THE DEFENSE MECHANISMS They are defenses developed by the self to manage

anxiety or prevent its emergence. Anxiety can have three origins: • The anxiety of
reality, which is the fear that arises in the face of real threats or dangers. • Neurotic
anxiety, which is a consequence of the fear that the impulses of it go out of control and
lead the subject to commit an act for which he is punished. • Moral anxiety, generated
by the fear of individuals to transgress the moral code. If the ego (ego) works perfectly,
no type of anxiety is experienced, since the external factors are timely released and no
rule or introjected moral principle would be transgressed. But this does not happen in
reality when the normal thing is to experiment with different types and degrees of
anxiety. Several psychoanalytic theorists have studied defense mechanisms, including
Anna Freud (1966) who identified up to 9 mechanisms that can be used to stop
anxiety:

Projection: It consists in placing in the other what is really proper. 

Denial: It is about directly disconfirming a reality that is obvious. 

Distortion of reality: attribute exaggerated qualities to oneself or others. Immature
Mechanisms 
Regression: Deployment of behaviors from a previous stage.

 Hypochondria: Deployment of fantasies about the idea of having contracted an

illness without any real basis.

 Fantasy: Idealized mental construction of a person or situation that serves to

compensarte an opposite reality.

 Somatization: Emotional expression through a physiological response

.  Aggressive passive behavior: Show aggression in a covert way.  Impulsive

behavior: Prevents the person from stopping to reflect on the aspects and motivations
of their behavior. Neurotic Mechanisms

:  Control: Need to avoid any environmental and personal change.

 Affective isolation: Dissociation between the cognitive and emotional elements

.  Rationalization: Invention of explanations to justify oneself.

 Dissociation: Temporal alteration of the functions of integration of consciousness. 

Reactive Training: Substitution of behaviors, thoughts or feelings that are
unacceptable by others diametrically opposed.

 Repression: Eject thoughts and desires from consciousness.

 Intellectualization: Disconnection of emotions from the intellect.