The mechanism of psychological defense is denial. Defense mechanisms according to Freud with examples

The concept of the mechanisms of psychological defense was formed within the framework of the psychoanalytic trend in psychology. Psychological defense consists of a number of specific methods of processing experiences that neutralize the pathogenic effect that these experiences can have. The concept of psychological defense was introduced by Freud and developed by his daughter A. Freud. The most common definition of Tashlykov: protective mechanisms are "adaptive mechanisms aimed at reducing pathogenic emotional stress, protecting against painful feelings and memories and further development of psychological and physiological disorders." All defense mechanisms have two characteristics in common: 1) they are usually unconscious, 2) they distort, deny or falsify reality. Psychological defense mechanisms vary in maturity. The most infantile, immature mechanisms are considered to be repression and denial - they are characteristic of young children, as well as for the most socially immature type of personality - hysterical. Adolescence is more characterized by mechanisms that occupy an intermediate position in terms of maturity: identification and isolation. The most mature defense mechanisms include sublimation, rationalization, and intellectualization. The following psychological defense mechanisms are more often described.

1. Crowding out. The mechanism of repression was described by Freud, who considered it central in the formation of neurotic disorders. Repression is a psychological defense mechanism by which impulses (desires, thoughts, feelings) unacceptable to the individual that cause anxiety become unconscious. The repressed (suppressed) impulses, not finding resolution in behavior, nevertheless retain their emotional and psycho-vegetative components. During repression, the content side of the psychotraumatic situation is not realized, and the emotional stress caused by it is perceived as unmotivated anxiety.

2. Denial - psychological defense mechanism, which consists in denial, unawareness (lack of perception) of any psycho-traumatic circumstance. As an outward process, "denial" is often contrasted with "repression" as a psychological defense against internal, instinctive demands and urges. As a psychological defense mechanism, denial is realized in any external conflicts and is characterized by a pronounced distortion of the perception of reality, when an individual does not perceive information that contradicts his basic attitudes, ideas about the world and himself.

3. Reactive formations. This type of psychological defense is often identified with hypercompensation. Reactive formations include the replacement of "Ego" - unacceptable tendencies with directly opposite ones. For example, a child's exaggerated love for one of the parents may be a transformation of a socially unacceptable feeling of hatred towards him. Pity or caring can be seen as reactive formations in relation to unconscious callousness, cruelty or emotional indifference.

4. Regression - return to an earlier stage of development or to more primitive forms of behavior, thinking. For example, hysterical reactions such as vomiting, finger sucking, baby talk, excessive sentimentality, preference for "romantic love" and neglect of sexual relations in an adult person come into play when the "Ego" is unable to accept reality as it is. Regression, like reactive formations, characterizes an infantile and neurotic personality.

5. Insulation- separation of affect from intellectual functions. Unpleasant emotions are blocked in such a way that the connection between a certain event and its emotional experience does not appear in consciousness. In its phenomenology, this psychological defense mechanism resembles alienation syndrome in psychiatry, which is characterized by the experience of loss of emotional connection with other people.

6. Identification - protection from a threatening object by identifying oneself with it. So, a little boy unconsciously tries to be like his father, whom he is afraid of, and thereby earn his love and respect. Thanks to the mechanism of identification, the symbolic possession of an unattainable but desirable object is also achieved. Identification can occur with almost any object - another person, animal, inanimate object, idea, etc.

7. Projection. The projection mechanism is based on the process by which feelings and thoughts that are unconscious and unacceptable to the individual are localized outside and attributed to other people. An aggressive person is inclined, evaluating himself as a sensitive, vulnerable and sensitive person, to attribute aggressive traits to others, projecting responsibility for socially unapproved aggressive tendencies onto them. Examples of hypocrisy are well known, when an individual constantly ascribes to others his own immoral aspirations.

8. Substitution (shift). The action of this protective mechanism is manifested in a kind of "discharge" of repressed emotions, usually hostility and anger, directed at the weaker, defenseless (animals, children, subordinates). In this case, the subject may perform unexpected, in some cases meaningless actions that resolve internal tension.

9. Rationalization- a pseudo-reasonable explanation by a person of his desires, actions, in fact caused by reasons, the recognition of which would threaten the loss of self-respect. The most striking manifestations of the rationalization mechanism are called "sour grapes" and "sweet lemon". The "sour grape" defense consists in devaluing the unattainable, lowering the value of what the subject cannot obtain. The “sweet lemon” type of defense aims not so much to discredit an inaccessible object as to exaggerate the value of what a person really possesses. Rationalization mechanisms are most often used in situations of loss, protecting against depressive experiences.

10. Sublimation- psychological protection through desexualization of the initial impulses and their transformation into socially acceptable forms of activity. Aggressiveness can be sublimated in sports, eroticism in friendship, exhibitionism in the habit of wearing bright, catchy clothes.

Psychological protection- these are unconscious processes occurring in the psyche, aimed at minimizing the impact of negative experiences. Protective tools are the basis of resistance processes. Psychological defense, as a concept, was first voiced by Freud, who initially meant by it, first of all, repression (active, motivated elimination of something from consciousness).

The functions of psychological defenses are to reduce the confrontation that occurs within the personality, relieve tension due to the confrontation of the impulses of the unconscious and the accepted requirements of the environment that arise as a result of social interaction. By minimizing such conflict, safety mechanisms regulate human behavior, increasing its adaptive capacity.

What is psychological protection?

The human psyche is characterized by the ability to protect itself from negative surroundings around or internal influences.

The psychological defense of the individual is present in every human subject, but varies in intensity.

Psychological protection guards the mental health of people, protects their "I" from the impact of stressful influences, increased anxiety, negative, destructive thoughts, from confrontations leading to poor health.

Psychological defense as a concept appeared in 1894 thanks to the famous psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud, who came to the conclusion that the subject can show two different response impulses to unpleasant situations. He can either keep them in a conscious state, or distort such circumstances in order to reduce their scope or deflect them in a different direction.

All protective mechanisms are characterized by two features that connect them. First of all, they are unconscious. activates protection spontaneously, not understanding what he is doing. Secondly, the main task of protective tools is the maximum possible distortion of reality or its absolute denial, so that the subject ceases to perceive it as disturbing or unsafe. It should be emphasized that often human individuals use several protection mechanisms simultaneously to protect their own person from unpleasant, threatening events. However, such a distortion cannot be considered deliberate or exaggerated.

At the same time, despite the fact that all available protective acts are aimed at protecting the human psyche, preventing it from falling into, helping to endure stressful effects, they often cause harm. The human subject cannot constantly exist in a state of renunciation or blaming others for his own troubles, replacing reality with a distorted picture that has fallen out of.

Psychological protection, in addition, can interfere with the development of a person. It can become an obstacle on the path of success.

The negative consequences of the phenomenon under consideration occur with a steady repetition of a certain defense mechanism in similar situations of being, however, individual events, although similar to those that initially provoked the activation of the defense, do not need to be covered, since the subject himself can consciously find a solution to the problem that has arisen.

Also, defense mechanisms turn into a destructive force when a person uses several of them at the same time. A subject who often resorts to defense mechanisms is doomed to be a loser.

Psychological defense of the individual is not an innate skill. It is acquired during the passage of the baby. The main source of the formation of internal protection mechanisms and examples of their application are parents who “infect” their own children with their example of using protection.

Personal psychological defense mechanisms

A special system of personality regulation, aimed at protecting against negative, traumatic, unpleasant experiences caused by contradictions, anxiety and a state of discomfort, is called psychological protection, the functional purpose of which is to minimize intrapersonal confrontation, reduce tension, and relieve anxiety. Weakening internal contradictions, psychological hidden "safeties" regulate the behavioral reactions of the individual, increasing its adaptive ability and balancing the psyche.

Freud had previously outlined the theories of the conscious, the unconscious and the concept of the subconscious, where he emphasized that internal defense mechanisms are an integral part of the unconscious. He argued that the human subject often encounters unpleasant stimuli that are threatening and can cause stress or lead to a breakdown. Without internal "safeties", the ego of the personality will undergo disintegration, which will make it impossible to make decisions in everyday life. Psychological protection acts as a shock absorber. It helps individuals cope with negativity and pain.

Modern psychological science distinguishes 10 mechanisms of internal protection, which are classified according to the degree of maturity into defensive (for example, isolation, rationalization, intellectualization) and projective (denial, repression). The first ones are more mature. They allow negative or traumatic information to enter their consciousness, but interpret it for themselves in a “painless” way. The second ones are more primitive, since traumatic information is not allowed into consciousness.

Today, psychological "safeties" are considered reactions that the individual resorts to using unconsciously in order to protect their own internal mental components, the "Ego" from anxiety, confrontation, feelings, guilt, feelings.

The underlying mechanisms of psychological defense are differentiated according to such parameters as the level of conflict processing inside, the reception of reality distortion, the level of the amount of energy expended to maintain a certain mechanism, the level of the individual and the type of mental disorder that appears as a result of addiction to a certain defense mechanism.

Freud, using his own three-component model of the structure of the psyche, suggested that individual mechanisms arise even at the childhood age stage.

Psychological defense examples of it in life are found all the time. Often a person, in order not to pour out anger on the boss, pours out flows of negative information on employees, since they are less significant objects for him.

It often happens that the safety mechanisms start to work incorrectly. The reason for this failure is the individual's desire for peace. Hence, when the desire for psychological comfort begins to prevail over the desire to comprehend the world, minimizing the risk of going beyond the boundaries of the usual, well-established defense mechanisms cease to function adequately, which leads to.

Protective protective mechanisms constitute the security complex of the personality, but at the same time they can lead to its disintegration. Each individual has his favorite defense variation.

Psychological defense is an example of this desire to find a reasonable explanation for even the most ridiculous behavior. This is how rationalization tends to be.

