Denial defense mechanism. Psychological protection: mechanisms and strategies

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

Our body is a self-regulating system. To stabilize the state in moments of conflict, especially intrapersonal ones, our psyche has come up with psychological defense mechanisms. The purpose of turning on the mechanism is to reduce anxiety and feelings experienced during a conflict. Is this good or bad? Should we fight it or not? Let's figure it out.

Fatigue is the basis of internal instability. You have noticed that you can look positively at the situation for a long time, prevent conflict, but at this time the influence of negative factors continues to accumulate, as well as fatigue. And then any trifle can throw us off balance. What makes us tired and vulnerable to conflict?

Excess or deficiency of physical or intellectual activity.
Overeating or hunger.
Too little or too much sleep.
Monotonous or vice versa changeable activity.
Confusion about something and increased anxiety.

Try to write down your whole day to understand what you spend the most energy on. Then fix whatever you think is draining you. At the same time, make it a rule to help people, but not to the detriment of yourself. Master autoregulation and learn to manage your psychological defense mechanisms.

What is a defense mechanism

A defense mechanism is a lever to prevent mental disorders of a person. However, the defense mechanisms are dual. On the one hand, they stabilize, that is, they establish a person’s relationship with himself, and on the other hand, they can destroy relationships with the outside world.

The goal of protection is to prevent. The task is to cope with a strong negative emotion and maintain the self-esteem of the individual. For this, a restructuring of the system (hierarchy) of values takes place within the personality. These are backup ways of solving incoming problems with the brain. They turn on when the basic normal methods have failed, and the problem is not recognized by the person himself.

Types of protection

In a critical situation of emotional intensity, our brain, based on previous experience, turns on one or another mechanism. By the way, a person can learn to manage his defenses. What psychological defense mechanisms exist?

crowding out

Replacing conflict thoughts with other hobbies, activities, thoughts, and emotions. As a result, the conflict and its cause are forgotten or not recognized. A person really forgets unwanted information, true motives. But at the same time it becomes anxious, timid, withdrawn, timid. Gradually decreases.

Rationalization

Revision of values, change of attitude to the situation for the sake of preserving dignity (“she left me, but it is not yet known who was more fortunate”).

Regression

This is a passive-defensive tactic, dangerous underestimation of self-esteem. Assumes a rollback to behavior patterns of an earlier age. This is helplessness, insecurity, surprise, tearfulness. As a result, the personality becomes infantile and stops in development. Such a person is not able to independently and constructively resolve conflicts.

Discredit

Belittling the dignity of the one who criticizes ("who would say!"). The other side of the coin is idealization. Gradually, a person passes into the alternation of the first and second. This is dangerous instability in relationships.

Negation

Restrain negative emotions, deny to the last, hoping for an unexpected result and changes - the essence of this mechanism. It is included in situations of conflict between the motives of the individual and external conditions (information, beliefs, requirements). Because of this mechanism, an inadequate understanding of oneself and the environment develops. A person becomes optimistic, but out of touch with reality. He may get into trouble because of a reduced sense of danger. Such a person is self-centered, but at the same time sociable.

Isolation

"I don't even want to think about it." That is, ignoring the situation and possible consequences, emotional alienation. A person moves away from the outside world and interpersonal relationships into his own world. For others, he looks like an unemotional weirdo, but in fact he has a highly developed empathy. And the departure from stereotypes allows you to see the world outside the box. This is how artists, poets, philosophers are born.

Compensation or replacement

Seeking self-determination and success in another area, a group of people. Transferring from an inaccessible to an accessible object.

Hyper compensation

Exaggerated, the opposite of an undesirable behavior. Such people are characterized by instability, ambiguity. You can say about them: "from love to hate is one step."

Aggression

Attacks on the one who criticizes. "The best defense is an attack."

Split

Sharing by a person of his experience for the sake of creating an inner world. Angel and devil, alternate personalities (who are sometimes given names), images help a person stay healthy. But on the other hand, they see him as a different person. They say about such people: “Yes, he, yes, what are you ?! He couldn't do that! You are a liar! And again, a great ground for conflicts.

