Psychological protection: mechanisms and strategies. Personal psychological defense mechanisms

12.10.2019

ESSAY

In situations where the intensity of the need increases, and the conditions for its satisfaction are absent, behavior is regulated using psychological defense mechanisms.

Defense mechanism (psychological defense) - unconscious mental process aimed at minimizing negative experiences. Defense mechanisms underlie resistance processes.

The term was first introduced by Freud in 1894 in Defensive Neuropsychoses and was used in a number of his subsequent works to describe the struggle I AMagainst painful or unbearable thoughts and affects. Initially, Sigmund Freud meant repression as a defense mechanism in the first place.

At the moment, the concept of a psychological defense mechanism, in one form or another, has entered the practice of most psychotherapists, regardless of the direction of psychology they adhere to.

The main characteristics of protective mechanisms:

1.Denial or distortion of reality

2.Action at the unconscious level.

There is no generally accepted classification of the protective mechanisms of the psyche. This, apparently, is due to the fact that the minimization of negative experiences is generally a natural need of any living organism, and with some assumption, any mental process can be recognized as aimed at achieving this goal. The need to identify individual defense mechanisms is associated with the practical need of psychologists to identify and describe most universalfrom unconscious defensive processes.

TO psychological defense mechanisms, usually refer negation, repression, projection, identification, rationalization, substitution, alienation and some others. Let us dwell on the characteristics of each of these mechanisms.

Negationcomes down to the fact that the information that disturbs is not perceived. This method of protection is characterized by a noticeable distortion of the perception of reality. It is a mechanism for rejecting thoughts, feelings, desires, needs, or reality that are unacceptable on a conscious level. Behavior is as if the problem does not exist. The primitive mechanism of denial is more characteristic of children (if you hide your head under a blanket, then reality will cease to exist). Adults often use denial in cases of crisis situations (terminal illness, approaching death, loss of loved one etc.). Negation is formed in childhood and often does not allow people to adequately assess what is happening around, which leads to difficulties in behavior. For example, in a mass sociological study, adults were asked whether they were convinced by press reports that smoking causes lung cancer. A positive answer was given by 54% of non-smokers and only 28% of smokers. The majority of smokers denied the significance of the facts given, since accepting them would mean realizing a serious danger to their own health.

crowding out- is the process of involuntary removal into the unconscious of unacceptable thoughts, urges or feelings. Repression (motivated forgetting) is an unconscious mental act in which unacceptable information or motive is rejected by censorship on the threshold of consciousness. Interestingly, what is most quickly repressed and forgotten by a person is not the bad that others have done to him, but the bad that he has done to himself or others. Ingratitude, all kinds of envy and a great many inferiority complexes are connected with this mechanism, which are forced out with terrible force. It matters that a person does not pretend, but really forgets unwanted, traumatic information, it is completely ousted from his memory. An excellent example of repression is given in an episode from L.N. Tolstoy, where Nikolai Rostov speaks with sincere enthusiasm about his courage on the battlefield. In reality, he was afraid, but the repression was so strong that he himself believed in his achievement.

Freud described in detail the defense mechanism of motivated forgetting. Repression is the process of removing from awareness thoughts and feelings that cause suffering. Repression plays an essential role in the formation of symptoms. This is how Freud described the emergence of neurosis as a result of repression as a defense mechanism: “According to the data of all our analyzes, transference neuroses arise due to the fact that I AMdoes not want to receive a powerful impulse of drives that exist in the id, and does not want to assist in the motor response of this impulse, or this impulse is unacceptable for the object that it has in mind. I AMis protected from it by means of the displacement mechanism; repression rebels against its fate and, using the paths over which I AMhas no power, creates a substitute education for himself, i.e. symptom. I AMfinds that this uninvited guest threatens and breaks its unity, continues the struggle against the symptom, just as it had previously defended itself from the initial impulse of the drives, and all this results in a picture of a neurosis ”Freud believed that repressed thoughts and impulses do not lose their activity in the unconscious, and to prevent their breakthrough Consciousness requires a constant expenditure of psychic energy. This incessant waste of resources I AMcan seriously limit the use of energy for more adaptive, self-developmental, creative behavior. This is the main and most commonly encountered defense mechanism.

Projection. During projection, a person attributes his own unwanted traits to others, and in this way protects himself from the awareness of these traits in himself. The projection mechanism allows you to justify your own actions. For example, unfair criticism and cruelty towards others. In this case, such a person unconsciously ascribes cruelty and dishonesty to those around him, and since those around him are like that, then in his mind his similar attitude towards them becomes justified. As a matter of fact, they deserve it.

Fuzzy forms of projection appear in Everyday life. Many of us are completely uncritical about our shortcomings and easily notice them only in others. We tend to blame others for our own problems. Projection can also be harmful because it leads to an erroneous interpretation of reality. This mechanism often works in immature and vulnerable individuals. A person who constantly ascribes to others his own aspirations that contradict him moral standards, even received a special name - a hypocrite.

Identification- unconscious transfer to oneself of feelings and qualities that are inherent in another person and are inaccessible, but desirable for oneself. In children it is simplest way mastering the norms of social behavior and ethical values. For example, a boy unconsciously tries to be like his father and thereby earn his love and respect. In a broad sense, identification is an unconscious adherence to images, ideals, which allows you to overcome your weakness and feeling of inferiority.