However, there is a fine line that lies between the adequate use of the preferred mechanism and the violation of the equivalent balance in their functioning. Trouble arises in individuals when the chosen "fuse" is absolutely not suitable for the situation.

Types of psychological protection

Among the scientifically recognized and frequently encountered internal "shields" there are about 50 types of psychological protection. Below are the main methods of protection used.

First of all, we can single out sublimation, the concept of which was defined by Freud. He considered it a process of transforming libido into a lofty aspiration and socially necessary activity. According to Freud's concept, this is the main effective protective mechanism during the maturation of the personality. The preference for sublimation as the main strategy speaks of the mental maturation and formation of the personality.

There are 2 key variations of sublimation: primary and secondary. In the first case, the original task to which the personality is directed is preserved, which is expressed relatively directly, for example, barren parents decide to adopt. In the second case, individuals abandon the initial task and choose another task, which can be achieved at a higher level of mental activity, as a result of which sublimation is of an indirect nature.

An individual who has not been able to adapt with the help of the primary form of the defense mechanism may step over to the secondary form.

The next frequently used technique is, which is found in the involuntary movement of unacceptable impulses or thoughts into the unconscious. Simply put, repression is motivated forgetting. When the function of this mechanism is insufficient to reduce anxiety, other methods of protection are involved that contribute to the repressed information to appear in a distorted light.

Regression is an unconscious "descent" to an early stage of adaptation, allowing you to satisfy desires. It can be symbolic, partial or complete. Many problems of emotional orientation have regressive signs. In its normal manifestation, regression can be detected in gaming processes, in illnesses (for example, a sick individual requires more attention and increased care).

Projection is a mechanism for assigning desires, feelings, thoughts to another individual or object, which the subject consciously rejects in himself. Separate variations of the projection are easily found in everyday life. Most human subjects are completely uncritical about personal shortcomings, but they easily notice them in the environment. People tend to blame the surrounding society for their sorrows. In this case, the projection can be harmful, since it often causes an erroneous interpretation of reality. This mechanism mainly works in vulnerable individuals and immature personalities.

The opposite of the above technique is introjection or inclusion of oneself. In early personal maturation, it plays an important role, since parental values ​​are comprehended on its basis. The mechanism is updated due to the loss of the next of kin. With the help of introjection, the differences between one's own person and the object of love are eliminated. Sometimes, or towards someone, negative impulses are transformed into depreciation of oneself and self-criticism, due to the introjection of such a subject.

Rationalization is a mechanism that justifies the behavioral response of individuals, their thoughts, feelings, which are actually unacceptable. This technique is considered the most common psychological defense mechanism.

Human behavior is determined by many factors. When an individual explains behavioral reactions in the most acceptable way for his own personality, then rationalization occurs. An unconscious rationalization technique should not be confused with conscious lying or deliberate deception. Rationalization contributes to the preservation of self-esteem, avoidance of responsibility and guilt. In every rationalization there is some truth, but there is more self-deception in it. This makes her unsafe.

Intellectualization involves the exaggerated use of intellectual potential in order to eliminate emotional experiences. This technique is characterized by a close relationship with rationalization. It replaces the direct experience of feelings with thoughts about them.

Compensation is an unconscious attempt to overcome real or imagined defects. The mechanism under consideration is considered universal, because the acquisition of status is the most important need of almost every individual. Compensation can be socially acceptable (for example, a blind person becomes a famous musician) and unacceptable (for example, disability compensation is transformed into conflict and aggression). They also distinguish between direct compensation (in an obviously unprofitable area, the individual is striving for success) and indirect (the tendency to establish his own person in another area).

Reaction formation is a mechanism that replaces unacceptable impulses for awareness with exorbitant, opposite tendencies. This technique is characterized by two stages. In the first turn, an unacceptable desire is forced out, after which its antithesis increases. For example, overprotection may hide feelings of rejection.

The mechanism of denial is the rejection of thoughts, feelings, urges, needs, or reality that are unacceptable at the level of consciousness. The individual behaves as if the problem situation does not exist. The primitive way of denial is inherent in children. Adults are more likely to use the described method in situations of serious crisis.

Displacement is the redirection of emotional responses from one object to an acceptable replacement. For example, instead of the employer, subjects take out aggressive feelings on the family.

Methods and techniques of psychological protection

Many eminent psychologists argue that the ability to protect oneself from negative emotional reactions of envious people and ill-wishers, the ability to maintain spiritual harmony in all sorts of unpleasant circumstances and not respond to annoying, insulting attacks, is a characteristic feature of a mature personality, an emotionally developed and intellectually formed individual. This is a guarantee of health and the main difference between a successful individual. This is the positive side of the function of psychological defenses. Therefore, subjects experiencing pressure from society and taking on negative psychological attacks of spiteful critics need to learn adequate methods of protection from negative influences.

First of all, you need to realize that an irritated and emotionally depressed individual cannot restrain emotional outbursts and adequately respond to criticism.

Methods of psychological defense that help to cope with aggressive manifestations are given below.

One of the techniques that contribute to the repulsion of negative emotions is the “wind of change”. You need to remember all the words and intonations that cause the most painful intonation, to understand what can be guaranteed to knock the ground out, unbalance or plunge you into depression. It is recommended to remember and vividly imagine the circumstances when the ill-wisher tries to annoy with the help of certain words, intonation or facial expressions. You should also say inside yourself the words that hurt the most. You can visualize the facial expressions of an opponent uttering offensive words.

This state of powerless anger or, on the contrary, loss, must be felt inside, disassembled by individual sensations. You need to be aware of your own feelings and changes occurring in the body (for example, your heartbeat may become more frequent, anxiety will appear, your legs will “weep”) and remember them. Then you should imagine yourself standing in a strong wind that blows away all the negativity, offensive words and attacks of the ill-wisher, as well as reciprocal negative emotions.

The described exercise is recommended to be done several times in a quiet room. It will help you later be much calmer about aggressive attacks. Faced in reality with a situation where someone is trying to offend, humiliate, you should imagine yourself being in the wind. Then the words of the spiteful critic will sink into oblivion without reaching the goal.

The next method of psychological defense is called the "absurd situation." Here, a person is advised not to wait for aggression, a splash of offensive words, ridicule. It is necessary to adopt the well-known phraseological unit "to make an elephant out of a fly." In other words, it is necessary to bring any problem to the point of absurdity with the help of exaggeration. Feeling ridicule or insult from the opponent, one should exaggerate this situation in such a way that the words that follow this give rise to only laughter and frivolity. With this method of psychological defense, you can easily disarm the interlocutor and for a long time discourage him from offending other people.

You can also imagine opponents as three-year-old crumbs. This will help you learn to treat their attacks less painfully. You need to imagine yourself as a teacher, and opponents as a kindergarten kid who runs, jumps, screams. Gets angry and fussy. Is it really possible to be seriously angry at a three-year-old unintelligent baby?!

The next method is called "ocean". The water spaces, which occupy a huge part of the land, constantly take in the seething streams of the rivers, but this cannot disturb their majestic steadfastness and tranquility. Also, a person can take an example from the ocean, remaining confident and calm, even when the streams of abuse pour out.

The technique of psychological defense called "aquarium" consists in imagining oneself behind the thick edges of the aquarium while feeling the attempts of the environment to unbalance. It is necessary to look at the opponent pouring out a sea of ​​negativity and endlessly pouring offensive words from behind the thick walls of the aquarium, imagining his physiognomy distorted by anger, but not feeling the words, because the water absorbs them. Consequently, negative attacks will not reach the goal, the person will remain balanced, which will further disperse the opponent and make him lose his balance.

Introduction

In situations where the intensity of the need increases, and the conditions for its satisfaction are absent, behavior is regulated using psychological defense mechanisms.

Psychological defense is defined as a normal mechanism aimed at preventing behavioral disorders not only within the framework of conflicts between consciousness and the unconscious, but also between different emotionally charged attitudes.

This special mental activity is realized in the form of specific information processing techniques that can protect a person from shame and loss of self-esteem in the context of a motivational conflict.

Psychological defense is manifested in the tendency of a person to maintain a habitual opinion about himself, rejecting or distorting information that is regarded as unfavorable and destroys the initial ideas about himself and others.

The concept of psychological defense in the concept of Z. Freud

For the first time, Z. Freud turned to the concept of psychological defense in his work “Neuropsychology of Defense” (1894). Freud proposed the following concept of personality. The mental apparatus of the individual is divided into three areas.

1. "It" - the unconscious instinctive region of impulses and instincts that seek satisfaction, obeying the principle of pleasure.

2. "I" - the conscious area. The main task of the "I" is to censor the impulses emanating from the "It" area. For this censorship "I" uses the mechanisms of psychological defense.

3. "Over I" - the heir to the Oedipus complex. The area of ​​moral assessment is the ideal "I", the awareness of how the "I" should look in accordance with the requirements of society and public morality.

Based on his concept of the mental apparatus of the individual, Z. Freud put forward the following provisions:

1. The leading role in human behavior, in his mental life is played by the unconscious.. The content of the unconscious is made up of innate instincts. According to Freud, there are two such instincts: sexual (“eros” or libido) and aggression, the desire for destruction (“thanatos”). In addition, the content of the unconscious includes desires, affects, ousted from consciousness due to their unacceptability or undesirability (cultural unacceptability or trauma for the subject).

2. The drives of the unconscious are in conflict with the norms of culture.

Z. Freud argued that human instincts are inherently asocial and selfish. Social norms are a bridle that throws itself on them and thereby makes possible the coexistence of people.

3. The mental and social development of a person goes through the establishment of a balance between instincts and cultural norms . Thus, in the process of development, the human ego is forced to constantly seek a compromise between the energy of the unconscious rushing outward and what is allowed by society.

4. This balance, compromise is established through the protective mechanisms of the psyche.. A protective mechanism is a specific change in the content of consciousness that occurs in a situation of internal conflict.