Identification

The transfer of one's unwanted feelings, thoughts, qualities, desires to others, which often results in aggression. In addition, a person gradually ascribes more and more positive qualities to himself. From the point of view of conflicts, this is the most unfavorable defense.

Sublimation

The transfer of the material and everyday to the level of the abstract and creative. It brings pleasure and joy. This is the best and safest option for psychological protection. Gradually, the personality self-realizes creatively and protection, like uncertainty, disappears by itself. Any unmet need can be transformed into creativity. This is the healthiest type of psychological defense.

Mechanisms of violation of self-regulation

Sometimes our body fails, unconscious mechanisms are turned off, conscious ones, it turns out, are not mastered enough, which is expressed by fixation on the conflict (problem), deep feelings and the impossibility of adequately resolving the situation. What are these mechanisms?

Introjection. The allocation of unwanted samples into a separate category of personality, which is not perceived by the person himself.
Retroflection. The impossibility of satisfying the needs directed to the external environment is manifested by the redirection of energy towards oneself.
Deflection. This is a departure from close interpersonal interaction to the superficial: chatter, buffoonery, conventions.
Merging. It involves the elimination of boundaries between the external and internal world.

As a result of each of these violations, a person refuses a part of his "I" or completely loses his individuality.

Returning yourself

When correcting behavior, a person goes through a series of stages:

game in the image;
awareness of one's falsehood (fear);
uncertainty (loss of familiarity and lack of reference points);
awareness of the real horror of the situation (suppressed himself and limited himself);
reclaiming yourself and your emotions.

Unfortunately, it is almost impossible to go this way on your own. I recommend contacting a specialist. Depending on the situation, psychologists prefer Gestalt therapy, art therapy, psychodrama, individual counseling or another method of psychocorrection.

And what can you do consciously on your own?

Psychological defense mechanisms are activated at an unconscious level, that is, the person himself can use other methods of conflict resolution. First of all, it is important to know the peculiarity of information transformation, in fact, why there are so many conflicts (Figure below).

Transformation of information during communication

Thus, it is important to manage your emotions well, to identify feelings as accurately as possible. But along with this, you need to learn how to express these feelings, that is, develop communication skills and self-control. I suggest you get acquainted with some ways of self-regulation and optimization of the mental state.

Self massage

Ideal for stress relief. Run the backs of your hands over your body from forehead to toe. You will relax the muscles, due to which anxiety and stress will decrease, and arousal will decrease.

Relaxation

Set aside 15 minutes a day for yourself to relax your body and release your thoughts. It is recommended to conduct the lesson in dim light, in a chair, freeing yourself as much as possible from clothes and other accessories (including contact lenses). Tighten each muscle group 2 times for 5 seconds. Perform some action, for example, lift your leg as high as possible, and then release. Keep your breath even.

Breathing exercises

Exhale as deeply as possible, slowly inhale all the air in the room, linger for 5 seconds. Now exhale slowly. Do you feel a change in consciousness and thoughts? Repeat the exercise. After a few repetitions, calm down, count to ten, feel how with each count your consciousness becomes more clear.

Neuro-Linguistic Programming for Anxiety

NLP (Neuro Linguistic Programming) is a popular direction in the psychology of consciousness correction. I offer you a technique, which is so important, because it is it that is the harbinger of the activation of protective mechanisms.

Describe your anxiety in detail: its essence, form, content, or even appearance.
How many times a day (week, month) and how long do you give it?
Determine the place and time when and where anxiety never visits you.
At this time, offer the brain a playful game "let's worry." Yes, like this, wedge wedge. Think only negative, but at this time and in this place. Gradually, you will block your anxiety there.
Finally, thank your mind: “Thank you, brain, we did a good job. I knew you wouldn't let me down."

As a result of such regular classes, your stress resistance will increase and your attitude to failure will change. You will not experience them as emotionally and hard as before.

The NLP technique does not have an unambiguous attitude of specialists and clients to it, someone considers it doubtful, someone considers it the best method for correcting consciousness. I think that the method itself is not bad, but not suitable for everyone.

