explore eight defense mechanisms. We also describe mental health conditions that may be associated with the routine use of certain mechanisms.
Defense mechanisms can be positive ways to deal with stress. Other times, they can be unhelpful ways to avoid difficult emotions or excuse unhealthy or antisocial behavior.
Defense mechanisms are a way for the mind to cope with stress or difficult feelings. They are unconscious mechanisms, which means that a person uses them without realizing it.
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A person’s mind may resort to defense mechanisms to deal with stress.
The psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud developed the idea of defense mechanisms as a way to understand human behavior. Freud proposed that people use defense mechanisms unconsciously, as a way to avoid uncomfortable feelings and emotions.
Below are some frequently used defense mechanisms:
1. Denial
This involves a person not recognizing the reality of a stressful situation in order to protect themselves from overwhelming fear or anxiety.
Denial can be helpful in situations that are beyond a person’s control. For example, staying optimistic can benefit a person as they try to overcome a serious illness.
On the other hand, denial can stop a person from dealing with situations that require their attention. For example, it may be easier to ignore the negative effects of excessive drinking than it is to cut down on alcohol.
2. Distortion
Distortion involves a person believing something to be true when it is not.
In some cases, distortion can protect a person from the uncomfortable reality of a situation. For example, a person may believe that they failed a test because of difficult questions, not because they did not prepare fully.
In other cases, distortion can convince a person that a situation is worse than it actually is. For example, a person may only see the negative in a situation and ignore the positive.
Distorted thinking is a common feature of anxiety and depression. It is also common among people with the following disorders:
People with the above conditions often have a distorted perception of their own body image.
3. Projection
Projection involves a person accusing someone else of having thoughts or feelings that they themselves are having. It can be a way of avoiding unwanted thoughts or avoiding responsibility for a particular behavior.
For example, a person who realizes that they are being aggressive during an argument may accuse the other person of aggression. This deflects criticism away from themselves and onto the other person.
Projection can be harmful, as it may stop someone from accepting and taking responsibility for their own thoughts or behaviors.
4. Dissociation
Dissociation involves feeling disconnected from a stressful or traumatic event — or feeling that the event is not really happening. It is a way to block out mental trauma and protect the mind from experiencing too much stress.
Sometimes, dissociation leaves a person unable to remember traumatic events in their past.
A person who dissociates, often in childhood or adolescence, may go on to develop a dissociative disorder. This is a particularly unhealthy form of dissociation, in which a person dissociates involuntarily and routinely.
5. Repression
Repression involves avoiding thinking about something to block out painful or uncomfortable feelings, emotions, and impulses. Repression is an unconscious process — a person is unaware that they are doing it.
A person may unconsciously repress a painful or difficult memory, but the memory remains. One aim of psychotherapy is to encourage a person to express repressed thoughts in order to deal with them in a more helpful way.
Repression could help explain the root of certain phobias. For example, some unexplained phobias may stem from traumatic childhood experiences that the person has since repressed.
Suppression is similar to repression, but suppression is a conscious process, it involves deliberately avoiding certain thoughts or memories and actively trying to forget them.
6. Reaction formation
Reaction formation involves acting in a way that contradicts unacceptable or anxiety-provoking thoughts or feelings as they arise. It is a way of protecting the mind from uncomfortable thoughts or desires.
For example, a person may experience normal feelings of sadness or disappointment after a relationship breaks down. If they feel that these emotions are unacceptable, they may publicly act as if they are happy or unconcerned.
Reaction formation can be a pattern of ongoing behavior. For example, a person who feels that expressing anger or frustration toward a parent is unacceptable may never react negatively to anything that their parent says or does, even when this would be a normal response.
7. Displacement
Displacement involves a person feeling that they cannot express a negative emotion toward a particular person, so they direct those negative emotions toward someone else.
For example, a person who feels that their boss has been unfair may also fear being fired if they complain or express anger — and as a result, they may later shout at a family member.
Displacement can have negative consequences for an individual and the people around them.
8. Intellectualization
Intellectualization involves a person using reason and logic to avoid uncomfortable or anxiety-provoking emotions.
Intellectualization can be a useful way of explaining and understanding negative events. For example, if person A is rude to person B, person B may think about the possible reasons for person A’s behavior. They may rationalize that person A was having a stressful day.
However, intellectualization can cause people to downplay the importance of their own feelings and focus instead on treating all difficult situations as problems that need to be solved. This can stop a person from learning how to deal with their own difficult emotions.
Defense mechanisms refer to psychological strategies or behaviors that people may use to cope with difficult feelings, thoughts, or events.
According to these theories, defense mechanisms are a natural part of psychological development. Identifying which type you, your loved ones, and even your co-workers use may help you in future conversations and encounters.
