What Are Psychological Defense Mechanisms?

Like the notion of an unconscious mind, the idea of psychological defense mechanisms has entered the mainstream and colored our understanding of human nature. Nearly everyone understands what it means to appear defensive or to react defensively. We use those words to describe people's behavior when they don't want to admit the truth of something said about them. "Have you noticed how defensive Jeff gets whenever you bring up the subject of his brother? You know he has to feel guilty about what happened." We recognize that the person is trying to ward off something painful or unpleasant he or she doesn't want to face. We owe this understanding of defensiveness to the earliest work of Sigmund Freud.

Freud began writing about the concept of psychological defense mechanisms in the 1890s, most notably in his famous early work, Studies on Hysteria (1895) which he co-authored with Josef Breuer. Freud wrote in German, of course, and the word he used to describe this mental phenomenon was abwehr, more accurately translated as a "warding off" or "fending off" rather than "defense". Freud's idea is a simple one, and not as machine-like as the unfortunate English term defense mechanisms makes it sound. According to Freud, sometimes when we're confronted with an idea or feeling that we find too painful or morally unacceptable, we ward it off, pushing it into the unconscious. It's not a deliberate decision; it happens outside of awareness, in ways that are often automatic.

This basic idea of the nature and function of psychological defense mechanisms is widely accepted by most psycho-dynamic thinkers and therapists today, though many other writers have contributed to and expanded our understanding since Freud first introduced the concept - Alfred Adler, Anna Freud and Melanie Klein to name but a few. The simplest and least theoretical explanation comes from the British psychoanalyst Donald Meltzer who, throughout his work, explains that all defense mechanisms are essentially lies we tell ourselves to evade pain.

This view of the nature and function of defense mechanisms makes it easier to connect them to our personal experience. Everyone can sympathize with the desire to avoid pain. We all understand how easy it is to deceive ourselves when to face the truth will hurt badly or make it difficult to function. Sometimes, our defense mechanisms help us to get by when to face the full truth would render life unbearable. At other times, however, we need to confront our pain; avoiding the truth feels better for the moment, but it might only make matters worse in the long run. Here's an example using one of the most common defense mechanisms, one that everyone understands: to be in denial about your spouse's affair (when the tell-tale signs are obvious) might help you avoid feeling the pain of betrayal, but it prevents you from dealing with this catastrophe in your life and all the collateral damage - to your children, your friendships, your feelings of self-worth.

Defense mechanisms operate in the here-and-now, with no thought for tomorrow. They're unthinking and reflexive; they aim only to ward off pain this very moment and don't take into account the long-term costs of doing so. Sometimes we eventually "wake up" and face the truth. Sometimes unconscious knowledge breaks through and we realize what has been brewing unnoticed within us for a long time. More often, we continue as we were, our defense mechanisms in place and unnoticed. Human beings are creatures of habit and change is difficult.

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