Defense mechanisms come into play when achieving a goal in a normal way is impossible or when a person believes that it is impossible. It is important to emphasize that these are not ways to achieve the desired goal, but ways to organize partial and temporary peace of mind in order to gather strength to really overcome the difficulties that have arisen, that is, resolve the conflict by appropriate actions. In this case, people react differently to their internal difficulties. Some, denying their existence, suppress the inclinations that cause them discomfort, and reject some of their desires as unreal and impossible.

Adaptation in this case is achieved by changing perception.

At first, the person denies what is not desirable, but gradually can get used to this orientation, really forget the painful signals and act as if they did not exist.

Other people overcome conflicts by trying to manipulate the objects that disturb them, seeking to master events and change them in the right direction.

Still others find their way out in self-justification and indulgence to their motives, while others resort to various forms of self-deception.

It would be especially difficult and sometimes impossible for individuals with a particularly rigid system of behavioral principles to act in a diverse and changeable environment if the protective mechanisms did not protect their psyche.

Defense mechanisms can be effective or ineffective (depending on whether a person manages to cope with the energy of the unconscious without pathological symptoms).

Thus, the mechanisms of psychological defense are a way of the struggle of the “I” against painful, unbearable experiences for the subject.

All psychological defense mechanisms distort reality in order to preserve mental health and integrity of the individual. In this case the price of mental health:

- distorted reality

- a distorted image of "I",

- distorted outside world.

Psychological defense mechanisms are formed initially in interpersonal relationships, then they become internal characteristics of a person, i.e. in individual experience, one or another protective form of behavior is learned.

Main features psychological defense mechanisms (intrapsychic defense mechanisms):

1) impulsiveness (mechanisms of psychological defense do not depend on the will);

2) distortion of reality;

3) lack of awareness by the subject of protective forms of behavior.

Main functions psychological defense mechanisms:

1) maintaining personal integrity,

2) maintaining mental health, a certain "I-image". Moreover, as established in the studies of various psychologists, it is important for a person to preserve not so much a prosperous, but a familiar, stable idea of ​​himself. This very clearly demonstrates the so-called "discomfort of success." Its essence is that a person who is accustomed to failure, having achieved success, victory, seeks to minimize it, to devalue it;

3) regulation of interpersonal relations.

Psychological defense mechanisms

One of the situations in which defense mechanisms are activated is frustration.

frustration- this is the mental state of a person in the event of obstacles on his way to achieving the goal, which he perceives as insurmountable.

Psychological defense mechanisms usually include denial, repression, projection, identification, rationalization, inclusion, substitution, alienation, and others.

Sublimation(in literal translation - “sublimation”) - one of the protective mechanisms, which is a subconscious replacement of one, forbidden or practically unattainable goal with another, permitted and more accessible, capable of at least partially satisfying an urgent need.

Sublimation is a kind of translation of the energy of the unconscious into a socially acceptable channel. So the sexual instinct can be sublimated through artistic creation, or through caring for the underprivileged, or even through affection for pets. Aggression can be sublimated through some professions (for example, the military profession) or sports achievements.

This defense mechanism can manifest itself in a completely different way. For example, a person who cannot realize himself in the business sphere begins to devote a lot of time to his hobby or, experiencing emotional difficulties, eats a lot.

Negation It boils down to the fact that information that disturbs and can lead to conflict is not perceived.

This refers to the conflict that arises when motives appear that contradict the basic attitudes of the individual, or information that threatens self-preservation, prestige, self-esteem.

This method of protection comes into play in conflicts of any kind, without requiring prior training, and is characterized by a noticeable distortion in the perception of reality.

Denial is formed in childhood and often does not allow a person to adequately assess what is happening around, which, in turn, causes difficulty in behavior.

crowding out- the most universal way to avoid internal conflict by actively turning off unacceptable motive or unpleasant information from consciousness.

Repression is an unconscious psychological act in which inappropriate information or motive is censored at the threshold of consciousness.

Injured self-esteem, hurt pride and resentment can give rise to declaring false motives for one's actions in order to hide the true ones not only from others, but also from oneself.

True, but not pleasant, motives are repressed in order to be replaced by others that are acceptable from the point of view of the social environment and therefore do not cause shame and remorse.

A false motive in this case can be dangerous because it allows you to cover up personal egoistic aspirations with socially acceptable arguments.

The repressed motive, not finding resolution in behavior, retains its emotional and vegetative components.

Despite the fact that the content side of the traumatic situation is not realized and a person can actively forget the very fact that he has committed some unseemly act, nevertheless, the conflict persists, and the emotional-vegetative stress caused by it can subjectively be perceived as a state of indefinite anxiety. Therefore, repressed drives can manifest themselves in neurotic and psychophysiological symptoms.

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Projection- unconscious transfer of one's own feelings, desires and inclinations, in which a person does not want to admit to himself, realizing their social unacceptability, to another person.

When a person has shown aggression towards someone, he often has a tendency to lower the attractive qualities of the victim.

A person who constantly ascribes to others his own aspirations, contrary to his moral standards, received a special name - a hypocrite.

There are different types of projections.

Complementary- attributing to another that state that the subject does not have, but in addition to the state of the subject (for example, if I feel jealous, then I attribute treason to another).

Attributive- naive judgment with a lack of knowledge ("others are the same as us"). Example: students who, according to teachers, often cheat, believe that all students cheat.

simulative- attributing one's own qualities, which the subject is not aware of, to other people. For example, parents can attribute their own negative traits to their child.

Pangloss-Cassandra. Pangloss is the hero of one of Voltaire's stories. This hero saw the world through rose-colored glasses. Cassandra predicted the death of Troy, projected a sense of doom onto the outside world. The opposite of what the subject feels is attributed to another person (I attribute hatred to me to another, I myself feel love for him).

Pangloss: I myself feel hostility towards the world (unconsciously), I assume that everyone loves me. Cassandra is the opposite. This type of protection is aimed at overcoming the tendency of a very strong rapprochement with other people.

Both positive and negative experiences can be attributed. Denial diverts attention from painful ideas and feelings, but does not make them completely inaccessible to consciousness. A person simply ignores painful realities and acts as if they do not exist.

Identification- an unconscious transfer to oneself of feelings and qualities inherent in another person and not available, but desirable for oneself.

In children, this is the simplest mechanism for assimilating the norms of social behavior and ethical values.

So, the boy unconsciously tries to be like his father and thereby earn his warmth and respect.

Through identification, the symbolic possession of a desired but unattainable object is also achieved.

Rationalization- a pseudo-reasonable explanation by a person of his, desires, actions, in fact caused by reasons, the recognition of which would threaten the loss of self-respect.

In particular, it is associated with an attempt to reduce the value of the inaccessible.

Rationalization is used by a person in those special cases when, fearing to realize the situation, he tries to hide from himself the fact that his actions are prompted by motives that are in conflict with his own moral standards.

A method of psychological defense close to rationalization is inclusion, in which the significance of the traumatic factor is also overestimated.

For this, a new global system of values ​​is used, where the old system is included as a part, and then the relative importance of the traumatic factor decreases against the background of other, more powerful ones.

An example of protection by the type of inclusion can be catharsis - the relief of internal conflict with empathy.

If a person observes and empathizes with the dramatic situations of other people, which are significantly more painful and traumatic than those that disturb him, he begins to look at his troubles differently, evaluating them in comparison with others.

Intellectualization- a fact-based, overly "mental" way of experiencing conflicts and discussing them. It is finding acceptable reasons for unacceptable thoughts and actions.

Usually, some kind of explanation is invented for one's failures or failures, which are actually based on other reasons. For example, a doctor who cannot succeed in treatment due to his incompetence explains his failures with the help of various scientific theories, the complexity of the disease, etc.

Somatization- sickness care.

suppression limiting thoughts and actions in order to avoid those that may cause anxiety (for example, some people do not fly on airplanes).

Asceticism- denial, denying oneself pleasure (food, sleep, exercise, sexual satisfaction). Mostly occurs in adolescents during puberty.

fantasizing- an escape to the world of dreams, where all desires come true, where you are smart, strong, beautiful and lucky. Some simply run into the dream world, others fantasize out loud, publicly, talking about their "incredibly famous" acquaintances or relatives. Such a “positive self-demonstration” should serve to increase the value of a person in the eyes of others.

substitution– transferring an action directed at an inaccessible object to an action with an accessible object.

Substitution discharges the tension created by an inaccessible need, but does not lead to the desired goal.

When a person fails to perform the action necessary to achieve the goal set for him, he sometimes makes the first senseless movement that comes across, giving some kind of discharge to internal tension.

Such a substitution is often seen in life, when a person vents his irritation, anger, annoyance caused by one person, on another person or on the first object that comes across.

Isolation or alienation- isolation within the consciousness of traumatic human factors.

At the same time, unpleasant emotions are blocked from access to consciousness, so that the connection between some event and its emotional coloring is not reflected in consciousness.

This type of defense is reminiscent of the "alienation syndrome", which is characterized by a feeling of loss of emotional connection with other people, previously significant events or one's own experiences, although their reality is recognized.

The phenomena of derealization, depersonalization, and split personality may be associated with such protection.

The selectivity of a person's attitude to the group and the team is associated with the mediation of psychological protection.

It is a kind of filter that turns on when there is a significant mismatch of one's own system of values ​​and an assessment of one's own act or the actions of close people, separating desirable influences from undesirable ones, corresponding to the beliefs, needs and values ​​of the individual from inappropriate ones.

It is useful to keep in mind that the impact of psychological defense can help maintain a person’s internal comfort even if he violates social norms and prohibitions, since, by reducing the effectiveness of social control, it sets the stage for self-justification.

If a person, treating himself as a whole positively, admits into his consciousness the idea of ​​his imperfection, of shortcomings that manifest themselves in specific actions, then he embarks on the path of overcoming them.

