Defense
mechanisms are unconscious resources used by the ego to reduce conflict between
the id and superego and thereby reduced anxiety. For that reason they are more
accurately referred to as ego defense mechanisms.

Ego Defense
mechanisms:
Defense mechanisms
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Example
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Compensation
Covering up a real or perceived weakness by emphasizing a trait one
considers more desirable
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A physically handicapped boy is unable to participate in football, so he
compensates by becoming a great scholar.
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Denial
Refusing to acknowledge the existence of a real situation or the
feelings associated with it
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A woman drinks
alcohol every day and cannot stop, failing to acknowledge that she has a
roblem
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Displacement
The transfer of feelings from one target to another that is considered
less threatening or that is neutral
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A client is angry at his doctor, does not express it, but becomes
verbally abusive with the nurse.
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Identification
An attempt to increase self-worth by acquiring certain attributes and
characteristics of an individual one admires
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A teenaged boy
who required lengthy rehabilitation after an accident decides to become a
physical therapist as a result of his ex eriences.
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Intellectualization
An attempt to avoid expressing actual emotions associated with a
stressful situation by using the intellectual processes of logic, reasoning,
and analysis
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Susan's husband is being transferred with his job to a city far away from
her parents. She hides anxiety by explaining to her parents the advantages
associated with the move.
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Introjection
Integrating the beliefs and values of another individual into one's own
ego structure
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Children
integrate their parents' value system into the process of conscience
formation. A child says to friend, "Don't cheat. It's wrong.
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Isolation
Separating a thought or memory from the feelin tone or emotion
associated with it
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Without showing any emotion, a young woman describes being attacked and
raped.
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Projection
Attributing feelings or impulses unacceptable to one's self to another
erson
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A person who
blames another for his own mistakes is using the projection mechanism. A
surgeon whose atient does not responds as he anticipated, may tend to blame
the theater nurse who helped the surgeon at the time of operation.
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Rationalization
Attempting to make excuses or formulate logical reasons to justify
unacceptable feelings or behaviors
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John tells the rehab nurse, "I drink because it's the only way I can
deal with my bad marriage and my worse job."
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Reaction formation
Preventing unacceptable or undesirable thoughts or behaviors from being
expressed by exaggerating opposite thoughts or types of behaviors
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Jane hates
nursing. She attended nursing school to please her parents. During career
day, she speaks to prospective students about the excellence of nursing as a
career.
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Regression
Responding to stress by retreating to an earlier level of development
and the comfort measures associated with that level of functioning
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When 2-year-old Jay is hospitalized for tonsillitis he will drink only from
a bottle, although his mother states he has been drinking from a cup for 6
months.
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Repression
Involuntarily
blocking unpleasant feelings and experiaences from one's awareness
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An accident
victim can remember nothing about the accident.
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Sublimation
Rechanneling of drives or impulses that are personally or socially
unacceptable into activities that are constructive
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A mother whose son was killed by a drunk driver channels her anger and
energy into being the president of the local chapter of Mothers Against Drunk
Drivers.
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Suppression
The voluntary
blocking of unpleasant feelings and experiences from one's awareness
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Mr. Ram says,
"l don't want to think about that now. I'll think about that tomorrow.'
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Undoing
Symbolically negating or canceling out an experience that one finds
intolerable
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Joe is nervous about his new job and yells at his wife. On his way home,
he stops and buys her some flowers.
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Relevance to
nursing practice: The nurse must recognize and understand maladaptive defense
mechanisms that patients use. The nurse has to carefully point out these mechanisms
and work with patients to discourage such behaviours and encourage adaptive
ones.
References
1.Townsend MC.
Psychiatric/ Mental Health Nursing. 5thedition. Philadelphia: F.A. Davis
Company; 201
2.Sreevani R A
Guide to Mental Health and Psvchiatric Nursing-yd ed. New Delhi: Jaypee
brothers2010.
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