Types of Defense Mechanisms

A defense mechanism is a subconscious psychological strategy employed by individuals to cope with and manage emotions, particularly anxiety or stress, by protecting themselves from thoughts, feelings, or impulses perceived as threatening or distressing. These mechanisms operate outside of conscious awareness and are aimed at maintaining psychological balance and protecting self-esteem. Introduced by Sigmund Freud and further developed by other psychologists, defense mechanisms include many different processes, including the ones listed below. While these mechanisms can be adaptive in moderating emotional distress, their overuse or misuse may lead to maladaptive coping strategies, hindering personal growth and well-being.

Repression: Unconsciously forgetting or blocking out unpleasant memories or thoughts.

Denial: Refusing to acknowledge the existence of something distressing or threatening.

Projection: Attributing one's own unacceptable thoughts, feelings, or motives to others.

Displacement: Redirecting emotions or impulses from their original source to a less threatening one.

Sublimation: Transforming socially unacceptable impulses or urges into socially acceptable actions.

Rationalization: Offering logical or reasonable explanations for behaviors or thoughts that are actually driven by irrational motives.

Regression: Reverting to an earlier stage of psychological development in response to stress or conflict.

Reaction Formation: Expressing the opposite of what one truly feels or thinks, often as a defense against unacceptable impulses.

Intellectualization: Dealing with emotional conflicts or stress by focusing on abstract or intellectual aspects.

Suppression: Consciously choosing to not think about or dwell on certain thoughts or feelings.

Undoing: Engaging in behavior to counteract or "undo" guilt or anxiety resulting from unacceptable thoughts or actions.

Identification: Associating oneself with someone or something in order to enhance self-esteem or reduce anxiety.

Fantasy: Creating an imaginary world to escape from or compensate for perceived deficiencies in reality.

Compensation: Overachieving in one area to make up for perceived failures or shortcomings in another.

Splitting: Viewing people, situations, or oneself in extremes of either all good or all bad, to avoid the anxiety of ambivalence.

Somatization: Expressing emotional distress through physical symptoms or ailments.

Acting Out: Engaging in impulsive or inappropriate behavior as a way of expressing unconscious emotions.

Humor: Using humor as a defense mechanism to cope with distressing situations or emotions.

Sour Grapes:  a cognitive strategy in which individuals, unable to attain something they desire, devalue or dismiss the desired object or goal as unimportant or undesirable to ease the emotional impact of unmet needs.

Selective Forgetting: "Choosing" to remember only certain details of an event while forgetting others to protect oneself from discomfort.

Isolation of Affect: Separating feelings from ideas and events, dealing with emotional aspects in a detached and intellectualized manner.

Compartmentalization: Separating conflicting thoughts or emotions into separate compartments to avoid internal conflict.

Minimization: Downplaying the significance of one's thoughts, feelings, or actions to reduce anxiety or guilt.

Idealization: Seeing someone or something as perfect, admirable, or superior as a way to avoid dealing with negative feelings.

Withdrawal: Physically or emotionally removing oneself from a situation to avoid potential stress or conflict.

Passive-Aggression: Indirectly expressing hostility or anger through passive means rather than directly confronting the source.

Sarcasm: Using humor or irony to mock or convey contempt in a way that masks true feelings.

Autistic Fantasy: Retreating into a rich fantasy life to escape from reality and cope with emotional stress.

Projective Identification: Projecting positive or negative thoughts or feelings onto another person and simultaneously reacting with the projected material as if it now belongs to the other person.

Self-Serving Bias: Attributing positive events or successes to one's own character while attributing negative events or failures to external factors.

Spiritual Bypassing: Using spiritual beliefs or practices to avoid dealing with unresolved psychological issues.

Compulsive Behavior: Engaging in repetitive, ritualistic actions to alleviate anxiety or prevent a feared event from occurring.