EGO DEFENSE MECHANISMS

Defense mechanisms are unconscious ego processes that keep disturbing

and unacceptable thoughts from being directly expressed. What is being
defended against can be an impulse, an object loss, or a failure experience
(Cooper, 1988). In learning about defense mechanisms, it is helpful to
examine them separately. Bear in mind, though, that people rarely defend
themselves against anxiety with a single mechanism; typically, defense
mechanisms operate in combination. Further, as will become apparent,
there is considerable overlap in the way defense mechanisms protect the
ego from overwhelming anxiety.1

Text material from R. Liebert and M. Spiegler, Personality: Strategies and Issues, 7th ed.
(Pacific Grove, CA: Brooks/Cole, 1994), p. 95. Used with permission.