PSYCH 238 Lecture Notes - Lecture 5: Posttraumatic Stress Disorder, Reaction Formation
1 Feb 2017
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Document Summary
Ego distorts reality to protect ourselves from painful or threatening impulses. Defense mechanisms = ways of protecting the conscious mind from unacceptable, unconscious content. Repression: pushes threatening thoughts and ideas into the unconscious, as an explanation for: Reaction formation: hides threatening impulses by over-emphasizing their opposite, as an explanation for: Rabidly homophobic people turning out to be closeted homosexuals. Inappropriate sexual escapades by politicians and clergymen who promote. Denial: refusal to acknowledge anxiety-provoking stimuli, as an explanation for: Not accepting sudden death of loved one. Projection: attribute anxiety-provoking impulse or thoughts to others, as an explanation for: Sublimation: dangerous urges are transformed into positive, socially meaningful motivations, as an explanation for: Regression: protecting the individual by returning to an earlier, safer stage, as an explanation for: Child with new sibling wants a bottle again. Rationalization: creating logical, socially acceptable explanations for behaviors actually driven by unconscious impulses, as an explanation for:
