Defense Mechanisms

Freud
Trained as a physician.
Primarily a biologist
swept up in the writings
and influences of Charles
Darwin who saw that
people were highly
intelligent animals, but
animals nonethelessbiological creatures.

Psychoanalytic Approach
Personality theory based on the writings of
Sigmund Freud
Emphasizes the unconscious processes of the
mind
Childhood experiences, and unconscious conflicts
can affect adult personality & behavior.

The Mind

Das es = The It = ID; operates according

to the demands of the pleasure principle,
strives solely to satisfy its drives (instincts:
sex & aggression) that are present at birth and
thereby reduce inner tension.

Das ich = The I = Ego; operates according

to the reality principle, it must solve real
problems. Develops shortly after birth to
serve as defense mechanisms.

Throughout life, the pleasure-seeking id

constantly struggles with the reality checking
ego and we cannot be totally self-centered.

Uber-Ich = The over-I = superego

(conscious), is formed during the latency
periodwhere we are forcefully shaped by our
parents and the rest of society to follow moral
rules.

Parts of the Mind

Structure

Contents

Principle of
Operation

Id

Primitive drives and

emotions

Pleasure

Ego

Balances Id, Superego, and reality

Reality

Superego

Internalized social
norms

Morality

Copyright 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

The Unconscious
The portion of the mind of which a person is
not aware

Psychoanalytic techniques to access the

unconscious
Hypnosis
Dream Analysis

Dreams
The royal road to the unconscious

Manifest content
the content of a dream that a
person remembers

Latent content
the underlying hidden
meaning of a dream

Freudian Slips
When the ego, and
especially the superego
do not do their job
properly, elements of
the id may slip out and
be seen.

Psychosexual Development
The development of the
psyche
Progresses in stages as the
libido (desire, sexual energy)
is redirected to different parts
of the body
Psychosexual Stages

Oral
Anal
Phallic
Latency
Genital

Oral Stage
Theme
Infants are driven to satisfy the drives of hunger and
thirst

Conflict
Child must give up breast feeding

Fixation
Dependency
Preoccupation with oral acquisition

Anal Stage
Theme:

Child receives pleasure from relieving self of bodily

waste

Conflict:

Child is toilet trained

Fixation:

Preoccupation with neatness

Excessive bathroom humor
anal-retentive and anal-expulsive characteristics

Phallic Stage
Theme:
Child gains pleasure through the genitals
Oedipus Complex-Boys desire mother
Castration anxiety

Electra Complex-Girls suffer penis envy

Conflict:
Overt sexual behavior socially unacceptable

Fixation:
Vanity, narcissism, inability to love

Latency Stage
Theme:
Psychosexual energy is
channeled into academic
and social pursuits

Conflicts and fixations

do not occur during this
stage

Genital Stage
Theme:
The individual gains satisfaction from mature
sexual relationships

This stage is achieved if a person makes it

through the other stages with enough available
sexual energy
no strong fixations
normal (conventional) adult sexuality is viewed as the
healthy outcome

Defense Mechanisms
The ego must balance the demands of the id,
and the restrictions of the super-ego.
Defense Mechanisms
Ego processes that distort reality to protect the
individual from anxiety
Prevent threatening unconscious material from
reaching consciousness/ controls instinctive urges
and unpleasant affects (emotions).

Using Defense Mechanisms

All defenses are unconscious
Defenses change overtime
Defenses are adaptive as well as pathologic.
We use them all the time, they are how we
cope.
Psychopathology The degree to which the use of defense
mechanisms is disruptive of a persons ability to
deal with the world around him or her.

Clusters of Defense Mechanisms

Narcissistic

Immature

Blocking
Regression
Somatization
Introjection

Anxiety

Projection
Denial
Splitting

Displacement
Repression
Isolation of affect
Intellectualization
Acting out
Rationalization
Reaction formation
Undoing
Passive-aggressive
Dissociation

Mature

Humor
Sublimation
Suppression

Projection

Attributing anxiety-provoking impulse or thoughts

to others

As an explanation for:

Always being suspicious of others

Extreme political opinions

Denial

Refusal to acknowledge anxiety- provoking stimuli

As an explanation for:

Not acknowledging the sudden death of a loved one

Interpreting a terrible fight with a spouse as just a lovers
quarrel

Splitting
External objects are divided into all good or all
bad. The morning staff is much better than the
evening staff

Immature
Blocking temporary or transient block in thinking, or

an inability to remember
Examples:
Mr.Jones you are suffering from . Oh god, I just cant
remember what its called
Student unable to remember the fact needed to answer
the exam questions, although he recalls as we walks out
into the exam.

Immature
Regression
Protecting the individual by returning to an earlier, safer

time of life
As an explanation for:
A child with a new baby sibling wanting a bottle again
When an adult whimpers
A distressed individual treating his/her spouse as a parent

Immature
Somatization Psychic derivatives are converted into

bodily symptoms. Just thinking of the exam I get

butterflies in my stomach

Immature
Introjection Features of the external world are

taken and made part of the self.

The resident physician dresses like the attending
A child scold herself in the same manner his/her mother

scolded them the day before.

A teenager adopting the style and mannerisms of a rock
star.

Anxiety
Displacement
Shifting ones unconscious aggression or fears to a

safer target (hydraulic model)

As an explanation for:
The case of Little Hans
Kicking the dog

Anxiety
Repression
Pushes threatening thoughts and ideas into the

unconscious
As an explanation for:
Post-traumatic stress disorder
Repressed memories
False memories

Anxiety
Isolation separation of an idea from the affect

that accompanies it. As she arrived at the station

to identify the body, she appeared to show no
emotion

Anxiety
Intellectualization- Excessive use of intellectual

processes to avoid affective expression or

experience. It is interesting to note the specific
skin lesions which seem to arise as a
consequence of my end-stage disease

Anxiety
Acting out- behavioral or emotional outburst. I

cant explain why he has those temper tantrums

Anxiety
Reaction formation
Hides threatening impulses by over-emphasizing their

opposite
As an explanation for:
Rabidly homophobic people turning out to be closeted

gays
Inappropriate sexual escapades by politicians and
clergymen who promote family values

Anxiety
Rationalization
Creating logical, socially acceptable explanations for

behaviors which were actually driven by unconscious

impulses
As an explanation for:
Lying and then claiming the lie was to protect the

feelings of another person

Anxiety
Undoing acting out the reverse of an

unacceptable behavior; consists of an act. I need

to wash my hands whenever I have these
thoughts

Anxiety
Dissociation splitting off of the brain from

conscious awareness. I do not know where I live

Mature
Humor permits the expression of feelings and

thoughts without personal discomfort. so said the

300 pound man, they expected me to place my head
between my legs in the event of a plane crash when
the best I could manage was placing my chin on my
chest

Mature
Sublimation
Dangerous urges are transformed into positive, socially

meaningful motivations
As an explanation for:
Artistic creativity
Community leadership

 Suppression- conscious forgetting; only conscious

defense mechanisms. I would rather forget that my

dog was run over by a car.

Transference
The patient unconsciously transfers thoughts and

feelings about a parent or significant other person

onto his physician. This is not a defense mechanism.
Can be positive (cause you to unaccountable like
someone) or negative (cause you to unaccountably
dislike someone).