Defense Mechanism
(Extra credit Assignment)
Karlo Leon
ID#0787316
Ab. Psychology
01/05/13
People use defense mechanisms so often that it is perhaps difficult to pick out individual cases to deal with. Additionally, it would be markedly easier for me to look for evidence of these mechanisms within myself. However, others do display such defenses against anxiety-inducing thoughts, memories, and impulses. In the healthy range of defense mechanism, repression is key. Simply not thinking about something for a long period of time is often quite helpful. This particular mechanism can at times be rather obvious, as when, in a discussion, a person states that he or she would 'rather not talk about this.' Of course, repression is not always this aware, but in this case it is made manifest by a conscious effort to avoid the topic. Of the neurotic defense mechanisms, humor is perhaps most seen on this campus. Self-deprecating humor helps soften the glare of our shortcomings, especially when they surface in public. Sometimes, jokes are made specific to the situation (I tripped; I'm such a clutz!) but they are often generalized. These jokes are also often not very funny, on the order of "I'm a dumbass...hahaha!"Of the psychotic coping mechanism, denial is much more obvious than reaction formation. I can think of one specific case, a friend who set his sights too high in sending out transfer applications. As rejections have come in, my notion that he was a non-starter for most of his choices because of grades was proven correct, but this is not something that he can seem to come to terms with. He claims not to understand why myself and several other friends, with near-4.0 GPAs have gotten into several prestigious schools, while he has not. Seems like denial: an inability to face his failings. Reaction formation also interests me a lot, because it is rather counter-intuitive