How the Mind Quietly Defends Itself

 

What are psychological defence mechanisms?

Psychological defence mechanisms are an important concept in psychoanalysis. Freud held that the unconscious id and superego pursue different things: the id follows the pleasure principle, seeking primal needs such as food, comfort and sex, while the superego pursues morality and social values. Conflict between the id and the superego gives rise to anxiety that the conscious mind finds hard to bear, and the unconscious self, in order to resolve that anxiety, calls on a defence mechanism. Defence mechanisms are part of human instinct; this article introduces five of the most common ones.

 

Repression

 

When unpleasant thoughts, unbearable events or painful memories surface, a person may not want to face them, or may be unable to. At such moments we may unconsciously choose to bury these thoughts, events and memories, keeping them out of our awareness and so trying to forget them. Someone who has been through a major tragedy, for instance, may find they "can't remember" the painful memories.

 

These memories may not disappear entirely, however. They can shape your thoughts and behaviour without your realising it, and in turn alter how you act and how you relate to others.

 

Regression

 

Have you ever, faced with something unpleasant, not wanted to be a grown-up and simply wished you could be a child again? That is regression: when we feel under great pressure, anxious or threatened, instead of coping in a mature way we retreat to an earlier, less difficult and more secure stage of life in order to protect ourselves.

 

Children and adults alike may behave this way. A child might unconsciously bite their fingers, while an adult might binge-drink or binge-eat to cope with such anxiety and stress.

 

Projection

 

Projection means refusing to face certain inappropriate thoughts, motives, desires or feelings of one's own, subjectively pushing them onto other people, and seeing those others as the ones who actually hold these thoughts and feelings. Sometimes, when we are angry, we may unconsciously be unwilling to acknowledge our own rage, and so project that anger onto others, accusing them of losing their temper with us.

 

Reaction Formation

 

Reaction formation refers to consciously acting in ways that run completely counter to one's unconscious leanings, releasing those feelings in the opposite direction; this behaviour may even tip into overcorrection, with an exaggerated quality to it.

 

Reaction formation can occur with feelings of both fondness and dislike: some people may want to repress their love for someone they like and so treat them coldly, while others may want to repress their loathing for someone they detest and so treat them with exceptional kindness.

 

Sublimation

 

Sublimation refers to channelling feelings such as anxiety and stress, or thoughts and desires that society finds hard to accept, into behaviour that is socially acceptable and even productive, thereby satisfying oneself through it. Some people might release their desires through forms such as dance, painting or literature, or work off their anger through combat sports. Because it tends to do relatively little harm to oneself and others, and may even benefit both the individual and society, it is regarded as a positive strategy.

 

After learning about defence mechanisms

 

It is worth knowing that defence mechanisms are simply psychological processes within the unconscious; we cannot observe them, still less change them by an act of will. So what can we, as ordinary people, do once we have learned about them? I believe that knowing about defence mechanisms allows us, when we reflect, to understand ourselves from another angle, and to a certain extent better understand our own minds. One thing to bear in mind, though, is that our reading of ourselves is by no means accurate or error-free — after all, none of us is a professional psychoanalyst. Defence mechanisms laid much of the groundwork for the development of psychology, and grasping the concept can still leave us better equipped when we come to understand ourselves or others, or even when we go on to study other psychological theories.