{"id":14717,"date":"2012-09-25T12:18:03","date_gmt":"2012-09-25T19:18:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.goodtherapy.org\/blog\/?page_id=14717"},"modified":"2018-09-18T11:34:29","modified_gmt":"2018-09-18T18:34:29","slug":"defense-mechanisms","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.goodtherapy.org\/blog\/defense-mechanisms\/","title":{"rendered":"Defense Mechanisms"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Chameleon\"The concept of the defense mechanism<\/strong> was originally suggested by Sigmund Freud<\/a>, who argued that defensive reactions occur when the ego attempts to protect itself from the id. When the id suggests unacceptable motivations or thoughts to the ego, the ego tries to avoid conscious awareness of troubling feelings or unpleasant motivations. However, in contemporary psychology, the term defense mechanism is used more broadly to refer to any behavioral pattern that people use to protect themselves from unpleasant emotions such as shame<\/a>, anger, and guilt.<\/p>\n

Types of Defense Mechanisms<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Any behavior designed to protect oneself from unpleasant emotions can be a defense mechanism. However, some defense mechanisms are so common that they have been heavily cited in psychological texts. These include:<\/p>\n