Defense Mechanisms

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COMMON ISSUES

NARCISSISTIC
anger, rage, addictions,
self-destructive behaviour,
sado-masochism,
low self-esteem,
feelings of worthlessness

“I don’t deserve love.”
SCHIZOID
anger, not feeling
anything, dissociation,
relationship problems,
defensiveness, emotional
breakdown

“Nobody will love me.”
MASOCHISTIC
obsessive compulsions,
abusive relationships, fear,
anxiety, phobias, self-harm,
depression, nervous
breakdown

“I’ll be loved if I’m good.”
RIGID
sex-love-intimacy problems,
stress, inexibility, failed
relationships, compulsions,
coldness, nervous
breakdown

“I don’t know what love is.”
ORAL
addictions, lethargy,
manic depression, mood
swings, rage, chaotic
lifestyle, suicidal impulses

“I can’t get love for myself.”
PRIMARY DEFENCES 

  • Acting Out
    turn it into behaviour
  • Aggression
    attack to defend
  • Blaming
    someone else’s fault
  • Delusion
    lie to yourself & believe it
  • Denial
    it’s not happening
  • Dissociation
    go numb
  • Distortion
    changing the story to fit
  • Emulation
    copy who you know
  • Fantasizing
    go into other worlds
  • Idealization
    over regard for others
  • Identification
    forge an alliance
  • Internalization
    turn into your beliefs
  • Isolation
    separate off feelings
  • Neediness
    over-dependence on another
  • Omnipotence
    all powerful, no weakness
  • Passive Aggression
    indirect & concealed attacks
  • Projection
    put your feelings on someone
  • Regression
    revert back to immaturity
  • Repression
    unconsciously bury it
  • Rationalization
    a false but plausible excuse
  • Somatization
    turn it into a physical illness
  • Splitting
    i am bad, so you are good
  • Suppression
    consciously bury it
COMPLEX DEFENCES

  • Altruism
    disguise with good deeds
  • Cynicism
    everything is false
  • Devaluation
    it doesn’t matter
  • Displacement
    punch a bag
  • Eroticization
    safety in sex
  • Humour
    deflect with jokes
  • Individualism
    flaunt it
  • Intellectualization
    convert to safe concepts
  • Undoing
    acts of compensation
  • Perfectionism
    never slip up again
  • Power
    control everyone
  • Planning
    safety in organization
  • Reversal
    do the opposite
  • Spiritualization
    it’s all a divine plan
  • Sublimation
    turn it into art
Material Source: Sigmund Freud, Heinz Kohut, Melanie Klein, Ronald Fairbairn, Donald Winnicott
2008 written and designed by David McCandless at InformationIsBeautiful.net
2012 revised and additional design by Joe Swainson
January 9, 2013 published with permission at JanetOakes.com