Defense Mechanisms Of Ego

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Done by: Aiganym Balapanova, FEF, 2 year Defense Mechanisms of EGO When you accidentally injure yourself, your body automatically begins several self healing processes, aiming to restore your body to its original healthy state. But what if you're emotionally hurt? What if you face a sudden shock or a tremendous amount of stress? What if your anxiety becomes more than you can handle? What if you lose a dear one? What happens when the ego cannot deal with the demands of our desires, the constraints of reality and our own moral standards? According to Freud, anxiety is an unpleasant inner state that people seek to avoid. Anxiety acts as a signal to the ego that things are not going right. Just like how your body has defenses against physical wounds and injuries, it has its defenses against emotional shocks and wounds; they're called "Ego Defense Mechanisms" or "Unconscious Defense Mechanisms". There are a number of defense mechanisms that have been described by Sigmund Freud's daughter, Anna Freud which used by the ego. • Denial. Denial is probably one of the best known defense mechanisms, used often to describe situations in which people seem unable to face reality or admit an obvious truth. Denial is an outright refusal to admit or recognize that something has occurred or is currently occurring. Drug addicts or alcoholics often deny that they have a problem, while victims of traumatic events may deny that the event ever occurred. • Repression. Repression is the complete memory loss of a painful event. In this case, your subconscious mind doesn’t want you to remember what happened because it may negatively affect your mood. However, these memories don't just disappear; they continue to influence our behavior. For example, a person who has repressed memories of abuse suffered as a child may later have difficulty forming relationships.

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