Defense Mechanisms

4. the refusal to think about or deal with people, places, or situations that cause anxiety or guilt
6. blocking out awareness of certain parts of your personality
10. taking your own unacceptable feelings or thoughts and putting them on another person as if they belong to them
14. unconsciously keeping feelings, thoughts, or memories out of your awareness
17. psychologically removing yourself from your present experience
18. trying to take back or make up for a behavior, thought, or impulse that you see as hurtful to someone else
19. retreating into your own imagination to avoid stressful situations or to reach your unattainable goals
20. use of logic or reasoning to justify something upsetting that occurred

1. channeling unacceptable thoughts or impulses into more socially acceptable behaviors
2. indirect expression of anger to avoid directly dealing with anger
3. redirecting of feelings or impulses about one person toward another less-threatening person
5. refusal to accept the reality that something painful has happened or is still happening
7. used as a mask to cover up shame and their feeling of inferiority
8. conscious blocking of unpleasant thoughts, impulses or memories
9. decreasing anxiety associated with a situation by pointing out something funny or ironic about it
11. avoidance of feelings in an emotional situation and instead focusing on thoughts and using logic
12. acting in a way that is opposite to what you are feeling or thinking
13. making up for perceived weaknesses in one area by putting more effort and focus into other aspects of your life
15. doing something extreme to express a feeling or thought that is creating intense anxiety
16. reverting to an earlier stage of psychological development