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A defence mechanism can become pathological when its persistent use leads to maladaptive behaviour such that the physical or mental health of the individual is adversely affected. Among the purposes of ego defence mechanisms is to protect the mind/self/ego from anxiety or to provide a refuge from a situation with which one cannot currently cope.
Anticipation is an emotion involving pleasure or anxiety in considering or awaiting an expected event. Anticipatory emotions include fear , anxiety , hope and trust . [ 1 ] When the anticipated event fails to occur, it results in disappointment (for a positive event) or relief (for a negative one).
Emotional approach coping is a psychological construct that involves the use of emotional processing and emotional expression in response to a stressful situation. [1] [2] As opposed to emotional avoidance, in which emotions are experienced as a negative, undesired reaction to a stressful situation, emotional approach coping involves the conscious use of emotional expression and processing to ...
Undoing is a defense mechanism in which a person tries to cancel out or remove an unhealthy, destructive or otherwise threatening thought or action by engaging in contrary behavior. For example, after thinking about being violent with someone, one would then be overly nice or accommodating to them.
Compartmentalization may lead to hidden vulnerabilities related to self-organization and self-esteem [10] in those who use it as a major defense mechanism. [11] When a negative self-aspect is activated, it may cause a drop in self-esteem and mood. [9] This drop in self-esteem and mood is what the observed vulnerability is attributed to. [9]
George Vaillant divided defense mechanisms into a hierarchy of defenses ranging from immature through neurotic to healthy defenses, [12] and placed intellectualization – imagining an act of violence without feeling the accompanying emotions, for example – in the mid-range, neurotic defenses. [13]
Splitting is a relatively common defense mechanism for people with borderline personality disorder (BPD). [24] One of the DSM IV-TR criteria for this disorder is a description of splitting: "a pattern of unstable and intense interpersonal relationships characterized by alternating between extremes of idealization and devaluation ".
Anna Freud (1936) ranked regression first in her enumeration of the defense mechanisms', [16] and similarly suggested that people act out behaviors from the stage of psychosexual development in which they are fixated. For example, an individual fixated at an earlier developmental stage might cry or sulk upon hearing unpleasant news.