Defence Mechanisms Essay

Defence mechanisms are psychological actions brought in by the unconscious mind to change, deny or become a twisted reality. Defence mechanisms are usually referred to as ego defence mechanisms. A defence mechanism forms when anxiety occurs, this then means that the defence mechanisms will be triggered off. All defence mechanisms share two common properties they appear unconsciously and they tend to disfigure, transform a person’s reality. Defence mechanisms occur in some level in every person. Many play important roles in socialization and allowing the way in which people function in society. Others are seen as problems and they show signs of clients developing a dangerous psychological issue. For example regression, this means you return to a childlike state, this defence mechanism can get very dangerous as it can lead to clinical issues. There are many different defence mechanisms such as: Projection- Suggesting that others share the negative beliefs and thoughts you have, making yourself think that everyone thinks like that so it is okay to think like that as well. This can lead to very irrational thoughts. Such as when someone is depressed they then start to believe thoughts that their mind has made up maybe leading them to become suicidal. Displacement- Turning emotion into physical action (aggression) May tend to lash out to get rid of the emotion that have inside. This could lead to putting themselves and others into very serious danger as they could get progressively aggressive. This often occurs in mental health as they don’t know how to deal with certain emotions and situations. Rationalization- Illogical thoughts and explanations for your behaviour. Making up excuses just to get away with it. Making up things that don’t make sense. This could lead to them believing their own thoughts and starting to think they are real, sending them mentally ill. This could be when a doctor/surgeon makes a mistake during a procedure and they try to cover up their mistakes by using excuse and lies. Isolation- Removal of all emotional reactions so they are in emotional denial. Can’t cope with all of the emotion. In a hospital a nurse/doctor could not like a patient because of different beliefs and maybe ersonalities so provides them with different treatment. If someone is in denial then they will force themselves to not believe what they have been told to be true and not accept it. For example a person is diagnosed with a terminal disease, they will not believe it and just block it out so they don’t have to deal with it as they don’t know how to. They are refusing to accept the situation they are in. Eventually that person will have forced it out of their head so much that they generally think it hasn’t happened and it was all just a lie. Regression this is when you return to a childlike state acting immature, for example in a family when a new sibling arrives the other sibling gets jealous so therefore they may start to wet the bed as they want attention as they feel as if the other sibling is getting all of their parents attentions (feeling left out. ) Some people may go to therapy to identify the defence mechanisms that benefit them and work in a good way and also to identify the defence mechanisms that are really dangerous and that they shouldn’t be using.