Rationalization- a pseudo-reasonable explanation by a person of his desires, actions, which are actually caused by reasons, the recognition of which would threaten the loss of self-respect. So, experiencing a mental trauma, a person protects himself from its destructive impact by overestimating the significance of the traumatic factor in the direction of its decrease: having not received what he passionately desired, he convinces himself that “I didn’t really want to.”

The most striking phenomena of rationalization are called "sour grapes" and "sweet lemon". The first, known from Aesop's fable "The Fox and the Grapes", reflects the devaluation of the inaccessible. The "sweet lemon" type of defense is aimed at exaggerating the value of what is available. If a person demonstrates a dismissive attitude towards higher education, then it is possible that he is protecting himself from grief in connection with a missed opportunity to study. This same man spares no effort to give his children higher education which he doesn't seem to need.

substitution- transferring an action directed at an inaccessible object to an action with an accessible object. This mechanism discharges the tension created by an inaccessible need, but does not lead to the desired goal. Substituting activity is distinguished by the transfer of activity to a different plane. For example, from a real exercise to a fantasy world.

When a person fails to perform the action necessary to achieve the goal set for him, he sometimes makes the first senseless movement that comes across, giving some kind of discharge to internal tension. We often see such a substitution in life, when a person takes out his irritation, anger, annoyance on another person or the first object that comes across.

Isolation or alienation- removal of the emotional component of what is happening from consciousness. At the same time, unpleasant emotions are blocked from access to consciousness, i.e. there is no connection between the emotional coloring and the event. This type of defense resembles alienation syndrome, which is characterized by a feeling of loss of emotional connection with other people, previously significant events or one's own experiences, although their reality is recognized. Also, if during the performance of any work (activity) it is unnecessarily immersed in the nature of such activity, then this may lead to a failure in the implementation of this activity. (If a boxer thinks all the time that the opponent's punches can cause pain and various kinds of injuries, and even lead to death as a result of a strong blow, such a boxer will initially lose due to the inability to fight due to fear, etc.)

Having considered the main mechanisms of psychological defense, it remains to answer the question: what are defensive reactions for a person - salvation or a false facade?

I propose to consider the answer to this question by Carl R. Rogers, one of the representatives of the humanistic trend in psychology. “I know,” he writes, “that because of defensive reactions and fear, people can behave violently, immaturely, very destructively, antisocially, hurt. My experience tells me that at the heart of a person is the desire for positive change. Having had deep contact with individuals during psychotherapy, even those whose disorders are most severe, whose behavior is most antisocial, whose feelings seem to be the most extreme, I have come to the conclusion that this is true. I began to feel that the more fully a person is understood and accepted, the more he tries to throw off the false facade that he uses when he meets life.

Carl Rogers compares defensive reactions to a dam that keeps feelings locked in the inner world of a person. “When a person comes to me, concerned about his own unique difficulties, I am sure that the best thing is to try to create such a relationship with him in which he feels free and safe. My goal is to accept him for who he is. My experience is that he uses his freedom to become more and more himself. He begins to break down the false facade, throw off the masks and roles in which he met life.

This is illustrated by the statement of a woman who participated in a number of psychotherapeutic conversations: “As I see it now, layer by layer I got rid of defensive reactions. I did not know what was at the bottom, and I was very afraid to reach the bottom. At first I felt that there was nothing inside me - only a huge emptiness was felt where I wanted to have a solid core. Then I felt that I was standing in front of a massive stone wall, too high to climb over and too thick to walk through. After that, the wall seemed to disappear, but behind it I found a dam holding back the furiously churning waters. In the end, I could no longer withstand this tension and started the flow. In fact, all my actions were reduced to the fact that I succumbed to a feeling of acute self-pity that seized me, then to a feeling of hatred, then to love. After this experience, I felt as if I had jumped over the edge of the abyss to the other side and finally felt that I was safe.

So dramatically a person describes the process of searching for oneself, inextricably linked with getting rid of defensive reactions, according to Carl Rogers. He is sure that the experience that is more inherent in a person with defensive reactions would be greatly reduced: the extreme satisfaction of one need (in aggression, sex, etc.) due to the lack of satisfaction of other needs (in companionship, in tender relationships, etc.). .d.)

Carl R. Rogers shares little of the almost prevailing notion that man is fundamentally irrational and, if his impulses are not controlled, will come to destroy himself and others. “A person’s behavior is rational to the point of refinement when he moves in a strictly planned complex way towards the goals that his organism seeks to achieve. The tragedy is that our defensive reactions do not give us the opportunity to realize this rationality, so that consciously we move in one direction, while organismally in another.

When defensive reactions are eliminated, “... instead of being the guardian of numerous and dangerous unpredictable impulses, of which only a few can be allowed to come into the world, consciousness becomes a contented inhabitant of a society of impulses, feelings and thoughts, which, as it turns out, govern itself very well when they are not watched with fear.»

protective alienation mental resistance

References

1.Granovskaya, Rada Mikhailovna Elements of practical psychology. - L .: Publishing house of Leningrad State University, 1984. - 392 p.

2.Freud, Sigmund. Psychoanalytic studies.-Mn .: Potpourri LLC, 1997. - 606 p.

3.Kociunas, Rimantas. Basics psychological counseling. - M.: Academic project, 1999. - 240 p.

