Discuss defense mechanisms, including a description of these mental processes, the name of the psychiatrist who first identified them, how they can be harmful, and how they can be beneficial; and describe the two defense mechanisms that tend to have more of a positive quality than the other ones

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

Answer will include that a defense mechanism is any mental process used to avoid, deny, or distort sources of threat or anxiety, especially threats to one's self-image. Many of the defenses were first identified by Sigmund Freud, who assumed they operate unconsciously. Often, defense mechanisms create large blind spots in awareness. People who overuse defense mechanisms become less adaptable, because they consume great amounts of emotional energy to control anxiety and maintain an unrealistic self-image. Defense mechanisms do have value, though. Often, they help keep us from being overwhelmed by immediate threats. This can provide time for a person to learn to cope in a more effective, problem-focused manner. Two defense mechanisms that have a decidedly more positive quality are compensation and sublimation. Compensatory reactions are defenses against feelings of inferiority. A person who has a defect or weakness (real or imagined) may go to unusual lengths to overcome the weakness or to compensate for it by excelling in other areas. There are dozens of examples of compensation, such as Helen Keller, who was blind and deaf, became a great thinker and writer; James Earl Jones, who stuttered became an award-winning actor; and Stevie Wonder and Ray Charles, both blind, became great musicians. The defense mechanism of sublimation can also be positive. It involves working off frustrated desires through socially acceptable activities. Freud believed that art, music, dance, poetry, scientific investigation, and other creative activities could serve to rechannel sexual energies into productive behavior. Examples might include a very aggressive person finding social acceptance as a boxer or football player and a person who lies sublimating these "stories" into creative writing or politics.