Imaginarium

Imagine your strongest and most relevant negative feeling at the moment or what you want to get rid of.
Imagine yourself as a cartoon (movie) character. Don't limit yourself. The only thing you should have in common with him is emotions and feelings, and the rest is up to you.
Take a look at your surroundings now. What and/or who do you see?
Now imagine a plot where your character's emotions change for the better. Don't limit yourself to reality. Everything is possible in the imagination.

This exercise reveals your inner reserves, suggests answers, develops the ability to feel and express your feelings.

For an independent and healthy overcoming of conflict situations, I recommend that you master a number of simple principles and rules.

Learn to accept criticism and benefit from it.
Always remember that they are not criticizing you, but your actions or individual features, even if they formulate their thought incorrectly.
Know how to take responsibility for your actions.
Don't hesitate to talk.

Afterword

Psychological defense is a person's reaction to a conflict situation. Moreover, the mechanisms of psychological defense are activated when a person is not aware of the contradiction of his I-real and I-ideal. The mechanism turns on, but self-development and personality changes do not occur. When the discrepancy between the behavior of an individual and his own beliefs (or other people, but significant to him) comes to consciousness, then the path of self-regulation begins.

This difference in the inclusion of the conscious and the unconscious is usually due to self-perception and self-esteem. When a person as a whole has a positive attitude towards himself, then he notices individual negative actions or traits. If his attitude towards himself is generally negative, then he does not notice this “drop in the ocean”.
Conclusion: to be healthy and manage your own emotions, you need to have adequate self-esteem and self-perception. And you need to control the consciousness yourself, because psychological defenses do not have the desired result and do not prevent conflicts, except for intrapersonal ones (the exception is the sublimation method).
Psychological mechanisms are good in rare and emergency situations, but when turned on often, they cripple the personality. Therefore, it is important to work on your stress resistance so that any little thing is not perceived by the psyche as a critical situation and a call to turn on backup power.

Literature on the topic

In conclusion, I recommend you the book by Vadim Evgenievich Levkin "Training for conflict independence: a study guide." This is a practical guide for changing yourself, your behavior and defense mechanisms (conscious and unconscious). The material is written in everyday language, supported by examples, all the recommendations are laid out point by point. A real guide to life.

Psychological defense mechanisms Etymology.

Comes from the Greek. psyche - soul, logos - teaching.

Category.

A system of mechanisms aimed at minimizing negative experiences associated with conflicts that threaten the integrity of the individual.

Specificity.

Such conflicts can be provoked both by contradictory attitudes in the personality itself, and by a mismatch of external information and the image of the world and the image formed in the personality. J. Z. Freud, who was the first to approach the problem of psychological conflicts, interpreted them as a form of conflict resolution between unconscious drives and internalized social requirements or prohibitions. Due to the implementation of psychological mechanisms, as a rule, only relative personal well-being is achieved. But unresolved problems become chronic, as a person deprives himself of the opportunity to actively influence the situation in order to eliminate the source of negative experiences. Psychological defense plays the most positive role when the problems that arise are of little significance and are not worth dealing with at all.

Kinds.

As a result of numerous studies, conducted primarily in clinical practice, various types of psychological defense mechanisms have been identified:

Repression - the elimination of desires from consciousness;

Identification - increasing one's own significance due to unity with persons or social institutions of high social rank;

Isolation is the separation of an emotional reaction from a situation of fear;

Introjection - the integration of external assessments and standards that may pose a threat into the structure of one's own Self;

Compensation - making up for weakness by over-emphasizing a desirable character trait;

The formation of reactions - the elimination of desire from the consciousness with the strengthening of external behavior corresponding to this desire;

Denial - protection from unpleasant reality due to unwillingness to perceive it;

Transference - the redirection of hostile feelings to an object that is less dangerous than the true cause of these emotions;

Projection - redirecting one's own negative qualities or unacceptable desires onto others;

Rationalization - an attempt to find a logical basis for one's own behavior;

Regression - reducing the level of claims and the degree of organization of activities;

Fantasy - the realization of a frustrated desire in the imagination;

Emotional isolation - avoidance of traumatic experiences due to withdrawal into passivity.

Psychological Dictionary. THEM. Kondakov. 2000 .

