Example
A woman witnesses her spouse
engaging in an affair and
converts the anxiety of seeing
that into blindness. The
blindness alleviates the anxiety.
Commonly, people who are
cheating on a partner make
false accusations of cheating
against the faithful partner.
Commonly, the boss yells at a
worker, who feels he cannot
yell back, so he goes home and
yells at his wife and kicks the
family do
During a school shooting, a
student looks to be “zoned
out.” After the shooting, the
student has no recollection of
the event.
A man suffers from alcoholism
and has entered rehabilitation.
What he really wants is to drink,
but he expresses that he hates
alcohol
A child has a parent who is very
spiritual. The child incorporates
spirituality into himself.
A college student comes home
from school and finds many bills
that need paid in the mail. The
student consciously ignores the
bills until after she has studied
for the next day’s exam
Type of Defense Mechanism Mature/Pathological/Neurotic
Conversion Pathological
Converting anxiety or internal
conflict into a physical symptom
Projection Pathological
Literally, projecting onto
another one’s own
unacceptable thoughts or
feelings. Projection is
sometimes listed as an
immature defense mechanism,
depending on the severity.
Displacement Pathological
Displacement is an unconscious
defence mechanism whereby
the mind substitutes either a
new aim or a new object for
goals felt in their original form
to be dangerous or
unacceptable.
Dissociation Neurotic
Separating oneself from a
feeling through unconscious
detachment
Reaction Formation Neurotic
Believing or behaving the
opposite of the way one
actually does. This is commonly
seen in individuals recovering
from addiction.
Introjection Mature
Identifying with another so
strongly that one absorbs that
aspect into his/her own
personality. This often is
observed in children as they
introject aspects of the parent
into themselves
Suppression Mature
Consciously ignoring troubling
thoughts or feelings so that
more pressing matters can be
dealt with
An adult who was molested as a
child has no recollection of the
event and believes the parent
who molested her was
wonderful.
Repression Neurotic
Unconsciously blocking
unacceptable thoughts or
feelings. Without understanding
the underlying feelings, it is
difficult to differentiate
repression from dissociation