Defence Mechanisms Sigmund Freud believed that there are times when our sense of self faces a crisis. This is our ego. Ego is a term used by Sigmund Freud for the part of the unconscious mind that encourages us to do good things. It is the part of the mind most closely linked to our sense of self. “We believe that civilization has been created under the pressure of the exigencies of life at the cost of satisfaction of the instincts.” Freud believes in order to protect our ego is to you defence mechanisms. Defence mechanisms are techniques that the human mind uses to deal with frustration, tension and worry. Those defences mechanisms help maintain our self-esteem by protecting our ego against negative feelings. It alters our view of reality and makes excuses for our failures and blame others for our mistakes. Denial is of the most known defense mechanisms. Denial is used often to describe situations in which people seem unable to face reality or admit an obvious truth. Denial is an outright refusal to admit or recognize that something has occurred or is currently occurring. Denial functions to protect the ego from things that the individual cannot deal with. It also requires a substantial investment of energy. Other defence mechanisms are also used to keep these unacceptable feelings from consciousness.
Rationalization is excuses we make up to explain a failure, loss or bad behavior. An example of rationalization if you lost a hockey game and blamed the refs for you loss. The refs are not the reason you lost the hockey game. We rationalize our failure by making up an excuse blaming the refs for losing the hockey game. It protects our self-esteem and self-concept. When confronted by failure, people tend blamed on other people or outside forces. Rationalization is an external defence towards others to protect yourself and make up for something you did.
Displacement is when we lash out at someone because of anger or frustration from an earlier