See what "psychological defense mechanisms" are in other dictionaries:

MECHANISMS OF PSYCHOLOGICAL PROTECTION- (from the Greek psyche - soul logos - teaching) - a system of mechanisms aimed at minimizing negative experiences associated with conflicts that threaten the integrity of the individual. Such conflicts can be provoked as ... ...

In UP, the concept of mechanisms of psychological defense of the individual is used quite rarely. Nevertheless, it significantly expands the formal boundaries of the study of the personality psychology of the victim or offender. Knowledge of specific psychological ... ...

A phenomenon and concept widely used in contemporary psychoanalytic theory and practice. This is the defense (struggle) of the “I”, the self-consciousness of the individual with anxieties and unbearable, painful experiences, thoughts, desires, drives used for ... ... Encyclopedia of Modern Legal Psychology

- (Freud S., 1894) The concept of the protective mechanisms of the individual to overcome mental trauma. According to S. Freud, defense mechanisms unconsciously suppress and displace from consciousness that information that does not meet the requirements of moral ... ... Explanatory Dictionary of Psychiatric Terms

Freud's psychological defense mechanisms- (Freud, 1894) - hypothetical unconscious psychological processes that prevent the appearance of threatening impulses of the It (Id) in consciousness, removing them from consciousness or transforming them in such a way that they appear acceptable to ... ... Encyclopedic Dictionary of Psychology and Pedagogy

PSYCHOLOGICAL DEFENSE MECHANISMS- in modern psychology they are interpreted as ways for a person to maintain his peace of mind. They manifest themselves, in particular, as a person’s tendency to maintain a habitual opinion about himself, rejecting or distorting unfavorable information that destroys ... Eurasian wisdom from A to Z. Explanatory dictionary

protection mechanisms- German: Abwehimechanismen. French: mechanisms de defense. English: mechanisms of defense. Spanish: micanismes de defensa. Italian: meccanismi di difesa. Portuguese: mecanismos de defesa. Various types of operations characteristic of psychological defense. ... ... Dictionary of Psychoanalysis

COPING MECHANISMS (COOPING MECHANISMS)- (from English coping coping). The study of human behavior in stressful situations has led to the identification of coping mechanisms, or coping mechanisms that determine successful or unsuccessful adaptation. For the first time the term "coping" was ... ... Psychotherapeutic Encyclopedia

PROTECTIVE MECHANISMS- the concept of psychoanalysis, meaning the methods of mental. protection of the conscious "I" (Ego) from dangerous drives and impulses that come into conflict with social norms and attitudes. The most universal of 3. m. is displacement. By 3. m. ... ... Philosophical Encyclopedia

Appointed in cases where a comprehensive assessment of the testimony of the offender, given by him at different times and containing conflicting information, is required. One of the significant reasons for the distortion of memories of a crime committed is ... ... Encyclopedia of Modern Legal Psychology

Books

Psychological impact. Mechanisms, strategies, countermeasures, . The book presents various approaches to the topic of psychological impact: socio-psychological, psycholinguistic, engineering-psychological, etc., attempts are being made to…

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.

Topic: "Psychological defense mechanisms"

Moscow 2013

Introduction

Chapter 2. Mechanisms of psychological defense

2.1 The concept of psychological defense mechanism

2 Psychological defense mechanisms

Conclusion

Bibliographic list

Introduction

Almost every day a person is faced with such situations when an existing need cannot be satisfied for any objective or subjective reasons. In such cases, behavior is usually regulated by psychological defense mechanisms that aim to prevent conduct disorders.

Psychological protection is associated with a change in the system of internal values of the individual, aimed at reducing the level of subjective significance of the corresponding experience in order to minimize psychologically traumatic moments. So, for example, R.M. Granovskaya, Doctor of Psychology, believes that "the functions of psychological defense are inherently contradictory: on the one hand, they contribute to a person's adaptation to his own inner world, but at the same time, on the other hand, they can worsen adaptability to the external social environment."

Psychological defense can also become a problem when it ceases to provide our comfort and safety and begins to cause trouble, and in order for this not to happen, you need to have at least the slightest idea of \u200b\u200bthe basic defense mechanisms.

I have to find out what mechanisms exist and how they can influence us and our behavior. This is the purpose of my research.

