4) Defense Mechanisms -- distort reality to protect the ego from anxiety caused by id impulses.

Defense Mechanisms
are behaviors that protect people from anxiety
Repression: keeping unpleasant thoughts, memories, and feelings shut up in the
unconscious.
Example: Nate witnessed his mother being beaten by a mugger when he was seven years old. As
an adult, he does not remember this incident.
Reaction formation: behaving in a way that is opposite to behavior, feelings, or thoughts
that are considered unacceptable.
Example: Lisa feels sexually attracted to her roommates boyfriend but does not admit this to
herself. Instead, she constantly makes very disparaging comments about the boyfriend and feels
disgusted by the way he acts.
Projection: attributing ones own unacceptable thoughts or feelings to someone else.
Example: ario feels angry toward his father but is not aware of it. Instead, he complains that
he cannot be around his father because his father is such an angry man.
Rationalization: using incorrect but self-serving explanations to justify unacceptable
behavior, thoughts, or feelings.
Example: !ylvia runs a red light while driving. !he "ustifies this by telling herself she was
already in the intersection when the light changed to red.
Displacement: transferring feelings about a person or event onto someone or something
else.
Example: !eth is angry at his professor for giving him a bad grade. #e leaves class and shouts
angrily at a passerby who accidentally bumps into him.
Denial: refusing to acknowledge something that is obvious to others.
Example: $ates use of alcohol starts to affect her academic performance, her "ob, and her
relationships. #owever, she insists that she drinks only to relieve stress and that she does not
have an alcohol problem.
Regression: reverting to a more immature state of psychological development.
Example: %hen six&year&old 'ameel gets less attention from his parents because of a new baby
brother, he suddenly starts to wet his bed at night.
Sublimation: channeling unacceptable thoughts and feelings into socially acceptable
behavior.
Example: (riya deals with her angry feelings toward her family by writing science&fiction
stories about battles between civili)ations.