He can change his actions, and new actions will transform his consciousness and thus his whole subsequent life.

If information about the discrepancy between the desired behavior that supports self-esteem and real actions is not allowed into consciousness, then conflict signals turn on psychological defense mechanisms and the conflict is not overcome, i.e. a person cannot embark on the path of self-improvement.

Only by translating unconscious impulses into consciousness can one achieve control over them, acquiring greater power over one's actions and increasing self-confidence.

Study

Object of study: a group of people

The purpose of the study: to identify the relationship between the type of temperament and the strategy of psychological defense in communication.

Method: questionnaire

The study includes two tests: to determine the type of temperament and to diagnose the dominant strategy of psychological defense in communication. After two tests are performed by one person, the results are determined and the characteristics of interest are compared.

Appendix:

Test "Diagnosis of the leading defense strategy in communication with partners"

Instructions for the test

Choose the answer that suits you best

test material

Knowing yourself, you can say:

I am rather a peace-loving, docile person;

I am rather a flexible person, able to avoid acute situations, avoid conflicts;

I am rather a person who goes straight, uncompromising, categorical.

When you mentally sort things out with your offender, then most often:

looking for a way to reconcile;

contemplate a way not to deal with him;

think about how to punish him or put him in his place.

In a controversial situation, when the partner clearly does not try or does not want to understand you, you are most likely to:

you will calmly seek to ensure that he understands you;

try to cut off communication with him;

you will get angry, offended or angry.

Continuation
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If, while protecting your important interests, you feel that you can quarrel with a good person, then:

make significant concessions;

retreat from your claims;

will defend your interests.

In a situation where they try to offend or humiliate you, you are likely to:

try to be patient and see things through to the end;

diplomatically leave contacts;

give a fitting rebuff.

In interaction with an overbearing and at the same time unfair leader, you:

will be able to cooperate in the name of the interests of the cause;

try to contact them as little as possible;

you will resist his style, actively defending your interests.

If the solution of the issue depends only on you, but the partner hurt your pride, then you:

go towards him;

walk away from a specific decision;

decide the issue is not in favor of the partner.

If one of your friends from time to time allows offensive attacks against you, you:

you will not attach much importance to this;

try to limit or stop contacts;

give a fitting rebuff every time.

If a partner has claims against you, and at the same time he is annoyed, then you are more accustomed to:

first to reassure him, and then respond to claims;

avoid a showdown with a partner in this state;

put it in its place or interrupt.

If one of your colleagues begins to tell you about the bad things that others say about you, then you:

tactfully listen to everything to the end;

skip past the ears;

interrupt the story in mid-sentence.

If a partner is too assertive and wants to benefit at your expense, then you:

make a concession for the sake of peace;

evade the final decision in the expectation that the partner will calm down and then you will return to the question;

make it clear to the partner that he will not benefit at your expense.

When you are dealing with a partner who acts on the principle of "grab more", you:

patiently achieve your goals;

prefer to limit interaction with him;

resolutely put such a partner in his place.

When dealing with an impudent person, you:

approach it through patience and diplomacy;

keep communication to a minimum;

operate in the same way.

When a disputant is hostile to you, you usually:

calmly and patiently overcome his mood;

move away from communication;

besiege him or respond in kind.

When you are asked unpleasant, nagging questions, you are most likely to:

calmly answer them;

move away from direct answers;

“turn on”, lose self-control.

When there are sharp disagreements between you and your partner, it is most often:

makes you look for a way out, find a compromise, make concessions;

encourages smoothing out contradictions, not emphasizing differences in positions;

activates the desire to prove their case.

If your partner wins the argument, you are more accustomed to:

congratulate him on his victory;

pretend that nothing special is happening;

"fight to the last bullet."

In cases where relationships with a partner become conflicting, you have made it a rule for yourself:

“peace at any cost” - to admit defeat, to apologize, to meet the wishes of a partner;

“pass to the side” - limit contacts, get away from the dispute;

“dot the “and” - find out all the differences, be sure to find a way out of the situation.

When the conflict concerns your interests, then you most often manage to win it:

thanks to diplomacy and flexibility of mind;

through perseverance and patience;

due to temperament and emotions.

Key to the test

To determine the respondent's inherent strategy of psychological defense in communicating with partners, it is necessary to calculate the sum of responses of each type:

Option "a" - peacefulness,

Option “b” - avoidance,

Option “c” - aggression.

The more answers of one type or another, the more clearly the corresponding strategy is expressed; if their number is approximately the same, then in contact with partners the subject actively uses different defenses of his subjective reality.

Interpretation of test results:

peacefulness- a psychological strategy for protecting the subjective reality of the individual, in which intelligence and character play a leading role. Intelligence extinguishes or neutralizes the energy of emotions in those cases when there is a threat to the Self of the individual.

Peacefulness presupposes partnership and cooperation, the ability to compromise, make concessions and be pliable, the willingness to sacrifice some of their interests in the name of the main thing - the preservation of dignity. In some cases, peacefulness means adaptation, the desire to yield to the pressure of a partner, not to aggravate relations and not get involved in conflicts, so as not to test one's self.

Intelligence alone, however, is often not enough to make peacefulness the dominant defense strategy. It is also important to have the right character- soft, balanced, sociable. Intelligence in an ensemble with a “good” character creates a psychogenic prerequisite for peacefulness.

Of course, it also happens that a person with an unimportant character is also forced to show peacefulness. Most likely, he was “broken off by life”, and he made a wise conclusion: one must live in peace and harmony. In this case, his defense strategy is conditioned by experience and circumstances, that is, it sociogenic. In the end, it is not so important what drives a person - nature or experience, or both together - the main result: whether peacefulness acts as the leading strategy of psychological defense or manifests itself only sporadically, along with other strategies.

It should not be assumed that peacefulness is an irreproachable strategy for protecting the Self, suitable in all cases. Solid or sugary peacefulness is proof of spinelessness and lack of will, loss of self-esteem, which is precisely what psychological protection is designed to protect. The winner should not become a trophy. It is best when peacefulness dominates and is combined with other strategies (their soft forms).

Avoidance- a psychological strategy for protecting subjective reality, based on saving intellectual and emotional resources. The individual habitually bypasses or leaves the zones of conflict and tension without a fight when his Self is attacked. At the same time, he openly does not waste the energy of emotions and minimally strains the intellect.

avoidance wears psychogenic character if it is due to the natural characteristics of the individual. He has weak innate energy: poor, rigid emotions, mediocre mind, sluggish temperament.

Another option is possible: a person has from birth powerful intellect to get away from tense contacts, not to get involved with those who annoy his Self. True, observations show that one mind for a dominant strategy of avoidance is not enough. Smart people are often actively involved in the defense of their subjective reality, and this is natural: the intellect is called upon to guard our needs, interests, values ​​and conquests. Obviously, the will is also needed.

Finally, such an option is also possible when a person forces himself to bypass sharp corners in communication and conflict situations, knows how to tell himself in time: “do not arise with your I”. For this you need to have strong nervous system, will and, undoubtedly, life experience behind you, which at the right time reminds you: “do not pull the blanket over you”, “do not spit against the wind”, “do not get into your trolley bus”, “pass to the side”.

The strategy of peacefulness is built on the basis of a good intellect and a accommodating character - very high demands on the individual. Avoidance is allegedly simpler, does not require special mental and emotional costs, but it is also due to increased demands on the nervous system and will.

Aggression- a psychological strategy for protecting the subjective reality of the individual, acting on the basis of instinct. Aggressive instinct- one of the "big four" instincts inherent in all animals - hunger, sex, fear and aggression. This immediately explains the indisputable fact that aggression does not leave the repertoire of emotional response. It is enough to take a mental look at typical situations of communication to see how common, easily reproducible and familiar it is in hard or soft forms. Its powerful energy protects the I of the individual on the street in the city crowd, in public transport, in line, at work, at home, in relationships with strangers and very close people, with friends and lovers.

Continuation
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With an increase in the threat to the subjective reality of the personality, its aggression increases. The personality and the instinct of aggression, it turns out, are quite compatible, while the intellect plays the role of a “transmission link” - with its help, aggression is “inflated”, “unwinds to its fullest”. Intelligence works in transformer mode, amplifying aggression due to the meaning attached to it.

Temperament test

Instructions for the test

answer "yes" or "no" to questions

Would you feel like an unhappy person if you were deprived of the opportunity to talk to people for a long time?

Is it easy for you to communicate with strangers?

Do you like to bring revitalization to the company?

Do you like to be in a big company?

Do you keep yourself free in a big company?

Are you drawn to socializing with people in your free time?

Do you feel the desire to be more among people?

Do you prefer the solitude of a large company?

Are you silent, not in a hurry to make contact in the company of strangers?

Are you quiet in your circle of friends?

Do you keep yourself apart in company and at parties?

Do you like to be alone for a long time?

Are you always ready on the move, without hesitation, to join the conversation that interests you?

Do you often talk to people without thinking?

How often do your thoughts jump from one to another during a conversation?

Do you have conflicts with your friends because you say something to them without thinking?

can you, without much thought, ask another person a sensitive, difficult question for him?

How often do you speak without thinking properly?

Are you usually the first person to start a conversation in a group?

can you, without hesitation, make a request to a stranger?

Do you prefer to think, weigh your words before speaking out?

How long do you mentally prepare to express your opinion?

Do you tend to think first and then speak?

Is it easy for you to refrain from speaking aloud an unexpected thought?

are you a vulnerable person?

Do you often find yourself unable to sleep because you have a fight with your friends?

Do you feel anxious if you are misunderstood during a conversation?

Do people close to you treat you badly?

Do you get offended when people point out your flaws?

Do you have anxiety and anxiety before some important, responsible conversation?

Do you resent how others treat you?

Do you worry when sorting things out with your friends?

Do you need people who comfort and support you?

Do your hands shake during a fight?

is it easy to offend you?

