Overview Unconscious processes that prevent undesirable feelings (such as anxiety or depression) Immature Defenses (More Primitive) Acting out use actions to express unacceptable feelings and thoughts tantrums Dissociation temporary drastic change in behavior extreme forms can result in dissociative identity disorder (multiple personality disorder) Denial avoidance of awareness of some painful reality initially refusing to believe a diagnosis of AIDS or cancer Displacement taking feelings out on a neutral 3rd party fight with wife → yell at dog Fixation "stuck" in an earlier developmental stage Freud's "oral fixation" Fantasy substituting an imaginary, less disturbing view of the world when the actual reality is difficult or painful Identification imitating behavior (good or bad) of a more powerful person abused child becomes abusive parent later in life Isolation of affect separation of emotion from events or ideas describing murder in graphic detail without emotional response Passive aggression expression of angry feelings in a non-confrontational way Projection attributing unacceptable internal feelings to an external source Philandering husband claims his wife is cheating Rationalization making excuses to avoid the real reason for actions or to avoid self-blame claiming that grades are not important anyway after failing a test Reaction formation replacing an unwanted idea or feeling with its opposite ("an equal and opposite reaction") a patient with hypersexual thoughts becomes a nun Regression reversion to more childlike behavior particularly seen in children under stress (illness, punishment, birth of new sibling, or fatigue) e.g. toilet trained child wets the bed while he is hospitalized Repression involuntary withholding of bad thoughts from consciousness Splitting belief that people are either all good or all bad resident is mean but the medical student is warm and caring seen in borderline personality disorder Mature Defenses (Less Primitive) Altruism alleviating guilt through charity and generosity e.g. criminal donates to church Humor appreciating the humor in a situation to relieve stress joke about your licensing exams Sublimation replacing an unacceptable action with a more acceptable action aggressive personality is redirected toward a successful military career Suppression voluntary withholding of an idea or feeling from consciousness