3 Mysterious “Defense Mechanisms” And How to Use Them For Your Advantage

Do you know what are defense mechanisms? A lot of people don’t know about them but they use them almost every day. Sigmund Freud used the term “defense mechanism” in his psychoanalytic theory.

How Do These Defense Mechanisms Work?

According to Freud’s model of personality, the ego is the main part of our personality that deals with reality and creates a balance between the id and superego.

While doing its main job, the ego also copes with the conflict and stress between the id and the Superego with the help of defense mechanisms. The ego is called the “smartest” of all three.

• “Id” is the part of the personality that just wants to fulfill all needs, wants, and impulses. It does not think about moral principles or appropriateness.
• “Superego” is the part of our personality that tries to act in a moral and idealistic manner. It comprises internalized values and morals we acquire from friends, family, religion, society, and other influences.

Here is an example:

When the ego can’t balance between the id and superego, it creates anxiety. Defense mechanisms help the ego to reduce this anxiety.

Sigmund Freud’s Defense Mechanisms

There are more than 10 defense mechanisms that we use but these 3 are the most common ones:

1. Denial

This is the best-known defense mechanism of all. It occurs when you deny accepting the facts or reality. For instance, someone in a toxic relationship may tell themselves that their partner is acting out of character when they harm or abuse them.

When someone dies, their family might take days, months, or even years to accept the harsh reality of discarding their close one’s belongings just because they are in a period of denial.

The ego uses this defense mechanism to give time to cope with the painful truth. This defense mechanism is completely normal especially when someone is in a great shock or trauma. It gives you time to adjust yourself in distressing situations.

But NOT every time because if someone has a serious disease and he is continuously denying it that it can’t happen or he is not ill then it means denying can interfere with treatment or his ability to fight challenges.

2. Displacement

Displacement involves taking out your feelings and frustrations on other people or things that are less threatening to you.

We sometimes take out our frustration or anger on our family members just because we had a bad day at work or university and that’s not a healthy way to deal with stress.

Imagine you’re at your office, and your boss sarcastically talked with you in front of your colleagues about your attitude at work and that made you feel bad, you can’t argue with your boss now. But you will take out your frustration somewhere else like your children, spouse, or mother which is not good.

Knowledge about the “displacement” defense mechanism will help you change your reaction next time. For example, you can remain silent, comfort yourself, and talk to someone close about it.

These are the healthy coping mechanisms that you can use to overcome displacement rather than taking out your frustration on the people you love.

3. Sublimation

Sublimation is the healthiest defense mechanism of all. It involves taking negative self-concepts and then converting them into more socially acceptable concepts that are beneficial and good for you.

For instance, someone has gone through trauma but instead of using it negatively, they are using it to help others so others may not experience the same as they did in their life.

A woman who was in an abusive relationship in the past joined a group of women who help women in need, instead of repressing and denying what happened to her.

“The ego should be our weapon, not our master”

A healthy ego helps us to stand up and establish ourselves.

Defense mechanisms are an interesting topic to discuss. They help us to understand how we react and why are we reacting in a particular way. With this knowledge of defense mechanisms, you can differentiate between your reactions and alter yourself to be more productive in life. Freud changed our perspective about our reactions.

Just like these 3 important defense mechanisms have helped me in life. I hope they will help you to understand your reactions too.

This article was originally published on Medium. Here is the link -