Do you often feel insecure when interacting with people?

Determine the result of the test by key:

Energy in dealing with people:

YES in questions: 1,2,3,4,5,6,7

NO in questions: 8,9,10,11,12

Plasticity in communication with people:

YES in questions: 13,14,15,16,17,18,19,20

NO in questions:21,22,23,24

Emotionality in communication:

YES in questions: 25,26,27,28,29,30,31,32,33,34,35,36

Results:

Up to 4 - low score

4-5 - medium

8-9 - high score

Sanguine - medium-developed indicators for all properties.

Choleric - high rates of energy, emotionality with medium and high plasticity.

Phlegmatic - low scores for all properties of temperament.

Melancholic - low indicators for energy, plasticity, high for emotionality.

In this regard, it is difficult to consider M.P.Z. isolated from other mental processes, it is difficult to classify them according to clear criteria. Implementation mechanism and reason for M.P.Z. cannot be considered separately from the difference in general and from the model of the psyche, since the defense mechanisms are clearly tied to this model and are one of its necessary components.

Main types of M.P.Z.:

Suppression (displacement);

Negation;

Compensation (hypercompensation);

Regression (infantilization);

Jet formations;

Projection;

substitution;

Rationalization.

In the history of the study of M.P.Z. there are more than two dozen of them.

Defense mechanisms lie on the border of the conscious world and the unconscious and are a kind of filter between them. The role of this filter is diverse - from protection from negative emotions, feelings, and unacceptable information associated with them, to deeply pathological (the formation of various types of neuroses and neurotic reactions).

M.P.Z. also participate in the processes of resistance to psychotherapeutic changes. One of their important functions is to maintain the homeostasis of the personality, psyche and protect it from sudden changes. If M.P.Z. there would not have been, there would not have been a variety of characters, personalities, accentuations, psychopathy, since a person could freely assimilate new information every time it comes to him, and constantly change; several such changes could occur in one day. It is clear that in such conditions it is impossible to form relationships between people - friendly, family, partnership, with the exception, perhaps, professional (and then only where professional skills are required without the participation of the individual, and there are very few such professions).

First of all, thanks to M.P.Z. we cannot quickly change for good or for bad. If a person has changed dramatically, then he either went crazy (a mental illness, but it will be obvious to a non-professional what happened there), or the changes accumulated for a long time inside the personality model and at one fine moment just appeared.

The system of the psyche (our model of the world) protects itself from changes - not only from negative emotions, feelings and unpleasant information, but also from any other information that is unacceptable to the human belief system.

Example. Deeply religious or magical thinking will automatically resist a scientific approach, and vice versa - scientific thinking will resist a deep religious or magical perception (however, there are always exceptions).

Therefore, it is possible to change only by changing the entire model of the world along with the M.P.Z., which you can find in your own country, analyze and redirect their influence in a favorable direction.

To do this, it is worth considering the main types of M.P.Z. separately.

1. Repression (suppression, repression). This type of protection transfers unacceptable information from consciousness to the unconscious (for example, contrary to morality) or suppresses negative feelings, emotions. Any information and any feelings (even those that have a positive effect on the psyche) can be suppressed if they do not coincide with the model of the world. At the same time, according to the law of conservation of energy, everything that is suppressed does not go anywhere from us, but only transforms into other forms, triggering even more pathological processes. Up to a certain level, we can accumulate negative information or feelings, at best, we can completely dissolve a small negative in our unconscious (the buffer system simply dissipates this part of the displaced energy), but its possibilities are small, so it turns out that in most cases the accumulated negative information and / or feelings are looking for other ways out.

Since repression works like a valve, passing feelings and information only towards the unconscious and not giving them the opportunity to go back, there is nothing left for her to do but change in order to express herself - “up” (into the psyche) in the form of anxiety, anger, insomnia or "down" (into the body) in the form of psychosomatization and conversion syndromes. Once the negative feelings have accumulated to a critical level, they will inevitably cause a feeling of tension in the unconscious (like tension in a computer that runs at full power without interruption). This tension, being non-specific (as opposed to a causal repressed feeling), will easily penetrate into any layers of the psyche, including consciousness. This is how the initial stage of many neuroses is formed.

The feeling of tension is realized by us, and then, depending on our personality, it will be transformed either into a feeling of general anxiety (which will be differentiated and concretized over time), or into a feeling of general irritability, which will also be formed over time into specific irritability or anger at a person. , a group of people or an event. Insomnia appears as a result of tension within the unconscious and is one of the most common symptoms of a neurotic lifestyle. Psychosomatics appears when most of the repressed feelings have gone deeper into the nervous system, disrupting the work of the autonomic nervous system. Symptoms can be completely different - in general, this is a functional violation of one or another body system: from thermoregulation and a coma in the throat to a decrease in immunity and, as a result, frequent colds. The most common psychosomatic disorders in the form of tension in the skeletal muscles (lump in the throat, tension in the muscles of the neck, shoulder girdle, back as a result of exacerbation of osteochondrosis), hypertension or hypotension (fluctuations in blood pressure and pulse), dizziness, increased fatigue, general weakness, C .R.K., neurosis of the heart, etc. (for more details, see Formation of neurosis).

Repression is difficult enough to deal with, but be that as it may, the first stage of the struggle should be the expression (albeit non-specific) of repressed feelings through analysis and introspection. On an intuitive level, we guess what? suppressed in themselves. Using special purification techniques and artificially intensifying your emotions, you need to force their manifestation in order to fully express and empty the tense unconscious. In this case, it is desirable to go through several successive stages - from slight tension, anger and rage to tears, sobs, weakness, calm (the most effective example is the technique of dynamic meditation).

The basis of the fight against repression will be a change in the habit of resolving stressful situations by suppression. You need to learn to express emotions even in those situations where, it would seem, their expression is impossible (see Emotions. Feelings. Ways of expressing emotions).

The ability to recognize your emotions in time will greatly help to express them in time (the inability to recognize emotions is called alexithymia). Double standards, split personality (many subpersonalities that contradict each other), hedonism or moralizing (any extremes) will contribute to the habit of repressing and suppressing feelings and emotions.

2. Compensation (hyper compensation). This defense mechanism manifests itself when underdevelopment in one area of ​​life is compensated by development in another area (or even several). In other words, when a void in one area of ​​the psyche is filled with external (emptiness in the soul, excessive desire for communication, including in social networks) or internal (fantasy, leaving for a "bright" future, dreaminess, imagination of what is not) factors in other areas. In certain amounts, compensation is an auxiliary mechanism for the development of skills, maintaining a balance in the psyche through success in compensatory areas. For a child and a teenager, it acts as a developmental mechanism. However, if this mechanism is strongly expressed, then there is a pathological effect on life and the psyche.

If a person constantly compensates for an undeveloped sphere or dissatisfaction with something else, then he becomes dependent on this “other” (a person-compensator or compensatory sphere of activity), the development of other spheres completely stops. The result is a one-sided, inferior development of the personality with distortions in one area and a complete lack of abilities in another, vital environment. This leads to partial maladjustment when a person comes into contact with the causal sphere for compensation.

Also dangerous is the mechanism of disruption of compensation if the cause of compensation goes away. for example If a person moved from one relationship immediately to another, thereby compensating for the old ones, then he will stay in the new ones only as long as he has dissatisfaction, unresolved, painful memories of the old ones. As soon as these emotions disappear, the desire to be in a new relationship immediately disappears, since they were exclusively compensatory in nature.

The same thing happens with compensatory behavior - it immediately disappears when the reason for compensation disappears (for example, playing sports with low self-esteem: when self-esteem rises, then sport is abandoned, since it was purely compensatory in nature). Another common example are computer games when played by adults. As a rule, this is of a compensatory nature - dissatisfaction in life (material, status, career, power) is compensated by easy and quick victories in military strategies, economic simulations and other games.

Compensating spheres or people become objects of dependence, rather artificial relationships are formed with them than sincere ones. In such relationships, neuroses easily arise.

Alcoholism and drug addiction are often based on compensation - dissatisfaction in life is compensated by enjoyment and a change in reality in the other direction. When taking these psychoactive substances, the emergence of psychological dependence is obvious, with time increasing biological dependence on the drug (however, not only compensation underlies addictions).

The desire for power and money is also often based on compensation. Having low self-esteem, a person, as a rule, seeks to increase it by accumulating the values ​​of society - money, power, status. The compensation mechanism works as long as the compensatory sphere is developed, and it is possible to achieve success in it. Otherwise, a double breakdown occurs: firstly, the absence of a compensatory area or a person-compensator, and secondly, a return to the initial dissatisfaction and complete underdevelopment of that sphere (self-esteem), in relation to which sometimes long-term compensation was built. What a person compensates for - an underdeveloped area in the psyche, body, low self-esteem - does not develop in any way during the compensation process, which turns this psychological defense mechanism into a time bomb.

Solution for pathological compensation. First you need to analyze whether it is present at all in life, if so, then understand its main causes (internal emptiness, dissatisfaction, low self-esteem, underdevelopment in some area) and what compensates for (region, person). All efforts should be directed not to the termination of compensation, otherwise it will cause great stress or simply a change in the compensatory area, but to the reason for which this pathological mechanism is turned on. This cause (the undeveloped area), no matter how much you would like the opposite, you need to try to develop as much as possible. If it is impossible to develop the problem area, it is necessary to accept the reality as it is, without the formation of dissatisfaction, because this feeling has no place in the natural state of things. It is necessary to completely close the previous pathological stressful relationships and work on the right increase in self-esteem, without compensating for its lack by the endless pursuit of money, power, status, etc.

3. Rationalization. This mechanism is an attempt to control negative or unacceptable information for us through distortion in order to protect any fact or human behavior. In other words, when a person rationalizes, he, using the plasticity of logic (see Plasticity of logic), adjusts an event or the behavior of another person to his model of the world, while rationally distorting many facts of this event. As an example- justification of one's own or someone else's immoral behavior.