In order to achieve my goal, I have to solve a number of tasks, such as: find out what psychological defense mechanisms are, highlight the main ones and give them a brief explanation.

The methods of my research are analysis, synthesis, induction, and the object is the mechanisms of psychological defense.

The practical significance of my abstract is determined by the fact that the results of my generalization can be used in the educational process.

Chapter 1. The concept of psychological protection

What exactly is psychological protection?

Psychological protection is a regulative system of mental stabilization of the personality, aimed at eliminating (reducing) the negative effect caused by any psycho-traumatic effect.

It protects the personality from psychotraumatic experiences, in particular, displacing them into unconscious sensations, feelings, ideas. Psychological protection forms the psychological security of the individual. This is one of the components of the anti-suicidal barrier.

Consider also one more concept for this term.

Psychological protection is also considered as special techniques and actions taken by a person in order to maintain a positive self-image, normal well-being when negative personality traits, immoral thoughts, actions or ignoble feelings are attributed to him. This concept will be more understandable for any person.

Psychological protection can be represented as a system of mechanisms aimed at minimizing negative experiences associated with conflicts that threaten the integrity of the individual.

Such conflicts can be provoked both by contradictory attitudes in the personality itself, and by a mismatch of external information and the image of the world and the image formed by the personality. Sigmund Freud, an Austrian psychologist, psychiatrist and neurologist, who first approached the problem of psychological conflicts, interpreted them as a form of conflict resolution between unconscious drives and internalized social demands or prohibitions.

Subsequently, as a result of numerous studies conducted primarily in clinical practice, various types of psychological defense mechanisms were identified. Due to the implementation of psychological mechanisms, as a rule, only relative personal well-being is achieved. But unresolved problems become chronic, as a person deprives himself of the opportunity to actively influence the situation in order to eliminate the source of negative experiences. Psychological defense plays the most positive role when the problems that arise are of little significance and are not worth dealing with at all.

The functional purpose and goal of psychological defense is to reduce the intrapersonal conflict (tension, anxiety) between the instinctive impulses of the unconscious and the learned requirements of the external environment that arise as a result of social interaction. By weakening this conflict, protection regulates human behavior, increasing its adaptability and balancing the psyche. At the same time, a person can express the conflict between need and fear in different ways:

· through mental transformations,

· through bodily disorders (dysfunctions), manifested in the form of chronic psychosomatic symptoms,

· in the form of behavior change.

If the protective mechanisms of the psyche of a person are weak, fear and discomfort will inevitably overwhelm his soul. At the same time, to maintain the protection mechanisms at an optimal level, a constant expenditure of energy is required. And these costs can be so significant, and even unbearable for the individual, that in some cases it can lead to the appearance of specific neurotic symptoms and impaired adaptability.

The problem of psychological defense contains a central contradiction between a person's desire to maintain mental balance and the losses that an excessive invasion of defenses leads to. On the one hand, the benefits of all types of defenses, designed to reduce the tension accumulating in the human soul by distorting the initial information or a corresponding change in behavior, are undoubted. On the other hand, their excessive inclusion does not allow the individual to realize the objective, true situation, adequately and creatively interact with the world.

Thus, psychological protection plays a huge role for a person in solving any problems, resolving complex and incomprehensible situations.

Chapter 2. Mechanisms of psychological defense

Having clarified the concept of psychological defense, we can proceed to the definition of its mechanisms.

2.1 The concept of psychological defense mechanism

Psychological defense mechanisms are a set of such unconscious techniques, thanks to which a person provides his inner comfort, protecting himself from negative experiences and mental trauma.

As a rule, psychological defense mechanisms include denial, repression, projection, identification, rationalization, substitution, isolation, and some others. Different scientists consider various mechanisms, but I would like to dwell on the mechanisms of psychological defense by characterizing each of these mechanisms as R. M. Granovskaya describes them.

Let's start with such a mechanism as denial.

Denial - an unconscious refusal of a person to perceive information that is unpleasant for him, a mechanism for rejecting thoughts, feelings, desires, needs or reality that are unacceptable at a conscious level.