4.Rogers, Carl Ransome. A look at psychotherapy. The formation of man. - M.: Progress Publishing Group, Univers, 1994. - 480 p.

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Psychological protection works on an unconscious or subconscious level, and often a person cannot control his defense mechanisms of the psyche if he knows nothing about them. (Lifestyle index - test)

Psychological protection and the destructive action of the protective mechanisms of the human psyche

The human psyche has the ability to protect itself from adverse influences, whether external or internal factors. Psychological defense mechanisms work in one way or another for everyone. They perform the function of a guardian of our mental health, our "I" from the effects of stress, failure, increased anxiety; from unpleasant, destructive thoughts, from external and internal conflicts that cause negative well-being.
(overcoming psychological defense)

In addition to the protective function psychological protection of a person can also have a destructive effect on the personality, it can prevent the personality from growing and developing, achieving success in life.

This occurs when the repetition of a certain defense mechanism of the psyche in similar life situations, but some situations, although similar to the one that initially caused protection, still do not need it, because. a person is able to consciously solve this problem.

Also, psychological defense becomes destructive for the individual in cases where a person uses several defenses at once.

A person who often uses defense mechanisms (let me remind you: this happens unconsciously) is doomed to the status of a “loser” in his life.

Psychological defenses of the individual not congenital, they are acquired during the socialization of the child, and the main source of development of certain defenses, as well as their use in life (for their intended purpose or destructive) are parents or persons replacing them. In short, the use of psychological defense by children depends on how and what kind of defense the parents use.

Psychological defenses have the most close connection with character accentuations, and the more pronounced the accentuation is, the more pronounced the protective mechanisms of the human psyche are.

Knowing the accentuation of character, their individual-personal psycho-physiological characteristics (personality theory), a person will be able to learn how to manage their psychological defenses and accentuations of character, (Program of psycho-correction of character) to achieve success in life, i.e. go from losers to winners. (Personality Theory 2)

Mechanisms of psychological defense of a person

The first to introduce the concept of "psychological defense" was Sigmund Freud, this is "repression" and "sublimation".

These are such protective mechanisms of the psyche as: Repression, suppression, sublimation, intellectualization, rationalization, denial, projection, substitution, identification with the aggressor, regression, compensation and hypercompensation, reactive formation, reverse feeling and their components.

MECHANISMS OF PSYCHOLOGICAL PROTECTION AND INDIVIDUAL-PERSONAL FEATURES:

PSYCHOLOGICAL PROTECTION - NEGATION - the earliest ontogenetically and the most primitive defense mechanism. Denial develops in order to contain the emotion of acceptance of others if they demonstrate emotional indifference or rejection.

This, in turn, can lead to self-loathing. Denial implies an infantile substitution of acceptance by others for attention on their part, and any negative aspects of this attention are blocked at the stage of perception, and positive ones are allowed into the system. As a result, the individual gets the opportunity to painlessly express feelings of acceptance of the world and himself, but for this he must constantly attract the attention of others in ways available to him.

Features of protective behavior in the norm: egocentrism, suggestibility and self-hypnosis, sociability, desire to be in the center of attention, optimism, ease, friendliness, ability to inspire confidence, confident demeanor, thirst for recognition, arrogance, boasting, self-pity, courtesy, willingness to serve, affective demeanor, pathos, easy tolerance of criticism and lack of self-criticism.

Other features include pronounced artistic and artistic abilities, a rich imagination, a penchant for practical jokes.

Preferred jobs in the arts and service industries.

Possible deviations (deviations) of behavior: deceit, a tendency to simulate, thoughtlessness of actions, underdevelopment of the ethical complex, a tendency to fraud, exhibitionism, demonstrative suicide attempts and self-harm.

Diagnostic concept: hysteria.

Possible psychosomatic diseases(according to F. Alexander): conversion-hysterical reactions, paralysis, hyperkinesis, dysfunction of analyzers, endocrine disorders.

Type of group role (according to G. Kellerman): "the role of a romantic."

THE MECHANISM OF PSYCHOLOGICAL PROTECTION _ SUPPRESSION - develops to contain the emotion of fear, the manifestations of which are unacceptable for positive self-perception and threaten to fall into direct dependence on the aggressor. Fear is blocked by forgetting the real stimulus, as well as all objects, facts and circumstances associated with it.

The suppression cluster includes mechanisms close to it: ISOLATION AND INTROJECTION. Isolation is subdivided by some authors into DISTANCE, DEREALIZATION and DEPERSANOLIZATION, which can be expressed by the formulas: “it was somewhere far and long ago, as if not in reality, as if not with me”.

In other sources, the same terms are used to refer to pathological disorders of perception.

Features of protective behavior are normal: careful avoidance of situations that can become problematic and cause fear (for example, flying on an airplane, public speaking, etc.), inability to defend one's position in a dispute, conciliation, humility, timidity, forgetfulness, fear of new dating, pronounced tendencies to avoid and submit are rationalized, and anxiety is overcompensated in the form of unnaturally calm, slow behavior, deliberate equanimity, etc.

Character accentuation: anxiety (according to K. Leonhard), conformity (according to P.B. Gannushkin).

Possible behavioral deviations: hypochondria, irrational conformism, sometimes extreme conservatism.

Possible psychosomatic diseases (according to E. Bern): fainting, heartburn, loss of appetite, duodenal ulcer.

Diagnostic concept: passive diagnosis (according to R. Plutchik).

