Sometimes when life gets hard, our minds do a funny thing.
Something that’s more palatable, or something that feels more within our control.
In psychology, these mental gymnastics are known as defense mechanisms.
What are defense mechanisms?
Common examples of defense mechanisms include denial, projection, rationalization, and suppression, among many others.
How they work.
Common examples.
There aredifferent types of defense mechanisms1, ranging from primitive and neurotic to mature and adaptive.
Displacement
Displacement is another way of redirecting your feelings away from the correct target.
They haverepressedthose memories so you can cope with the trauma.
Suppression
Suppression is similar to repression, except that it’s done more consciously.
“When we avoid our emotions, we’re actually making them stronger.
This can actually be a healthy coping mechanism when deployed consciously.
This is common behavior among those with anavoidant attachment style.
Why people use defense mechanisms.
“We’re mostly unaware that we’re using defense mechanisms,” she explains.
According to Munoz, most of our defense mechanisms are usually learned in childhood.
Recognizing your defense mechanisms.
There are many ways todevelop better self-awareness.
How to respond to someone using a defense mechanism.
“Pointing out people’s defenses without their permission is a subtle boundary violation,” she notes.
(Here’s more onhow to deal with a defensive partner.)
The takeaway.
Learning to recognize our defense mechanisms can be an eye-opening, humbling, and even frightening process.
