Mostafa Zaeyin
“No. I don’t remember and I don’t want to remember.” A simple phrase we hear almost every day, but in reality, it’s not as simple as it may seem. This phrase is used to mask a lot of internal conflicts or even what we call ‘Psychopathology’. These words suggest a type of defense mechanism termed Repression.
Defense mechanisms is a concept that sprouted from Freudian psychology. It is the behavior people use to separate themselves from unpleasant events, actions, or thoughts. In other words, they are strategies that one may use to stay away from threats or unwanted feelings, such as guilt or shame.
Most defense mechanisms are not under a person’s conscious control. To put it simply, we can’t choose what we do and when we do it. We are only aware of our defenses in retrospect.
So the question remains "Is it a bad behavior?"
Of course, not. Defense mechanisms allow people to navigate painful experiences or channel their energy more productively. We all use defenses all the time. They are the reason we cope with changes. However, they can become problematic when applied too frequently for too long.
Many defense mechanisms have been identified and categorized into groups.
Firstly, Projection; a type of narcissistic defense. When a person attributes his/her desires, thoughts, or emotions to someone else. The internal states of this person are perceived as a part of someone else or the world in general.
Here is an example to clarify more, A physician believes that the nursing staff is uncomfortable talking to him, when in fact, he is uncomfortable talking with them.
Denial is the term used for not allowing reality to penetrate the mind, believing at some clear feature of external reality is not true. For example, when a patient survives a heart attack and insists on continuing his lifestyle as if nothing had happened, this patient is in denial.
The 3rd term is Repression that is present when an idea or feeling, which were once known, is eliminated from consciousness. You forget, and then forget that you forgot; like a child who was abused by her mother and then went to psychotherapy to be treated will have no memory of any mistreatment.
Repression is different from Denial in that the reality was once accepted but is now discarded. Repression is type of anxiety defenses, just as Displacement.
But what exactly is displacement? When you redirect an emotional reaction from the rightful recipient to another person altogether, here comes the Displacement. Such as when a manager screams at an employee, the employee doesn't scream back, but the employee may yell at their partner later.
Dozens of different defense mechanisms have been identified, this was only a brief overview of some of them. They’re quite common, in fact, most of us have used some of these and might have not been aware. Don’t worry, it’s normal. It’s how humans cope.
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