Type of group role: "the role of the innocent."

a defense mechanism - REGRESSION - develops in early childhood to contain feelings of self-doubt and fear of failure associated with taking the initiative. Regression implies a return in an exclusive situation to more ontogenetically immature patterns of behavior and satisfaction.

Regressive behavior, as a rule, is encouraged by adults who have an attitude towards emotional symbiosis and infantilization of the child.

The regression cluster also includes the MOTOR ACTIVITY mechanism, which involves involuntary irrelevant actions to relieve stress.

Features of defensive behavior are normal: weakness of character, lack of deep interests, susceptibility to the influence of others, suggestibility, inability to complete the work begun, slight mood swings, tearfulness, increased drowsiness and immoderate appetite in an exclusive situation, manipulation of small objects, involuntary actions (rubbing hands, twisting buttons, etc.), specific “childish” facial expressions and speech, a tendency to mysticism and superstition, heightened nostalgia, intolerance to loneliness, the need for stimulation, control, encouragement, consolation, the search for new experiences, the ability to easily establish superficial contacts, impulsiveness .

Accentuation of character (according to P.B. Gannushkin): instability.

Possible behavioral deviations: infantilism, parasitism, conformism in antisocial groups, alcohol and drug use.

Diagnostic concept: unstable psychopathy.

Possible psychosomatic illnesses: No data available.

Group role type:"the role of the child".

The defense mechanism of the psyche - COMPENSATION- ontogenetically the latest and cognitively complex protective mechanism, which is developed and used, as a rule, consciously. Designed to contain feelings of sadness, grief over a real or imaginary loss, loss, lack, lack, inferiority.

Compensation involves an attempt to correct or find a substitute for this inferiority.

The compensation cluster includes the following mechanisms: OVERCOMPENSATION, IDENTIFICATION, and FANTASY, which can be understood as compensation at the ideal level.

Features of protective behavior in the norm: behavior caused by the installation of serious and methodical work on oneself, finding and correcting one's shortcomings, overcoming difficulties, achieving high results in activities, serious sports, collecting, striving for originality, a penchant for memories, literary creativity.

Accentuation of character: distimism.

Possible deviations: aggressiveness, drug addiction, alcoholism, sexual deviations, promiscuity, kleptomania, vagrancy, insolence, arrogance, ambition.

Diagnostic concept: depression.

Possible psychosomatic diseases: anorexia nervosa, sleep disturbance, headaches, atherosclerosis.

Type of group role: "role of unifying".

Psychological protection - PROJECTION- develops relatively early in ontogenesis to contain the feeling of rejection of oneself and others as a result of emotional rejection on their part. The projection involves attributing various negative qualities to others as a rational basis for their rejection and self-acceptance against this background.

Features of protective behavior are normal: pride, pride, selfishness, vindictiveness, vindictiveness, resentment, vulnerability, a heightened sense of injustice, arrogance, ambition, suspicion, jealousy, hostility, stubbornness, intractability, intolerance to objections, a tendency to incriminate others, the search for shortcomings, isolation, pessimism, increased sensitivity to criticism and remarks, exactingness to oneself and others, the desire to achieve high performance in any kind of activity.

Possible deviations of behavior: behavior determined by overvalued or delusional ideas of jealousy, injustice, persecution, invention, own inferiority or grandiosity. On this basis, manifestations of hostility are possible, reaching the point of violent acts and murders. Less common are the sadistic-masochistic complex and the hypochondriacal symptom complex, the latter on the basis of distrust of medicine and doctors.

Diagnostic concept: paranoia.

Possible psychosomatic diseases: hypertension, arthritis, migraine, diabetes, hyperthyroidism.

Group role type: reviewer role.

mental protection - SUBSTITUTION- develops to contain the emotion of anger at a stronger, older or more significant subject acting as a frustrator, in order to avoid retaliatory aggression or rejection. The individual relieves tension by turning anger and aggression on a weaker animate or inanimate object or on himself.

Therefore, substitution has both active and passive forms and can be used by individuals regardless of their type of conflict response and social adaptation.

Features of protective behavior are normal: impulsiveness, irritability, exactingness towards others, rudeness, irascibility, protest reactions in response to criticism, uncharacteristic feelings of guilt, passion for “combat” sports (boxing, wrestling, hockey, etc.), preference for movies with scenes of violence (action movies, horror films, etc.), commitment to any activity associated with risk, a pronounced tendency to dominance is sometimes combined with sentimentality, a tendency to engage in physical labor.

Possible behavioral deviations: aggressiveness, uncontrollability, a tendency to destructive and violent actions, cruelty, immorality, vagrancy, promiscuity, prostitution, often chronic alcoholism, self-harm and suicide.

Diagnostic concept: epileptoidness (according to P.B. Gannushkin), excitable psychopathy (according to N.M. Zharikov), aggressive diagnosis (according to R. Plutchik).

Possible psychosomatic diseases: hypertension, arthritis, migraine, diabetes, hyperthyroidism, gastric ulcer (according to E. Bern).

Type of group role: "the role of the looking for a scapegoat."

Psychological defense mechanism - INTELLECTUALIZATION- develops in early adolescence to contain the emotion of expectation or anticipation for fear of experiencing disappointment. The formation of this mechanism is usually correlated with frustrations associated with failures in competition with peers.

