Defence Mechanisms Overview

Defence Mechanism Definitions 1. _____________________________ : Experience a short lived gap in consciousness during a stressful situation. Blanking out when things become too much. 2. _____________________________ : Placing unacceptable impulses in yourself onto someone else. Acting like another person is feeling what you are feeling. 3. _____________________________ : Emotional or behavioral flight from painful situations. We avoid the thing that is causing us anxiety. 4. _____________________________ : Acting out unacceptable impulses in a socially acceptable way. 5. _____________________________ Taking out unacceptable impulses on a less threatening target. Transferring your feelings from one thing to another. 6. _____________________________ : Pulling past memories into the unconscious mind. Forgetting things that cause overwhelming anxiety. 7. _____________________________ : Retreating from stressful situations into the mind and fantasy. Imagining good things to avoid thinking about bad things. 8. _____________________________ Avoiding unacceptable emotions by attempting to explain them. A false but personally acceptable explanation for one’s behaviour. Justifying unacceptable feelings with logic. 9. _____________________________ : Returning to a previous stage of psychology development. Acting like a child. 10. _____________________________ : Arguing against anxiety provoking thoughts by stating it doesn’t exist. Acting as if something isn’t real. 11. _____________________________ : Regretting the way that someone behaved and then over applying the opposite of that behaviour in the future. Undoing the past by doing the opposite in the future. 12. _____________________________ Taking the opposite belief because the true belief causes anxiety. Acting the opposite of how you actually feel. Which Defence Mechanisms are they? Note: At times, multiple defence mechanisms could work for the examples. 1. _____________________________ Veronica is angry at her boss but takes it out on your spouse instead. 2. _____________________________ Kyle is attracted to someone other than his partner, he then acts like his spouse is cheating on him. 3. _____________________________ Candice is denied a loan for her dream house, she then says that it's a good thing because the house was too big anyway. 4. _____________________________ Olver was psychologically abused as a child but he doesn’t remember the abuse. 5. _____________________________ Mark wants to break up with his boyfriend. For the next week, he makes up excuses not to see him so that he doesn’t have to face the breakup. 6. _____________________________ Mia is usually an angry, hostile person. But since she's been playing on the volleyball team her mood has improved. 7. _____________________________ Sally is sad about a recent breakup, but acts happy about it 8. _____________________________ Kevin is upset with his partner but goes for a walk instead of fighting. 9. _____________________________ Jennifer was the victim of a violent crime, yet she pretends that the incident never occurred or that it bothers her. 10. _____________________________ Matt’s partner broke up with him and he retreats to his room to cuddle his stuffy and cry. 11. _____________________________ Lucy’s boss yells at her, she yells at her co-worker, her co-worker yells at his partner, his partner spanks his kid, and the kid kicked the dog. 12. _____________________________ Sue ignores her children when they say they are feeling ill. They end up getting really sick and she feels terrible. Shg then becomes obsessive about illness, asking how they are feeling all the time. 13. _____________________________ Steven is being fired from his job. He begins to feel that everything is unreal. He stop talking and focuses on the paintings in the room. 14. _____________________________ Mark is lonely and feels unloved. He frequently engages in daydreams about all the types of friends and lovers that he would like to have. 15. _____________________________ Lisa says: "I’m not angry. I think that YOU are the one that is really angry here ” 16. _____________________________ All the bills she is receiving stress Jessica out. She hides them in her freezer so that she doesn’t have to think about them. 17. _____________________________ Kelly, who has a strong sexual drive, constantly criticizes her female co-workers for dressing seductively and flirting. 18. _____________________________ A catholic priest who is forbidden from sexual activity converts his sexual energy into running a busy soup kitchen to feed the poor. 19. _____________________________ Frasier wants to break up with his partner. So, he just starts avoiding them so that he doesn't have to deal with the emotions. 20. _____________________________ When Shelly is angry with her partner she locks herself in the bedroom and cries. 21. _____________________________ Joshua had a bad semester and was put on academic probation. Instead of returning to college, he quits to "pursue something worthwhile." 22. _____________________________ A teacher is having a bad day and yells at the students 23. _____________________________ Chris has a mole on his leg that he thinks might be cancerous. He tries not to think or worry about it. Defence Mechanism Example Situations: 1) You are jealous of your best friend's partner and you want to steal them away. 2) You hate your boss at work and you secretly dream of murdering them. 3) You are cheating on your partner and feeling extremely guilty about it. a). Projection: Attributing one’s own feelings to someone else _____________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________ b). Rationalization: A false but personally acceptable explanation for one’s behavior _____________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________ c). Displacement: Transferring a feeling about one situation or person onto another situation or person _____________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________ d). Reaction-formation: Turning an unacceptable feeling into its opposite _____________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________ e). Withdrawal/avoidance: Emotional or behavioral flight from painful situations _____________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________ f). Sublimation: Redirecting unacceptable impulses into a socially approved activity _____________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________ g). Denial: Arguing against anxiety provoking stimuli by stating it doesn’t exist. _____________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________ Defense Mechanisms Role Play Choose 3 Defense Mechanisms for each situation. Please do not reuse the same ones more than twice. Options Rationalisation Projection Dissociation Fantasy Repression Regression Undoing Reaction Formation Sublimation Displacement Avoidance Denial 1. You want to break up with your partner but are having a difficult time doing it. 2. You are having trouble coming to terms with the fact that you are going to fail out of university. 3. You are really angry at your partner for not doing the housework. 4. You have a really important essay due but starting it is stressing you out. 5. You are depressed because you are in debt and can’t see a way out. 6. You are starting a new job and are scared of failing at it. 7. You are really upset because your partner has been chatting with their ex. 1. You are jealous of your best friend's boyfriend/girlfriend and you want to steal him/her away. 2. You hate your boss at work and you secretly dream of murdering them. 3. You are cheating on your partner and feeling extremely guilty about it. 4. You are an alcoholic but you cannot admit it. Your partner confronts you about your recent DUI.