It may seem that rationalization concerns only the cognitive (mental, ideological) link, but this is not true, since any information that poses a danger to us is loaded with emotionally negative emotions, and therefore we begin to defend ourselves against it. After the information and emotions have been adjusted to their perception model, they are already devoid of danger, and this fact is perceived as true - that is, the person himself does not see any distortions. Example: reasoning about war can lead to the conclusion about its usefulness for society, since it provides the flow of new resources, the renewal of the economy, etc.

4. Intellectualization. This is an attempt to control negative emotions through the use of a rational link, so that these emotions can be explained not through their true cause (since it does not suit a person, like negative emotions themselves), but through other reasons and facts - incorrect, but acceptable. The emotion itself is then misinterpreted as a result of a turbulent thought process, which automatically makes its expression impossible. This leads to the dissociation of the thought process aimed at emotion and the sensory flow itself, originally associated with the fact. Simply put, we process a negative, unacceptable fact in such a way that we end up depriving it of an emotional component, which is simply suppressed (by dissociating from the thought process itself).

Example: the person who stole for the first time immediately experienced unpleasant feelings of guilt about this, but in the process of intellectualization he fully justifies himself (“many people do this, even my boss, so why am I worse?”, “There is nothing wrong with this, since this good for me and my family” and similar misconceptions).

Great damage to the psyche occurs due to the suppressed emotion of guilt, which, one way or another, now in the unconscious will fulfill its function of self-punishment (see Guilt. Pathology).

5. Denial. Any unacceptable and painful fact can be completely denied by our perception as non-existent. Of course, deep down, in the unconscious, we understand that this has either already happened, or is happening now, or will happen in the future. That is, in addition to perception, the participation of various layers of our psyche is obligatory here, in particular, the mind, which can easily deny the existence of any real fact or assert the existence of an unreal fact or event. However, complete denial cannot occur due to the fact that, when faced with extremely unacceptable information, we immediately pass it through ourselves, where it leaves its mark. In this sense, denial is similar to rationalization (logical denial of the existence of a fact) and repression (repression of extremely negative feelings into the unconscious) - these two processes occur simultaneously.

The brightest example denial is a person's reaction to a pronounced stressful event in life - the death of a loved one, betrayal or betrayal, etc. First of all, many people react to this by denying the fact of this negative event (“no, this cannot be!”, “I don’t believe that this could happen”). Further, either the normal process of experiencing a stressful event is turned on, or denial is fixed in the psyche, which invariably leads to negative consequences. The consequences are expressed in the fact that a person cannot adequately relate to a sad event, for example, does not come to a funeral or lives as if the deceased person is next to him or left for a while; continues to build relationships with a traitor, a traitor, without making any attempts to solve the problem. In addition, there is a deep suppression of sorrowful feelings of loss, which most often turn into psychosomatic symptoms and cause a violation of various body systems (jumps in blood pressure and pulse, S.R.K., a drop in immunity, hormonal disorders, etc.).

Decision. In the normal state, denial works to limit the flow of information that flows into our psyches in abundance. Also, denial helps to partially mitigate the extremely unpleasant stressful fact at the very beginning of contact with it. However, then it must switch to other forms of natural reactions, to stress. Since the mechanism is unconscious, it is impossible to "catch" it during its operation. Therefore, it is worth analyzing past stressful events for the manifestation of protection through denial and the consequences of it. If you find it there, most likely it works in the present tense, so you need to do a hypothetical analysis and understand where denial can manifest itself now. To do this, it is necessary to determine all stress factors that are present at the moment in life, as well as over the past 3 years. Then analyze which reactions in feelings, thoughts or behavior followed the stress immediately, and which ones were delayed. This will reveal not only denial, but also all other mechanisms of psychological defenses.

To deal specifically with denial, one must address a fact that was repressed and that was unacceptable and therefore excluded as causing suffering. You need to accept this fact, live it (perhaps through sadness, grief, longing, anger, hatred, contempt and other emotions that will eventually go away through your expression), and then try to adapt to it from the position of the norm, not including, if possible, other means of protecting against it, or including them deliberately in controlled doses (so they will be safe).

6. Regression. This method involves not only descending to a lower level in the development of the personality, where there is (did not exist) a “difficult” problem, but also transferring it into the past, as if it had already exhausted itself. But in fact, it either continues to exist now, or has recently really resolved, but this only means that after a while it will repeat again (for example, pathological cyclic relationships, a pathological cyclic scenario in life, addictions), or it has ended, but thanks to regression, there was no adequate response to the stressful event, and negative experiences were only partially suppressed.

Regression is interesting in that it affects the whole personality as a whole. A person should, as it were, degrade, become more primitive, more ignorant, immoral than he really was. This is often accompanied by infantilization of the personality (return to childish, adolescent behavior), primitivization of behavior, regression of creative abilities and moral and ethical values. This method contains a part of denial, part of suppression and avoidance. A person with this protection tries to solve all subsequent problems in the easiest way.

7. Substitution (shift). Here, an inexpressible feeling or opinion is redirected from the object to which they are intended (friend, boss, relative) to any other object (alive or not alive, the main thing is safe for expression) in order to reduce tension through the expression of a specific emotion or feeling, a negative opinion .

The most common example: when a person receives a dose of negativity at work from a manager (colleagues, clients), but cannot express it because of fear of losing his job or his status, he brings this negativity home and starts to “chase” household members, breaks doors, dishes, etc. . To some extent, this reduces tension, but not completely, since the full release of emotion is possible only in relation to the object that caused it.

In small amounts, this protection helps to distribute and redirect feelings in a safe direction, thereby helping a person. But if the substitution is expressed strongly, then it will bring problems. The reasons for them may be different: an inferior expression of feelings to the object-substitute (when part of the energy has to be suppressed), the reverse negative reaction of the substituents to the person who “merges” on them the negative that they do not understand; formation of double standards; inauthentic existence (the impossibility of full-fledged self-expression), which does not solve the problem with the object that causes initial negative experiences.

Typically, the substitution is traced from one external object to another external, but there are other options. For example, auto-aggression is the displacement of anger from an external object onto oneself. The shift from an internal object to an external one is called a projection.

8. Projection. This is a defense mechanism in which we impose our negative experiences and thoughts on another person (other people or even entire events in life) in order to justify and protect ourselves and our attitude towards him (to them). Simply put, this happens when we judge others by ourselves, once again making sure that we are right. By projecting onto others what is happening in us (usually negative feelings and thoughts), we mistakenly attribute it to other people (events), protecting ourselves from our own negativity. In small amounts, projection helps to move negativity from oneself to others, but in most cases, projection performs a negative function in a person's life. Double standards, lack of self-reflection (criticism of one's behavior), low level of awareness, transfer of responsibility to other people - all this provokes us to create even more projections that reinforce these negative processes. It turns out a vicious circle that prevents the solution of real problems that lie in our inner world.

With chronic projection, we will blame our loved ones or other people for their failure, anger, unworthy behavior towards us, we will constantly suspect them of betrayal. The negative consequence of such protection is the desire to correct an external object onto which something negative is projected, or in general get rid of from him, in order to put an end to the feelings he has evoked.

Projection is one of the main qualities of suspicious people, paranoid personalities and hysteroids. Distrusting themselves due to low self-esteem and lack of self-esteem, they (we) shift distrust as a personality trait onto other people and conclude that other people are unreliable and can betray, set up, change at any moment (one of the mechanisms that form pathological jealousy ).

Projection as a protection is part of the global mechanism of perception of the surrounding world.

Decision. It is necessary to reduce projection as a defense, starting with the development of the skill of sensory self-reflection. The ability to recognize our emotions and feelings will automatically insure us against a pronounced projection. With it, we will understand where our feelings and thoughts are, and where others are. This will make it possible to express them correctly, without harm to oneself and others. A pronounced projection of anger and distrust destroys any relationship, since people whom we constantly suspect in our projection of what they did not do and blame for what they did not even think about, simply will not understand us and, as a result, will be disappointed in us.

9. Introjection (identification, identification). This is a reverse projection process, when we attribute to ourselves other people's feelings, emotions, thoughts, behavior, scenarios, perception algorithms. Just like projection, introjection is not so much a defense mechanism as a necessary process of interaction with reality. In childhood and adolescence, it is a necessary learning mechanism when a child copies the behavior of adults, adopting the necessary adaptive ways of perceiving and behaving in reality.

A relatively adaptive role is played by introjection with heroes, superheroes, strong personalities - on the one hand, it helps to develop strong qualities, on the other hand, it deprives us of our individuality and gives false ideas about omnipotence, which inevitably leads to dangerous situations that we cannot cope with. greatly overestimating their capabilities.

pathological influence. Introjection dissolves us in society. Identification with the heroes of films or books not only suppresses our individuality, but also takes us to an alien and unreal world of illusions and hopes, where everything comes true, where people do not die, where there are ideal relationships, ideal people, ideal events. When we return to reality with such a global identification, we unconsciously try to behave in an appropriate way (but we don’t succeed, because superheroes, etc. are fictional characters), we demand an ideal attitude from reality and other people to ourselves, we expect our introjected hopes to come true, and thus we throw ourselves even further away from actually achieving real results. All this as a whole forms a deep sense of dissatisfaction, and as a result - disappointment. When everyone does this, the level of dissatisfaction, like an infection, spreads to a large part of society, turning it (dissatisfaction) into a normal state of affairs.

When identification with an ideal object occurs consciously, then the connection of the introject with it is preserved all the time. The trap is that if the role model disappears or changes (for example, ceases to be a hero), automatically the whole system of introjection in us collapses. This can lead to grief, depression, to a strong decrease in self-esteem, which is mostly based on identification with our hero.