It involves arbitrary schematization and interpretation of events to develop a sense of subjective control over any situation. This cluster includes the following mechanisms: CANCELLATION, SUBLIMATION and RATIONALIZATION.

The latter is subdivided into actual rationalization, anticipating, for oneself and for others, post-hypnotic and projective, and has the following ways: discrediting the goal, discrediting the victim, exaggerating the role of circumstances, affirming harm for good, overestimating what is available and self-discrediting.

Features of protective behavior are normal: diligence, responsibility, conscientiousness, self-control, a tendency to analysis and introspection, solidity, awareness of obligations, love of order, uncharacteristic bad habits, prudence, discipline, individualism.

Accentuation of character: psychasthenia (according to P.B. Gannushkin), pedantic character.

Possible deviations of behavior: inability to make a decision, substitution of activity for "reasoning", self-deception and self-justification, pronounced detachment, cynicism, behavior caused by various phobias, ritual and other obsessive actions.

Diagnostic concept: obsession.

Possible psychosomatic diseases: pain in the heart, vegetative disorders, spasms of the esophagus, polyuria, sexual disorders.

Type of group role: "the role of the philosophizer".

REACTIVE EDUCATION - a protective mechanism of the psyche, the development of which is associated with the final assimilation of "higher social values" by the individual.

Reaction formation develops to contain the joy of owning a certain object (for example, one's own body) and the possibility of using it in a certain way (for example, for sex and aggression).

The mechanism involves the development and emphasizing in the behavior of the opposite attitude.

Features of protective behavior are normal: rejection of everything related to the functioning of the body and gender relations is expressed in various forms and with varying intensity, avoidance of public baths, latrines, changing rooms, etc., a sharp negative attitude towards "indecent" conversations, jokes, films of an erotic nature (also with scenes of violence), erotic literature, strong feelings about violations of "personal space", accidental contact with other people (for example, in public transport), an emphasized desire to comply with generally accepted standards of behavior, relevance, concern for "decent" appearance, politeness, courtesy, respectability, disinterestedness, sociability, as a rule, high spirits.

Of the other features: the condemnation of flirting and exhibitionism, abstinence, sometimes vegetarianism, moralizing, the desire to be an example for others.

Character accentuations: sensitivity, exaltation.

Possible behavioral deviations: pronounced inflated self-esteem, hypocrisy, hypocrisy, extreme puritanism.

Diagnostic concept: manic.

Possible psychosomatic diseases (according to F. Alexander): bronchial asthma, peptic ulcer, ulcerative colitis.

This completes the description of the defense mechanisms of the human psyche.

I wish you all mental health!

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Frequently Asked Questions to a Psychologist

Psychological defense mechanisms Etymology.

Comes from the Greek. psyche - soul, logos - teaching.

Category.

A system of mechanisms aimed at minimizing negative experiences associated with conflicts that threaten the integrity of the individual.

Specificity.

Such conflicts can be provoked both by contradictory attitudes in the personality itself, and by a mismatch of external information and the image of the world and the image formed in the personality. J. Z. Freud, who was the first to tackle the problem of psychological conflicts, interpreted them as a form of conflict resolution between unconscious drives and internalized social requirements or prohibitions. Due to the implementation of psychological mechanisms, as a rule, only relative personal well-being is achieved. But unresolved problems become chronic, as a person deprives himself of the opportunity to actively influence the situation in order to eliminate the source of negative experiences. Psychological defense plays the most positive role when the problems that arise are of little significance and are not worth dealing with at all.

Kinds.

Numerous studies, primarily in clinical practice, have identified different kinds psychological defense mechanisms:

Repression - the elimination of desires from consciousness;

Identification - increasing one's own significance due to unity with persons or social institutions high social rank;

Isolation is the separation of an emotional reaction from a situation of fear;

Introjection - the integration of external assessments and standards that may pose a threat into the structure of one's own Self;

Compensation - making up for weakness by over-emphasizing a desirable character trait;

The formation of reactions - the elimination of desire from the consciousness with the strengthening of external behavior corresponding to this desire;

Denial - protection from unpleasant reality due to unwillingness to perceive it;

Transference - the redirection of hostile feelings to an object that is less dangerous than the true cause of these emotions;

Projection - forwarding one's own negative qualities or unacceptable desires on others;

Rationalization - an attempt to find a logical basis for one's own behavior;

Regression - reducing the level of claims and the degree of organization of activities;

Fantasy - the realization of a frustrated desire in the imagination;

Emotional isolation - avoidance of traumatic experiences due to withdrawal into passivity.

Psychological Dictionary. THEM. Kondakov. 2000 .

See what "psychological defense mechanisms" are in other dictionaries:

MECHANISMS OF PSYCHOLOGICAL PROTECTION- (from the Greek psyche - soul logos - teaching) - a system of mechanisms aimed at minimizing negative experiences associated with conflicts that threaten the integrity of the individual. Such conflicts can be provoked as ... ...

In UP, the concept of mechanisms of psychological defense of the individual is used quite rarely. Nevertheless, it significantly expands the formal boundaries of the study of the personality psychology of the victim or offender. Knowledge of specific psychological ... ...