First proposed by Sigmund Freud, this theory has evolved over time and contends that behaviors, like defense mechanisms, are not under a person’s conscious control. In fact, most people do them without realizing it.
The idea of defense mechanisms comes from psychoanalytic theory, a psychological perspective of personality that sees personality as the interaction between three components: id, ego, and super-ego. These psychological strategies may help people put distance between themselves and threats or unwanted feelings, such as guilt or shame.
Defense mechanisms are behaviors that people use to separate themselves from unpleasant events, actions, or thoughts.
Some signs that defense mechanisms are getting in the way of your everyday life and mental health may include:
Other defense mechanisms, however, are not as mature and helpful. Prolonged use of these defenses can lead to lingering problems. In fact, they may prevent you from ever facing emotional issues or anxieties because they block you from seeing the root cause.
In the long term, mature defense mechanisms may not be particularly detrimental to your emotional or mental health. Using more mature mechanisms may help you face the anxieties and situations that might normally cause stress and emotional duress.
Many researchers place defense mechanisms on a continuum, with more mature defenses improving cognitive processes and less mature ones causing harm.
Usually, you are unaware of the defense mechanism, though the behavior may appear odd to others around you.
Defense mechanisms are ways you react to situations that bring up negative emotions. According to psychoanalytic theory , when you experience a stressor, the subconscious will first monitor the situation to see if it might harm you. If the subconscious believes the situation might lead to emotional harm, it may react with a defense mechanism to protect you.
Dozens of different defense mechanisms have been identified. Some are used more commonly than others. Here are a few common defense mechanisms:
1. Denial
Denial is one of the most common defense mechanisms. It occurs when you refuse to accept reality or facts. People in denial may block external events or circumstances from the mind so that they don’t have to deal with the emotional impact. In other words, they avoid painful feelings or events.
This defense mechanism is one of the most widely known, too. The phrase, “They’re in denial,” is commonly understood to mean a person is avoiding reality despite what may be obvious to people around them.
2. Repression
Unsavory thoughts, painful memories, or irrational beliefs can upset you. Instead of facing those thoughts, people may unconsciously choose to hide them in hopes of forgetting them entirely.
That does not mean, however, that the memories disappear entirely. They may influence behaviors, and they may impact future relationships. You just may not realize the impact this defense mechanism is having.
3. Projection
Some thoughts or feelings you have about another person may make you uncomfortable. When people project those feelings, they misattribute them to the other person.
For example, you may dislike your new co-worker, but instead of accepting that, you choose to tell yourself that they dislike you. You start to interpret their words and actions toward you in the worst way possible, even though they don’t actually dislike you.
4. Displacement
You direct strong emotions and frustrations toward a person or object that doesn’t feel threatening. This allows you to satisfy an impulse to react, but you don’t risk significant consequences.
A good example of this defense mechanism is getting angry at your child or spouse because you had a bad day at work. Neither of these people is the target of your strong emotions, but your subconscious may believe reacting to them is likely less problematic than reacting to your boss.
5. Regression
Some people who feel threatened or anxious may unconsciously “escape” to an earlier stage of development.
This type of defense mechanism may be most obvious in young children. If they experience trauma or loss, they may suddenly act as if they’re younger again. They may even begin wetting the bed or sucking their thumb as a form of regression.
Adults can regress, too. Adults who are struggling to cope with events or behaviors may return to sleeping with a cherished stuffed animal, overeat foods they find comforting, or begin chain-smoking or chewing on pencils or pens. They may also avoid everyday activities because they feel overwhelmed.
6. Rationalization
Some people may attempt to explain undesirable behaviors with their own set of “facts.” This allows you to feel comfortable with the choice you made, even if you know on another level it’s not right.
For example, someone who didn’t get a promotion at work might say they didn’t want the promotion anyways.
7. Sublimation
This type of defense mechanism is considered a mature, positive strategy. That’s because people who rely on it choose to redirect strong emotions or feelings into an object or activity that is appropriate and safe.
For example, instead of lashing out at your coworkers during a stressful shift, you choose to channel your frustration into a kickboxing class. You could also funnel or redirect the feelings into music, art, or sports.
8. Reaction formation
People who use this defense mechanism recognize how they feel, but they choose to behave in the opposite manner of their instincts.
A person who reacts this way, for example, may feel they should not express negative emotions, such as anger or frustration. They choose to instead react in an overly positive way.
9. Compartmentalization
Separating your life into independent sectors may feel like a way to protect many elements of it.
For example, when you choose to not discuss personal life issues at work, you block off, or compartmentalize, that element of your life. This allows you to carry on without facing the anxieties or challenges while you’re in that setting or mindset.
10. Intellectualization
When you’re hit with a trying situation, you may choose to remove all emotion from your responses and instead focus on quantitative facts.
You may see this strategy in use when a person spends their days creating spreadsheets of job opportunities and leads after they are let go from a job.
