Defense mechanisms are used by organisms to prevent harm and can take physical or psychological forms. In humans, defense mechanisms are unconscious behaviors used to protect against psychological harm. Some examples include denial and repression, and therapy can help identify and address unhealthy defense mechanisms.
The term “defense mechanism” is used in two different ways. Both involve a sense of self-protection, with an organism adopting behavior with the goal of preventing harm, which can take the form of physical harm or psychological harm. Defense mechanisms are used extensively throughout the natural world and in human society and take a wide variety of forms.
In biology, a defense mechanism is a form of physical defense. Many organisms have defenses that allow them to fight back, ranging from poisons that make them dangerous to eat to teeth they can use to bite attackers. People and animals use them to survive, and they also promote the survival of a species, as potential predators learn that organisms with those mechanisms are dangerous.
In reference to humans, a defense mechanism is a psychological phenomenon used as a form of self-protection from psychological harm. Freud, a famous figure in the field of psychology, developed the theory to explain a large family of psychological behaviors. His thesis was that the self engaged in unconscious behaviors to protect itself from harmful or threatening situations. Such situations might include conflict, intense anxiety, shame, situations that threaten self-esteem, and so on.
Freud recognized a series of defensive actions that occur to some degree in everyone, including perfectly healthy individuals. Indeed, many play an important role in socialization and enable people to function in society. Others have targeted them as more problematic and indicate that a patient may be developing a serious psychological problem. Denial, for example, is an example of an extreme defense mechanism that can be very damaging. Likewise, repression can be dangerous.
Some examples of defense mechanisms seen in many people include intellectualization, distance, humor, sublimation, reaction formation, and altruism. People in therapy can spend time exploring their own defensive actions and determining which ones are healthy and which ones can be dangerous. A therapist can work with a client to identify the defense mechanisms at work and explore their roots, while also providing suggestions to help clients avoid more dangerous ones.
Defense mechanisms can also become problems in interpersonal relationships, and are often a topic in group or couple therapy. It is important for therapists to distinguish between different types of behaviors and their functions when working with clients and to make clients aware that such a defense mechanism is not inherently bad.
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