A phenomenon and concept widely used in modern psychoanalytic theory and practice. This is the defense (struggle) of the “I”, the self-consciousness of the individual with anxieties and unbearable, painful experiences, thoughts, desires, drives used for ... ... Encyclopedia of Modern Legal Psychology

- (Freud S., 1894) The concept of the protective mechanisms of the individual to overcome mental trauma. According to S. Freud, defense mechanisms unconsciously suppress and displace from consciousness that information that does not meet the requirements of moral ... ... Explanatory Dictionary of Psychiatric Terms

Freud's psychological defense mechanisms- (Freud, 1894) - hypothetical unconscious psychological processes that prevent the appearance of threatening impulses of the It (Id) in consciousness, removing them from consciousness or transforming them in such a way that they appear acceptable to ... ... Encyclopedic Dictionary of Psychology and Pedagogy

PSYCHOLOGICAL DEFENSE MECHANISMS- in modern psychology are interpreted as ways for a person to preserve his peace of mind. They manifest themselves, in particular, as a person’s tendency to maintain a habitual opinion about himself, rejecting or distorting unfavorable information that destroys ... Eurasian wisdom from A to Z. Explanatory dictionary

protection mechanisms- German: Abwehimechanismen. French: mechanisms de defense. English: mechanisms of defense. Spanish: micanismes de defensa. Italian: meccanismi di difesa. Portuguese: mecanismos de defesa. different types operations characteristic of psychological defense. ... ... Dictionary of psychoanalysis

COPING MECHANISMS (COOPING MECHANISMS)- (from English coping coping). The study of human behavior in stressful situations has led to the identification of coping mechanisms, or coping mechanisms that determine successful or unsuccessful adaptation. For the first time the term "coping" was ... ... Psychotherapeutic Encyclopedia

PROTECTIVE MECHANISMS- the concept of psychoanalysis, meaning the methods of mental. protection of the conscious "I" (Ego) from dangerous drives and impulses that come into conflict with social norms and attitudes. The most universal of 3. m. is displacement. By 3. m. ... ... Philosophical Encyclopedia

Appointed in cases where a comprehensive assessment of the testimony of the offender given by him in different time and containing conflicting information. One of the significant reasons for the distortion of memories of a crime committed is ... ... Encyclopedia of Modern Legal Psychology

Books

Psychological impact. Mechanisms, strategies, countermeasures, . The book presents various approaches to the topic of psychological impact: socio-psychological, psycholinguistic, engineering-psychological, etc., attempts are being made to…

Day by day, a person encounters situations when an existing need cannot be satisfied for any reason. In such cases, behavior is usually regulated by psychological defense mechanisms that aim to prevent conduct disorders.

Psychological protection is associated with a change in the system of internal values of the individual, aimed at reducing the level of subjective significance of the corresponding experience in order to minimize psychologically traumatic moments. R. M. Granovskaya believes that the functions of psychological protection are inherently contradictory: on the one hand, they contribute to the adaptation of a person to his own inner world, but at the same time, on the other hand, they can worsen adaptability to the external social environment.

In psychology, the effect of the so-called pending action. It lies in the fact that any obstacle leads to an interruption of the action until the obstacle is overcome or the person refuses to overcome it. The works of many researchers have shown that unfinished actions form a tendency towards their completion, and if direct completion is not possible, a person begins to perform substitutive actions. We can say that the mechanisms of psychological defense are some specialized forms of substitution actions.

Psychological defense mechanisms

TO psychological defense mechanisms are usually referred to negation, repression, projection, identification, rationalization, substitution, alienation and some others. Let us dwell on the characteristics of each of these mechanisms as R. M. Granovskaya describes them.

Negation comes down to the fact that the information that disturbs is not perceived. This method of protection is characterized by a noticeable distortion of the perception of reality. Denial is formed in childhood and often does not allow people to adequately assess what is happening around, which leads to difficulties in behavior.

crowding out- most universal way getting rid of internal conflict by actively turning off unacceptable motive or unpleasant information from consciousness. Interestingly, what is most quickly repressed and forgotten by a person is not the bad that others have done to him, but the bad that he has done to himself or others. Ingratitude, all kinds of envy and a great many inferiority complexes are connected with this mechanism, which are forced out with terrible force. It matters that a person does not pretend, but really forgets unwanted, traumatic information, it is completely ousted from his memory.

Projection- unconscious transference to another person own feelings, desires and inclinations, in which a person does not want to admit to himself, realizing their social unacceptability. For example, when a person has shown aggression towards another, he often has a tendency to reduce the attractive qualities of the victim.

Identification- unconscious transfer to oneself of feelings and qualities that are inherent in another person and are inaccessible, but desirable for oneself. In children, this is the easiest way to learn the norms of social behavior and ethical standards. For example, a boy unconsciously tries to be like his father and thereby earn his love and respect. In a broad sense, identification is an unconscious adherence to images, ideals, which allows you to overcome your weakness and feelings of inferiority.

Rationalization- a deceitful explanation by a person of his desires, actions that are actually caused by reasons, the recognition of which would threaten the loss of self-respect. For example, while experiencing some kind of psychic trauma, a person protects himself from its destructive impact by evaluating the traumatic factor in the direction of decreasing significance, i.e. not having received what he passionately desired, he convinces himself that “I didn’t really want to.”

substitution— shifting an action directed at an inaccessible object to an action with an accessible object. This mechanism discharges the tension created by an inaccessible need, but does not lead to the desired goal. Substituting activity is distinguished by the transfer of activity to a different plane. For example, from a real exercise to a fantasy world.