Denial comes down to the fact that the information that disturbs is not perceived. This method of protection is characterized by a noticeable distortion of the perception of reality. Denial is formed in childhood (if you hide your head under the covers, then reality will cease to exist) and often does not allow people to adequately assess what is happening around, which leads to difficulties in behavior. Adults often use denial in cases of crisis situations (terminal illness, approaching death, loss of a loved one, etc.).

So a person can listen carefully, but not perceive information if it poses a threat to his status, prestige. In this case, we should talk about denial. Also, it is hardly possible to achieve the desired result by telling a person “the truth in the face”, since most likely he will simply ignore this information. That is why psychology and pedagogy recommend never discussing a person's personality, but only his negative act.

The next psychological defense mechanism is repression.

Repression is the most universal way to get rid of an internal conflict by actively turning off an unacceptable motive or unpleasant information from consciousness. Repression is the process of exclusion from consciousness of thoughts, feelings, desires and drives that cause pain, shame or guilt. The operation of this mechanism can explain many cases of a person forgetting the performance of some duties, which, as it turns out, on closer examination, are unpleasant for him. Memories of unpleasant incidents are often suppressed. If any segment of a person's life path is filled with especially difficult experiences, amnesia can cover such segments of a person's past life.

Interestingly, what is most quickly repressed and forgotten by a person is not the bad that others have done to him, but the bad that he has done to himself or others. Ingratitude, all kinds of envy and a great many inferiority complexes are connected with this mechanism, which are forced out with terrible force.

This mechanism is also described in Leo Tolstoy's novel "War and Peace" on the example of Nikolai Rostov, who quite sincerely "forgot" about his non-heroic behavior in the first battle, but described his exploits with emotional uplift.

Let's move on to projection as a psychological defense mechanism.

Projection - an unconscious attribution of one's own, most often socially condemned qualities to another person, an unconscious transfer to another person of one's own feelings, desires and inclinations, in which a person does not want to admit to himself, realizing their social unacceptability. The projection mechanism allows you to justify your own actions. An example would be the case when a person showed aggression towards another, he often has a tendency to reduce the attractive qualities of the victim. In this case, such a person unconsciously ascribes cruelty and dishonesty to those around him, and since those around him are like that, then in his mind his similar attitude towards them becomes justified. As a matter of fact, they deserve it.

Identification is also one of the main mechanisms of psychological defense.

Identification is the process of unconsciously identifying oneself with another subject, group, model, ideal.

In the process of identification, one person unconsciously becomes like another (the object of identification). Both individuals and groups can act as objects of identification. Identification leads to imitation of the actions and experiences of another person. In a child, this mechanism often manifests itself in their unconscious imitation of one of the adults, most often a parent of the same sex, in adults - in the worship of an idol. Thus, according to Freud, with the help of identification, young children learn the behaviors of people who are significant to them, form the Super-I, take on a male or female role.

Sigmund Freud argued that identification is a defense against an object (which causes fear) by assimilation to it. So, the boy unconsciously inherits a strong and strict father and thereby seeks to earn his love and respect. Through arbitrary identification with the aggressor, the subject can get rid of fear. Through identification, symbolic possession of a desired but unattainable object is also achieved.

Identification leads to an increase in the individual's energy potential due to the symbolic "borrowing" of energy from other people.

Let's move on to rationalization.

Rationalization is a pseudo-rational explanation by a person of his own aspirations, motives for actions, actions actually caused by reasons, the recognition of which would threaten the loss of self-respect.

Self-affirmation, protection of one's own "I" - the main motive for the actualization of this mechanism of psychological protection of the individual.

Rationalization is an explanation by a person of his own intentions and aspirations for the purpose of self-justification and self-affirmation. At the same time, true motives are not recognized, since their awareness (if they are socially undesirable) would lead to a loss of self-respect.

It is striking that whenever a person is asked why he acted this way and not otherwise, his motives (in the opinion of the person) as a rule turn out to be "good". As a result of this psychological defense mechanism, a person rarely recognizes his intentions as immoral.

One of the mechanisms of psychological defense is also substitution.

Substitution is the realization of unsatisfied desires and aspirations with the help of another object. In other words, substitution is the transfer of needs and desires to another, more accessible object.

