Anxiety and Defenses Part 1

Question 1

What is Anxiety?

Answer 1

Can be from the outside world or conflicts within the mind

Question 2

What does the ego have to do when we have anxiety?

Answer 2

Has to find a compromise for competing demands

Question 3

What is Anxiety from psychic conflict?

Answer 3

(when the mind battles itself)
The things we want, those that are possible, and those that are morally right are not always the same
We usually do not know what is causing the anxiety
The ego has to find a compromise for competing

Question 4

What is Realistic Anxiety

Answer 4

From the outside world

-example: mortality, relationships, performance, career aspirations, threats to self-esteem

Question 5

Is realistic Anxiety good or bad for us?

Answer 5

• Bad: it can lead to depression, which in turn will likely to lead to avoiding dealing with the cause of anxiety
• Good: (unrealistically) optimistic people are happier and have better mental health
• Keep it within Bounds: Some anxiety is good, but too much or too little is bad

Question 6

What are defense mechanisms?

Answer 6

techniques the ego uses to keep certain thoughts and impulses hidden in order to avoid anxiety
Not used consciously

Question 7

What are the eight defense mechanisms?

Answer 7

Denial
Repression
Reaction Formation
Projection
Rationalization
Intellectualization
Displacement
Sublimation

Question 8

What is Denial?

Answer 8

Denial: refusal to acknowledge or failure to see a source of anxiety

• Common and effective in the short run; usually temporary
• Blame failures on external circumstances or other people
• Effective way to deal with initial shock

Question 9

What is Repression?

Answer 9

Repression: banishing the past from present awareness

• The stronger the anxiety would be if something were remembered, the more it is repressed
• Only a certain number of things can be repressed before they start causing anxiety
• Can cause depression

Question 10

What is Reaction Formation?

Answer 10

Reaction formation: instigation of the opposite of forbidden thoughts, feelings, and impulses

• Common with especially strong sources of anxiety
• The opposite thought, feeling, or behavior is usually illogically strong and out of proportion to the provocation
• Research support: high sex guilt and homophobia are related to less psychological arousal but more physiological arousal in response to sexual stimuli

Question 11

What is Projection?

Answer 11

Projection: attributing to someone else a thought or impulse that is feared in oneself
-Recent research: participants rated another person worse on their own supposedly bad trait that they were told not to think about

Question 12

What is Rationalization?

Answer 12

Rationalization: concoction of a rational reason for doing something that would otherwise cause shame

• Perhaps the most common defense mechanism
• Trivialization
• Recent research: cognitive dissonance

Question 13

What is Trivialization?

Answer 13

convincing yourself that your shortcomings or regrettable actions don’t matter

Question 14

What is Cognitive Dissonance?

Answer 14

felt when cognitions and behaviors are inconsistent; people change beliefs to match behaviors unless there is a way to discount or trivialize the behavior

Question 15

What is Intellectualization?

Answer 15

turning an anxiety-provoking feeling into a thought that is cool, abstract, and analytical
-Common in warfare and medicine
-Useful when reality is horrifying or too painful to deal with directly
Problematic if reality is not dealt with appropriately
-Recent research: effective for reducing anxiety

Question 16

What is Displacement?

Answer 16

replacing one object of emotion with another

• The other object is a safer target and usually resembles the real target
• Problem if the necessary direct action is not taken or if the target is an innocent one
• Recent research: displacement is generally ineffective; people who express displaced aggression often become more aggressive, not less

Question 17

What is Sublimation?

Answer 17

forbidden impulses are transformed into constructive behaviors

• Artists, scientists
• Career choice
• According to Freud, this is a positive process and a part of normal functioning