Isolation or alienation- isolation within the consciousness of traumatic factors for a person. At the same time, unpleasant emotions are blocked by consciousness, i.e. there is no connection between the emotional coloring and the event. This type of defense resembles alienation syndrome, which is characterized by a feeling of loss of emotional connection with other people, previously significant events or one's own experiences, although their reality is recognized.

Thus, it is necessary to know that psychological protection can help maintain a person’s internal comfort, even if he violates social norms and prohibitions, since it creates the basis for self-justification. If a person treats himself as a whole positively, admits in his mind the idea of his imperfection, shortcomings, then he takes the path of overcoming the contradictions that arise.

Ecology of life: Psychological protection is probably one of the most controversial phenomena of the human psyche. On the one hand, she stands guard over our "I"

Psychological defense is probably one of the most controversial phenomena of the human psyche. On the one hand, it stands guard over our “I”, protecting it from stress, increased anxiety, negative thoughts, external and internal conflicts. On the other hand, it can act destructively and prevent a person from growing and developing, achieving success, discovering new opportunities for himself, creating and enjoying life.

Psychological defense mechanisms are formed in early childhood. Their set is individual for each person and is selected according to his temperament, upbringing style, child-parent and intra-family relationships (with grandparents, aunts, uncles and other parental figures).

Proved that greatest influence the formation of protective mechanisms is influenced by negatively significant adults who caused fear and anxiety in the child. It is these experiences and feelings that are the direct sources that feed the psychological defenses of the individual and are associated with internal or external conflicts.

There are entire defensive strategies that are treated as games in Transactional Analysis. Their main goal is to prevent awareness of information about themselves and their partner, which could threaten the existing relationship. In fact, this is playing strategies for building relationships in the parental family, types of response to stressful situations, which made it possible to avoid true intimacy (open confidential communication about feelings, thoughts, behavior and motives of actions between partners).

All defense mechanisms have two general characteristics: they operate on an unconscious level, and therefore are self-deception. They either distort, deny, transform, or falsify the perception of reality in order to make anxiety or fear less threatening to a person.

Today, more than twenty types of protective mechanisms are known. Most of them are listed in this article.

Looking through the list of psychological defenses, you will inevitably come across those that are inherent in you personally. I suggest not to overreact to them. Remember that, as a rule, defense mechanisms are not recognized by a person, and only a well-trained specialist who has studied them or encountered them himself in personal psychotherapy can recognize them.

Types of protective mechanisms

Crowding out. With the help of this mechanism, impulses unacceptable to a person: desires, thoughts, feelings that cause anxiety - become unconscious. A person can easily forget some things, especially those that reduce self-esteem. Everything forced out of consciousness into the unconscious does not disappear and has a certain influence on human behavior. From time to time there is a spontaneous "return of the repressed" to the level of consciousness, which is carried out in the form of dreams, erroneous actions, reservations.

Deflection (deviation) is an unconscious mechanism of care aimed at ending contact and strengthening the isolation of a person, both from others and from him. own experience. A person abstracts from the situation, releases remarks that are not to the point.

This mechanism often arises as a result of distrust, fear, security threats that happened in the past, and protects the person from emotional breakdowns. Externally, flexion can manifest itself in avoiding eye contact with the interlocutor, constant movements, marking time, and so on.

Substitution - the satisfaction or suppression of unsatisfied (often sexual) desires with the help of another object. For example, a sexual attraction to an "inaccessible" person can be satisfied by a more accessible person.

Identification - increasing the sense of self-worth by identifying oneself with outstanding personalities.

Introjection is the incorporation of external values and standards into the structure of the ego so that they cease to act as an external threat. Empowering yourself with the qualities of others. This mechanism is opposite to the projection mechanism.

Internalization. This discharge mechanism is easiest to describe with the phrase “I didn’t really want to.” If you can't achieve what you want, sometimes it's easier to convince yourself that you don't need it.

Intellectualization is the suppression of experiences caused by an unpleasant situation, or the ordering of incompatible attitudes with the help of logical manipulations. Adherence to certain values and attitudes even when there is clear evidence in favor of the opposite attitudes.

Compensation - covering up one's own weaknesses by emphasizing desirable traits or overcoming unpleasant feelings in one area by oversatisfaction in other areas. For example, a person who cannot play football becomes an outstanding chess player.

Catharsis - protection associated with such a change in values, which leads to a weakening of the influence of the traumatic factor. To do this, some external, global system of values is sometimes involved as an intermediary, in comparison with which the situation that traumatizes a person loses its significance.

Changes in the structure of values can occur only in the process of powerful emotional tension, passions. The human value system is very inertial, and it resists changes until such powerful irritations arise or are so inconsistent with the entire system of human norms and ideals that they break the protective barrier of all other forms of psychological protection.

Catharsis brings with it a cleansing effect. This is both a means of protecting the individual from unbridled impulses (a kind of valve that saves from primitive instincts), and a way to create a new direction in striving for the future.

Mechanism of withdrawal into disease or formation of symptoms. Departure into symptoms, into illness is a kind of solution to unsolvable problems in the life of an individual. As psychoanalysts would say. for his inability and his impotence to change anything in his life, a person finds a somatic expression. When forming care in the disease, the patient refuses responsibility and independent solution of problems, justifies his failure by the disease, seeks guardianship and recognition, playing the role of the patient.

