Defence mechanisms
We use defence 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.
Defence 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-defence 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.
Here are a few common defence mechanisms:
Involves a refusal to accept reality, thus blocking external events from awareness.
Employed by the ego to keep disturbing or threatening thoughts from becoming conscious.
The individual attributes unwanted thoughts, feelings and motives onto another person.
Redirection of an impulse onto a powerless substitute target.
The ego reverts to an earlier stage of development usually in response to stressful situations.
When we manage to displace our unacceptable emotions into behaviours which are constructive and socially acceptable, rather than destructive activities.
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.
Reaction formation is a psychological defence mechanism in which a person goes beyond denial and behaves in the opposite way to which he or she thinks or feels.
Identification with the Aggressor
Identification with the aggressor is a defence mechanism proposed by Sandor Ferenczi and later developed by Anna Freud. It involves the victim adopting the behaviour of a person who is more powerful and hostile towards them.