Decision.

a) Analyze the presence and severity of the work of pathological introjection in life.

b) Learn to separate your inner world (emotions, feelings, behavior) and the world of other people (their feelings and behavior).

c) To understand that the introject will never be fully built into our psyche, it will be an external object inside us, that is, a new subpersonality will be formed that will once again split us into pieces.

d) Accept the idea that each person has his own way of development - unique and individual; we need examples of others only for our own learning, and not for copying into our own lives their personalities, character traits, behavior patterns and expectations.

e) Remember that identification with the ideal will surely bring dissatisfaction, disappointment to life, dissolve in the crowd of such imitators.

f) Fight the blurring of one's own boundaries by strengthening one's "I", increase self-esteem, accumulate knowledge about oneself and form a consistent behavior and worldview.

10. Jet formations. This protective mechanism is characterized by the suppression of one feeling (emotion, experience), which is unacceptable or forbidden for expression (by society, by the person himself), by another feeling that is directly opposite in meaning (emotion, experience), which far exceeds the first feeling in severity.

The complexity of the structure of life often leads to a dual (ambivalent) perception of other people, events, and oneself. But such inconsistency is not perceived by our consciousness either in feelings or in information, we immediately try to get rid of it by any means. One of these methods is reactive formations, which intensify one feeling to the extent that it does not crowd out the opposite one.

For example, when there are two conflicting feelings - hostility on the one hand and love on the other hand - then reactive formations can work in any direction. Both in the direction of hostility, strengthening it to hatred and pronounced disgust (which makes it easy to suppress love for a person and dependence on him), and in the direction of love, which will take on the character of obsession, superdependence (sexualization, idealization, moralization of this person), while completely suppressing hostility and contempt. However, this mechanism does not solve the problem, since the opposite pole periodically makes itself felt (manifested in words or in behavior directly opposite to the main one), since it has not disappeared anywhere, but only passed into the unconscious.

Protection can work even for a lifetime, while its severity may decrease over time. Protection also works in the case of symbiosis or habit to another person. In order to leave it or try to leave it, people unconsciously develop directly opposite negative feelings towards the second participant in the symbiosis (as a rule, these are parents). In a teenager, this can manifest itself in a sharp change in attitude towards parents, whom he had recently loved, there is a transition to opposition to them, hostility and disrespect appear - all for the sake of the desire to highlight one's "I", become more adult and independent, get out of symbiotic relationships ( such a situation can be considered as a variant of the norm).

Protection with the help of reactive formations can be turned on not only when we have two ambivalent (contradictory) feelings towards a person or event, but also if we have one feeling, whose manifestation, however, is highly undesirable, is condemned by society, our own morality or any other prohibitions. Automatically, this feeling can switch to the opposite, which is acceptable to society and one's own morality, and is also not blocked by other prohibitions.

Examples. Homophobia in men who are subconsciously prone to homosexual desires (there are exceptions here). Stockholm Syndrome, in which the hatred and fear of the hostages towards their captors is replaced by understanding, acceptance and even love for them (rather rare). The saying “from love to hate is one step” just describes the work of this protection. Often this protection manifests itself in pathological relationships, where there is enmity between spouses or partners, many conflicts and contradictions, but reactive formations, suppressing the negative, turn these relationships into passionate, dependent, saturated with love, up to obsession with each other. As soon as one of the participants loses the initial repressed feeling (anger, contempt, not switched in the opposite direction), the relationship immediately collapses, as love and dependence go away overnight. This rarely happens, because such relationships are usually sadomasochistic in nature (in the psychological, not in the sexual sense of the word), and they are known to be the strongest relationships on earth, despite their complete pathology, since each gives the other something what he needs.

Decision.

a) As usual, the first thing to do is to analyze, based on the information received above, your life for the presence of this type of protection in it.

b) You need to start working not from the expressed feeling, which is currently manifesting, but from the initial, opposite to it, which is suppressed.

c) You need to work out a repressed feeling carefully, otherwise it can simply turn the defense in the opposite direction, change the pole (love will turn into hatred, but dependence will remain, i.e. you have to hate all your life in order to keep your love).

d) If there are two feelings, you must either consciously choose one, refusing to suppress the other, or create a compromise option.

This is a list of the main types of M.P.Z. is over, however, there are other types of defenses, which are only separate cases of the work of the above, but which are worth knowing about for more effective work on neurosis.

Dissociation- this is a group of various defense mechanisms, as a result of which some part of information, sensory or cognitive, which is undesirable, negative and contains stress factors (perception of reality and oneself in it, time, memory for some events).

In other words, dissociation is the disintegrated work of various mental functions, which, as it were, split (dissociate) from our “I”.

Examples: separate work of thinking and feelings during intellectualization; active forgetting of some negative events; the feeling that the events of my life in the present (past) are (happened) not with me.

Dissociation is characterized by a change in the sense of life; it becomes an alien, another world. Change in self-perception - a person sees himself "as a stranger", characterizes himself as "not his own", Impaired identification with himself, with the outside world or with certain events. It is also worth noting that the above states can occur not only due to dissociation.

Humility. If it is expressed strongly, then it represents self-abasement and slavish obedience. A person becomes a complete conformist, while he receives a lot of encouragement from society, since humble people are beneficial to others - they are obedient, submissive, do not contradict, agree in everything, easily controlled, etc. In return for their behavior, a humble person receives respect, praise, and a positive assessment. At the same time, a person suppresses his “I”, adjusts, avoids conflict with society.

Moralization- this is the attribution of moral qualities (which are not in reality) to a significant person for us in order to justify him in our eyes. Moreover, such a person most often does not adhere to the high moral principles that we attribute to him. We do this to avoid or suppress our feelings of contempt, disgust, or anger towards him.

Turn against yourself or auto-aggression. This method implies a shift in the direction of aggression from the object to which it is intended (the culprit, the cause of anger) to itself, since the original object is either inaccessible for expressing anger, or expressing negativity towards it is prohibited by moral principles (for example, if it is a close person: a girlfriend , friend, spouse, etc.). The substitution in such situations usually shifts from external objects to itself. Despite the destructive nature of the defense (physical and mental self-punishment, self-abasement), it becomes easier for a person in comparison with the initial stressful situation that caused this defensive reaction. May refer to such mechanisms as reactive formations and displacement.

Sexualization. This defense mechanism is similar to moralization, only with the aim of protecting the object from their own negative feelings (contempt, disgust, anger) and thoughts. The object is given a special sexual meaning, up to a strong increase in sexual attraction to it. Often this is observed after the betrayal of spouses (partners), which they know about. Refers to the mechanism of reactive formations.

Sublimation. This is a group of different mechanisms, the common feature of which is the redistribution of energy from pathological desires and needs to normal ones - socially acceptable and adaptive. Also, energy with the help of sublimation can be redistributed from forbidden bi

Psychological protection works on an unconscious or subconscious level, and often a person cannot control his defense mechanisms of the psyche if he knows nothing about them. (Lifestyle index - test)

Psychological protection and the destructive action of the protective mechanisms of the human psyche

The human psyche has the ability to protect itself from adverse influences, whether external or internal factors. Psychological defense mechanisms work in one way or another for everyone. They perform the function of a guardian of our mental health, our "I" from the effects of stress, failure, increased anxiety; from unpleasant, destructive thoughts, from external and internal conflicts that cause negative well-being.
(overcoming psychological defense)

In addition to the protective function psychological protection of a person can also have a destructive effect on the personality, it can prevent the personality from growing and developing, achieving success in life.

This occurs when the repetition of a certain defense mechanism of the psyche in similar life situations, but some situations, although similar to the one that initially caused protection, still do not need it, because. a person is able to consciously solve this problem.

Also, psychological defense becomes destructive for the individual in cases where a person uses several defenses at once.

A person who often uses defense mechanisms (let me remind you: this happens unconsciously) is doomed to the status of a “loser” in his life.

Psychological defenses of the individual not congenital, they are acquired during the socialization of the child, and the main source of development of certain defenses, as well as their use in life (for their intended purpose or destructive) are parents or persons replacing them. In short, the use of psychological defense by children depends on how and what kind of defense the parents use.

Psychological defenses have the closest connection with character accentuations, and the more pronounced the accentuation is, the more pronounced the protective mechanisms of the human psyche are.

Knowing the accentuation of character, their individual-personal psycho-physiological characteristics (personality theory), a person will be able to learn how to manage their psychological defenses and accentuations of character, (Program of psycho-correction of character) to achieve success in life, i.e. go from losers to winners. (Personality Theory 2)

Mechanisms of psychological defense of a person

The first to introduce the concept of "psychological defense" was Sigmund Freud, this is "repression" and "sublimation".

These are such protective mechanisms of the psyche as: Repression, suppression, sublimation, intellectualization, rationalization, denial, projection, substitution, identification with the aggressor, regression, compensation and hypercompensation, reactive formation, reverse feeling and their components.

MECHANISMS OF PSYCHOLOGICAL PROTECTION AND INDIVIDUAL-PERSONAL FEATURES:

PSYCHOLOGICAL PROTECTION - NEGATION - the earliest ontogenetically and the most primitive defense mechanism. Denial develops in order to contain the emotion of acceptance of others if they demonstrate emotional indifference or rejection.

This, in turn, can lead to self-loathing. Denial implies an infantile substitution of acceptance by others for attention on their part, and any negative aspects of this attention are blocked at the stage of perception, and positive ones are allowed into the system. As a result, the individual gets the opportunity to painlessly express feelings of acceptance of the world and himself, but for this he must constantly attract the attention of others in ways available to him.

Features of protective behavior in the norm: egocentrism, suggestibility and self-hypnosis, sociability, the desire to be in the center of attention, optimism, ease, friendliness, ability to inspire confidence, confident demeanor, thirst for recognition, arrogance, boasting, self-pity, courtesy, willingness to serve, affective demeanor, pathos, easy tolerance of criticism and lack of self-criticism.