Denial - I don't see what everyone else sees. Usually we are talking about personal characteristics of ourselves or significant people. The mechanism of denial operates on the principle, "if I don't admit it, it means it didn't happen." Unwanted events are not accepted by consciousness. Denial is often the first reaction to irreversible events - death or serious illness.

Displacement is the discharge of repressed feelings, usually feelings of hostility, directed at an object less dangerous than the one that caused negative emotions. For example, the boss quarreled with his wife, and all day he takes out his anger on his subordinates.

A dream is a kind of substitution in which a reorientation takes place, i.e. the transfer of an inaccessible action to another plane: from the real world to the world of dreams. Secret repentance or remorse leads to their breakthrough in a dream.

In a dream, the conflict is eliminated not on the basis of its logical resolution and transformation, which is typical for protection by the type of rationalization, but with the help of the language of images. An image appears that reconciles antagonistic attitudes and thereby reduces tension. Thus, the scene of crossing a bridge can serve as a metaphor for the need to make an important decision or a significant change in life. The drop in tension simultaneously eliminates the need for repression.

Dreams constantly compensate and complement something. And unlike reality, a dream can give you supernatural powers and unlimited possibilities.

Suppression is the refusal to be aware of the unpleasant and dangerous thoughts that have already entered the consciousness and to formulate them. A classic example is the reasoning of a boy who decides not to stand up for his friend in front of teenagers because he wants to seem like an adult, and not as small and helpless as his “objectionable” friend.

Projection - shifting responsibility for difficulties to other persons or attributing one's moral qualities and motives to others.

So, it seems to a deceiver that everyone around is trying to cheat him, and a person who lacks money tends to scold beggars and beggars more often than others.

Not only negative, but also positive emotions. In a broad sense, we all use projection to explain the world - and how else can you understand others, except to find similar feelings in yourself?

Discharge - reducing anxiety caused by forbidden desires, through its external expression. Such behavior is often manifested in crime or delinquency (anti-social illegal behavior of a person, embodied in his misconduct (action or inaction), harming both individual citizens and society as a whole).

Rationalization. This defense mechanism involves the search for convincing arguments for insufficiently approved actions and desires, attempts to prove that the behavior is rational and justified, and therefore socially approved. Which is more convenient: to admit that you are not hired for the job you always dreamed of because of insufficient experience - or to believe in something that prevents this, for example, your bright appearance.

Rationalization allows you to isolate yourself from the world with a set of simple stereotypes, spend a minimum of effort on analyzing incoming information - and at the same time feel like d'Artagnan against the backdrop of a dull reality.

Reactive formations - Reactive formations are a rather transparent way of psychological protection - when a person makes a substitution of his own feelings for the opposite ones. Classic examples of reactive formations can be found in the behavior of adolescents seeking to turn inside out feelings that they consider shameful. Therefore, you have to laugh in the movie at an episode that causes tears, or pull the hair of a girl you like, but you're scared "what the other guys will say."

Regression. This defense is based on the objective fact that small child people usually tend to be more protective than an adult. Keeping memories of the feeling of security that most of us had in childhood, a person unconsciously uses, at first glance, a paradoxical way of protecting himself from trouble - he begins to show childish, maladaptive character traits and behavior patterns.

Often this really leads to the fact that others begin to protect the "defenseless child", but not always: regression can work even when there is simply no one around.

Demonstration of morbidity, inferiority and helplessness also applies to regression, as it contains the same message: “I am sick. I am unable to take care of myself. Protect me." As a consequence, some people who abuse regression may develop chronic illnesses, which in turn may develop into hypochondria and be accompanied by somatization. When regression becomes a life strategy for overcoming problems, such a person is called infantile.

Repression is the prevention of the penetration of unpleasant and dangerous thoughts into the mind.

Retroflection is a projection in reverse. The subject takes back what was addressed environment: hitting his own arm or kicking a chair instead of hitting someone. The highest form of retroflection is suicide.

Merging. With this type of protection, a person completely "dissolves" in the environment, group or person, renounces his life, his own individuality, needs, carefully avoiding conflicts. In speech - the stable use of the pronoun "we".

Empathy - the desire to win the sympathy of other people and thus maintain self-esteem, despite failures.

Sublimation is the satisfaction or suppression of unsatisfied desires, often of a sexual nature, through another activity. It usually refers to changing the mode of satisfaction, not its object. For example, a person who has a strong sexual attraction to another person and is unable to satisfy this desire may find partial discharge in acceptable activities, such as dancing, chopping wood, playing bells.

Fantasy is the satisfaction of unfulfilled desires in your imagination.

Fantasies can take many forms: lucid fantasies, daydreams, and unconscious fantasies.

A person can escape from a reality that disappoints him into virtual computer worlds, movies, the main distinguishing feature of which is the possibility of interacting with a fictional ideal “reality”.

Response shaping is the prevention of dangerous aspirations by strengthening opposing attitudes and behaviors in order to use them as "barriers". For example, a person may become an alcoholic because their father or another family member was an alcoholic.

Emotional isolation - withdrawal and passivity to protect against pain and resentment.

Now that you have become familiar with your psychological defenses, ask yourself the question: are they as important to you today as they were in your distant childhood? Or is it time to let them go, making room for a new life experience? published

Based on materials from the media and online publications

Prepared by Ksenia Panyukova

The publication also used the dissertation for the degree of Candidate of Psychological Sciences Elena Chumakova.