If it is impossible to satisfy some of his needs with the help of one object, a person can find another object (more accessible) to satisfy it.

In the case of substitution, there is a partial discharge of energy, tension, which is created by one need and is associated with a certain transfer of energy to another object. But this does not always lead to the achievement of the desired goal, since there is a threat of restoration of tension.

For example, if the person you love and with whom you associated the satisfaction of your needs and desires is inaccessible to you, then you transfer all your feelings and possibilities for satisfying needs to another person. And if your dream of becoming a writer has not come true, then you can choose the profession of a teacher of literature as a substitute, partially satisfying your creative needs.

The inability to directly express their dissatisfaction with the high authorities, a person takes out on his own subordinates, close people, children, etc.

The efficiency of replacement depends on how similar the replacement object is to the previous object (with which the satisfaction of the need was first associated). The maximum similarity of the replacement object guarantees the satisfaction of more needs that were first associated with the previous object.

Let's move on to inclusion.

Inclusion - empathy as a way to alleviate one's own internal tension. It is a method of psychological defense close to rationalization, 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 is 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.

From the foregoing, it becomes clear that people who are able to sincerely empathize with the suffering of others, not only alleviate them for others, but contribute to the improvement of their own mental health.

For example, empathizing with the heroes of another soap opera, people are distracted from their own, sometimes more significant and significant problems. protection psychological conflict identification

Consider the last mechanism of psychological defense.

Isolation - isolation within the consciousness of traumatic factors for a person. At the same time, unpleasant emotions are blocked by consciousness, i.e. there is no connection between the emotional coloring and the event. This type of defense is reminiscent of 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.

Vivid examples of such a mechanism can often be alcoholism, suicide, vagrancy.

So, having considered all the mechanisms of psychological defense that were described by R.M. Granovskaya, we can conclude that psychological protection can help maintain a person’s internal comfort, even if he violates social norms and prohibitions, since it creates the basis for self-justification. If a person treats himself as a whole positively, admits in his consciousness the idea of his imperfection, shortcomings, then he takes the path of overcoming the contradictions that arise. However, it should be noted that it is necessary to know all the mechanisms in order to understand how to follow the path of self-improvement, solve problems, and not avoid or resort to psychological defense mechanisms.

Conclusion

So, having found out what psychological defense mechanisms are, highlighting the main ones and giving them a brief explanation, I can say that I have achieved the goal of this work - I found out what mechanisms exist and how they can affect us and our behavior.

These mechanisms are used by a person directly in practice, most often thoughtlessly, at a subconscious level, because it is already laid down by nature. Each person should be able to protect himself in a conflict situation, and these mechanisms help in this.

Defense mechanisms play, of course, a more maladaptive role, since by their nature they distort the perception of reality, but they can also be considered as adaptive, protecting not only a person's self-esteem, but helping him to cope with life's difficulties and difficult situations. Psychological defense mechanisms help us reduce stress or avoid it altogether. They often suggest possible solutions to problems, as well as provide respite and refuge from troubles that a person has no real opportunity to avoid.

List of sources and literature

Psychology of consciousness / Comp. and the general edition of L. V. Kulikov. - St. Petersburg: Peter, 2001. - 480 p.: ill. - (Series "Anthology on psychology").

Zelinsky S.A. Management of the psyche through manipulative influence. Subliminal mechanisms of manipulative influence on the psyche of the individual and the masses in order to program them to perform specified actions. - Minsk 2009 332 p.

R. Kociunas Fundamentals of psychological counseling - M .: "Academic project", 1999

Mechanisms of psychological defense and coping with stress - R. R. Nabiullina, I. V. Tukhtarova

Freud A. Psychology "I" and protective mechanisms. - M., 1993.

Romanova E.S., Grebennikov L.R. Mechanisms of psychological protection. - M., 1996

Zhurbin V. Concepts of psychological defense in the concepts of Z. Freud and K. Rogers// Vopr. psychology. 1990, No. 4

Berezin F.B. Mental and psychophysiological adaptation of a person. - L., 1988

Mikhailov A.N., Rotenberg V.S. Peculiarities of psychological protection in health and in somatic diseases// Vopr. psychology. 1990, No. 5, p.106