Other features include pronounced artistic and artistic abilities, a rich imagination, a penchant for practical jokes.

Preferred jobs in the arts and service industries.

Possible deviations (deviations) of behavior: deceit, a tendency to simulate, thoughtlessness of actions, underdevelopment of the ethical complex, a tendency to fraud, exhibitionism, demonstrative attempts at suicide and self-harm.

Diagnostic concept: hysteria.

Possible psychosomatic diseases (according to F. Alexander): conversion-hysterical reactions, paralysis, hyperkinesia, dysfunction of analyzers, endocrine disorders.

Type of group role (according to G. Kellerman): "the role of a romantic."

THE MECHANISM OF PSYCHOLOGICAL PROTECTION _ SUPPRESSION - develops to contain the emotion of fear, the manifestations of which are unacceptable for positive self-perception and threaten to fall into direct dependence on the aggressor. Fear is blocked by forgetting the real stimulus, as well as all objects, facts and circumstances associated with it.

The suppression cluster includes mechanisms close to it: ISOLATION AND INTROJECTION. Isolation is subdivided by some authors into DISTANCE, DEREALIZATION and DEPERSANOLIZATION, which can be expressed by the formulas: “it was somewhere far and long ago, as if not in reality, as if not with me”.

In other sources, the same terms are used to refer to pathological disorders of perception.

Features of protective behavior are normal: careful avoidance of situations that can become problematic and cause fear (for example, flying on an airplane, public speaking, etc.), inability to defend one's position in a dispute, conciliation, humility, timidity, forgetfulness, fear of new acquaintances, pronounced tendencies to avoid and submit are rationalized, and anxiety is overcompensated in the form of unnaturally calm, slow behavior, deliberate equanimity, etc.

Character accentuation: anxiety (according to K. Leonhard), conformity (according to P.B. Gannushkin).

Possible behavioral deviations: hypochondria, irrational conformism, sometimes extreme conservatism.

Possible psychosomatic diseases (according to E. Bern): fainting, heartburn, loss of appetite, duodenal ulcer.

Diagnostic concept: passive diagnosis (according to R. Plutchik).

Type of group role: "the role of the innocent."

a defense mechanism - REGRESSION - develops in early childhood to contain feelings of self-doubt and fear of failure associated with taking the initiative. Regression implies a return in an exclusive situation to more ontogenetically immature patterns of behavior and satisfaction.

Regressive behavior, as a rule, is encouraged by adults who have an attitude towards emotional symbiosis and infantilization of the child.

The regression cluster also includes the MOTOR ACTIVITY mechanism, which involves involuntary irrelevant actions to relieve stress.

Features of defensive behavior are normal: weakness of character, lack of deep interests, susceptibility to the influence of others, suggestibility, inability to complete the work begun, slight mood swings, tearfulness, increased drowsiness and immoderate appetite in an exclusive situation, manipulation of small objects, involuntary actions (rubbing hands, twisting buttons, etc.), specific “childish” facial expressions and speech, a tendency to mysticism and superstition, heightened nostalgia, intolerance to loneliness, the need for stimulation, control, encouragement, consolation, the search for new experiences, the ability to easily establish superficial contacts, impulsiveness .

Accentuation of character (according to P.B. Gannushkin): instability.

Possible behavioral deviations: infantilism, parasitism, conformism in antisocial groups, alcohol and drug use.

Diagnostic concept: unstable psychopathy.

Possible psychosomatic illnesses: No data available.

Group role type:"the role of the child".

The defense mechanism of the psyche - COMPENSATION- ontogenetically the latest and cognitively complex protective mechanism, which is developed and used, as a rule, consciously. Designed to contain feelings of sadness, grief over a real or imaginary loss, loss, lack, lack, inferiority.

Compensation involves an attempt to correct or find a substitute for this inferiority.

The compensation cluster includes the following mechanisms: OVERCOMPENSATION, IDENTIFICATION, and FANTASY, which can be understood as compensation at the ideal level.

Features of protective behavior in the norm: behavior caused by the installation of serious and methodical work on oneself, finding and correcting one's shortcomings, overcoming difficulties, achieving high results in activities, serious sports, collecting, striving for originality, a penchant for memories, literary creativity.

Accentuation of character: distimism.

Possible deviations: aggressiveness, drug addiction, alcoholism, sexual deviations, promiscuity, kleptomania, vagrancy, insolence, arrogance, ambition.

Diagnostic concept: depression.

Possible psychosomatic diseases: anorexia nervosa, sleep disturbance, headaches, atherosclerosis.

Type of group role: "role of unifying".

Psychological protection - PROJECTION- develops relatively early in ontogeny to contain the feeling of rejection of oneself and others as a result of emotional rejection on their part. The projection involves attributing various negative qualities to others as a rational basis for their rejection and self-acceptance against this background.

Features of protective behavior are normal: pride, pride, selfishness, vindictiveness, vindictiveness, resentment, vulnerability, a heightened sense of injustice, arrogance, ambition, suspicion, jealousy, hostility, stubbornness, intractability, intolerance to objections, a tendency to incriminate others, the search for shortcomings, isolation, pessimism, hypersensitivity to criticism and comments, exactingness to oneself and others, the desire to achieve high performance in any kind of activity.

Possible deviations of behavior: behavior determined by overvalued or delusional ideas of jealousy, injustice, persecution, invention, own inferiority or grandiosity. On this basis, manifestations of hostility are possible, reaching the point of violent acts and murders. Less common are the sadistic-masochistic complex and the hypochondriacal symptom complex, the latter on the basis of distrust of medicine and doctors.

Diagnostic concept: paranoia.

Possible psychosomatic diseases: hypertension, arthritis, migraine, diabetes, hyperthyroidism.

Group role type: reviewer role.

mental protection - SUBSTITUTION- develops to contain the emotion of anger at a stronger, older or more significant subject acting as a frustrator, in order to avoid retaliatory aggression or rejection. The individual relieves tension by turning anger and aggression on a weaker animate or inanimate object or on himself.

Therefore, substitution has both active and passive forms and can be used by individuals regardless of their type of conflict response and social adaptation.

Features of protective behavior are normal: impulsiveness, irritability, exactingness towards others, rudeness, irascibility, protest reactions in response to criticism, uncharacteristic feelings of guilt, passion for “combat” sports (boxing, wrestling, hockey, etc.), preference for movies with scenes of violence (action movies, horror films, etc.), commitment to any activity associated with risk, a pronounced tendency to dominance is sometimes combined with sentimentality, a tendency to engage in physical labor.

Possible behavioral deviations: aggressiveness, uncontrollability, a tendency to destructive and violent actions, cruelty, immorality, vagrancy, promiscuity, prostitution, often chronic alcoholism, self-harm and suicide.

Diagnostic concept: epileptoidness (according to P.B. Gannushkin), excitable psychopathy (according to N.M. Zharikov), aggressive diagnosis (according to R. Plutchik).

Possible psychosomatic diseases: hypertension, arthritis, migraine, diabetes, hyperthyroidism, gastric ulcer (according to E. Bern).

Type of group role: "the role of the looking for a scapegoat."

Psychological defense mechanism - INTELLECTUALIZATION- develops in early adolescence to contain the emotion of expectation or anticipation for fear of experiencing disappointment. The formation of this mechanism is usually correlated with frustrations associated with failures in competition with peers.

It involves arbitrary schematization and interpretation of events to develop a sense of subjective control over any situation. This cluster includes the following mechanisms: CANCELLATION, SUBLIMATION and RATIONALIZATION.

The latter is subdivided into actual rationalization, anticipating, for oneself and for others, post-hypnotic and projective, and has the following methods: discrediting the goal, discrediting the victim, exaggerating the role of circumstances, asserting harm for good, overestimating what is available and self-discrediting.

Features of protective behavior are normal: diligence, responsibility, conscientiousness, self-control, a tendency to analysis and introspection, thoroughness, awareness of obligations, love of order, uncharacteristic bad habits, foresight, discipline, individualism.

Accentuation of character: psychasthenia (according to P.B. Gannushkin), pedantic character.

Possible deviations of behavior: inability to make a decision, substitution of activity for "reasoning", self-deception and self-justification, pronounced detachment, cynicism, behavior caused by various phobias, ritual and other obsessive actions.

Diagnostic concept: obsession.

Possible psychosomatic diseases: pain in the heart, vegetative disorders, spasms of the esophagus, polyuria, sexual disorders.

Type of group role: "the role of the philosophizer".

REACTIVE EDUCATION - a protective mechanism of the psyche, the development of which is associated with the final assimilation of "higher social values" by the individual.

Reaction formation develops to contain the joy of owning a certain object (for example, one's own body) and being able to use it in a certain way (for example, for sex and aggression).

The mechanism involves the development and emphasizing in the behavior of the opposite attitude.

Features of protective behavior are normal: rejection of everything related to the functioning of the body and gender relations is expressed in various forms and with varying intensity, avoidance of public baths, latrines, changing rooms, etc., a sharp negative attitude towards "indecent" conversations, jokes, films of an erotic nature (also with scenes of violence), erotic literature, strong feelings about violations of "personal space", accidental contact with other people (for example, in public transport), an emphasized desire to comply with generally accepted standards of behavior, relevance, concern for "decent" appearance, courtesy, courtesy, respectability, disinterestedness, sociability, as a rule, high spirits.

Other features: condemnation of flirting and exhibitionism, abstinence, sometimes vegetarianism, moralizing, the desire to be an example for others.

Character accentuations: sensitivity, exaltation.

Possible behavioral deviations: pronounced inflated self-esteem, hypocrisy, hypocrisy, extreme puritanism.

Diagnostic concept: manic.

Possible psychosomatic diseases (according to F. Alexander): bronchial asthma, peptic ulcer, ulcerative colitis.

This completes the description of the defense mechanisms of the human psyche.

I wish you all mental health!

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