Defense Mech

Excluding emotionally painful or anxiety-provoking thoughts and feelings from conscious awareness

When a person is exposed in an embarrassing situation, they tend to be very forgetful

Conscious, deliberate forcing of unpleasant anxiety-producing experience into the unconscious mind

The detachment of certain personal activities from normal consciousness which they function alone

Dealing with emotional conflict by a temporary alteration in consciousness or identity

The wish to be like another person and to assume the characteristics of that person

Modeling actions and opinions of influential others while searching for identity, or aspiring to reach a personal, social, or occupational goal

Taking into one’s self a loved or hated person’s or eternal object’s, ideas, tastes, and wishes of the other person being introjected to become their own

Accepting another person’s attitudes, beliefs, and values as one’s own

Unconsciously making another person or circumstances responsible for one’s unacceptable thoughts or actions

Escape the unpleasant realities of living by ignoring or refusing to acknowledge their existence

Living in the imagination becomes refuge from the realities of everyday living

Explains and justifies an individual’s ideas, actions and feeling in a plausible light to avoid guilt, responsibility, conflict, anxiety, or loss of self-respect

Overachievement in one area to offset real or perceived deficiencies in another area; attempts to overcome some inability or inferiority

Keeping an undesirable impulse out of awareness by emphasizing the opposite

Acting the opposite of what one thinks or feels

Transfer into another situation of an emotion felt in previous situation where it’s expression would not have been socially acceptable

Unused energy or impulses towards a socially approved situation; substituting a socially acceptable activity for an impulse that is unacceptable

Expression of an emotional conflict through the development of a physical symptom, usually sensorimotor in nature

Fusion of two or more ideas or experiences into one experience or manifestation

An idea or object is used to represent some other idea or object

To eradicate or eliminate the existence of a previous painful experience; exhibiting acceptable behavior to make up for or negate unacceptable behavior

Backward turning to earlier patterns of behavior in solving personal conflicts

The overuse of intellectual concepts and words to avoid affective experience or expression of feelings; acknowledging the facts but not the emotions

Replacing the desired gratification with one that is more readily available

Immobilization of a portion of the personality resulting from unsuccessful completion of tasks in a developmental stage

Woman has no memory of the mugging she suffered yesterday.

Woman has no memory before age 7, when she was removed from abusive parents.

Student decides not to think about a parent’s illness to study for a test.

Woman tells a friend she cannot think about her son’s death right now.

Amnesia that prevents recall of yesterday’s auto accident

Adult remembers nothing of childhood sexual abuse.

Nursing student becoming a critical care nurse because this is the specialty of an instructor she admires

Person who dislikes guns becomes an avid hunter, just like a best friend.

Man who has thought about same-gender sexual relationship, but never had one, beats a man who is gay.

Person with many prejudices loudly identifies others as bigots

Spending money freely when broke

Waiting 3 days to seek help for severe abdominal pain

Student blames failure on teacher being mean.

Man says he beats his wife because she doesn’t listen to him.

Nurse with low self-esteem working double shifts so her supervisor will like her

Woman who never wanted to have children becomes a supermom.

Person who despises the boss tells everyone what a great boss she is.

Person who is mad at the boss yells at his or her spouse.

Child who is harassed by a bully at school mistreats a younger sibling.

Person who has quit smoking sucks on hard candy when the urge to smoke arises.

Person goes for a 15-minute walk when tempted to eat junk food.

A 5-year-old asks for a bottle when new baby brother is being fed.

Man pouts like a 4-year-old if he is not the center of his girlfriend’s attention.

Person shows no emotional expression when discussing serious car accident.

Woman who would like to have her own children opens a day care center.

Never learning to delay gratification

Lack of a clear sense of identity as an adult