Mechanisms of psychological protection of personality. Hold the beat! Psychological Defense Techniques Against Negativity

Offensive words, reproaches, gossip or nit-picking - each of us now and then has to deal with them in everyday life. Alas, the world is not perfect, and even the most good-natured and peace-loving person will always have an envious or ill-wisher who will try to sting, hurt or offend.

Why is this needed, you ask? Emotional attacks of enemies are always justified. Some try to piss off a person, bring confusion to his thoughts and thereby get rid of a competitor. Others simply like to feel superior to their opponent, and therefore, with petty jokes, ridicule and outright rudeness, they try to belittle others. Still others are driven by envy, hatred or resentment. Their injections are the most dangerous, because in their desire to take revenge they try to sting as painfully as possible, touch the most delicate strings of the soul, hit self-esteem, trample and humiliate.

By the way, the poisonous arrows of some offenders reach their goal, which can seriously affect our attitude and cause severe psychological trauma. Our current mental state and what we will be tomorrow depend on whether we know how to defend ourselves from negative emotions, which means that in this bloodless war we simply need reliable psychological protection.

According to psychologists, the ability to defend oneself from the negative emotions of envious people and competitors, maintain peace of mind in any unpleasant situations and not respond to insulting attacks in one's direction is a sign of a mature, emotionally and intellectually developed person. This is a guarantee of health and a sign of a successful person, and therefore everyone who is under pressure from others and takes on the psychological attacks of ill-wishers, it's time to learn about adequate methods of protection from negativity.

What you need to know about psychological protection

First of all, remember that when a person is annoyed or emotionally depressed, he is simply not able to restrain his emotions and respond correctly to criticism flying in his direction. But before you absorb this "poison" or try to respond to the negative, you should ask yourself important questions: Why is this happening? Why is this a person?

As a rule, a person goes on a psychological attack when he has no other way to prove his case, when he does not have any facts and evidence. In this case, he uses the only effective technique - he tries to piss off the enemy. However, if you have your own stable position and are able to justify your point of view, the opponent will not get the desired effect. Of course, he can begin to use prohibited methods, for example, spread rumors, turn the team against you, or arrange outright persecution. However, everything is not so hopeless here. If you are ready to fight off the attacks of a weak person who is not able to play by the rules, remaining in the position of an elephant who is not afraid of any Pug, you will emerge victorious from this conflict. Thus, before entering into a skirmish and trying to respond with negativity to negativity, one should try to present the whole picture of the conflict, assess the dynamics of events, highlight all the contradictions and decide which weapon against the offender will be most effective in a particular case.

8 methods of psychological protection from negativity

1. Reception of psychological protection "Fan"

When a stream of negative energy flies in your direction, with burning, biting words and phrases, do not rush to immediately respond to the offender. Just close your eyes for a minute and analyze everything you hear. What words provoke you to anger, irritation or aggression? Imagine that the person from whom poisonous arrows are flying at you is sitting opposite, and each of his words visually inflicts biting blows. What do you feel about it? Are you empty or feeling hot in your body, winding up or trying to shrink into a small bug? Now imagine that a fan has been installed between you, the power of which you control by willpower. And as soon as phrases that sting you break out of the mouth of the offender, you mentally increase the air pressure, and the offensive words are carried away without reaching you. How have your feelings changed? Did it become easier for you, did you feel that you were able to repel any attacks of the ill-wisher? You can open your eyes. Now you will be completely sure that you are protected.

2. Reception of psychological protection "Kukish"

Remember how as a child you showed the offender the cookie, saying: "You speak to me - you translate into yourself." Now you have become old enough not to fall into childhood and not show the fig to every ill-wisher. This is, at the very least, indecent. However, this does not prevent at all from mentally imagining that you, as in your distant childhood, show a fig to your opponent, and thereby transfer negativity to him. And for greater naturalness, you can hide your hand in your pocket, and already there twist the fig, pointing it at the offender. He will continue to slander and try to offend you, not yet realizing that his words are now directed against him.

3. Reception of psychological protection "Aquarium"

When communicating with a negative person and hearing a stream of abuse from him, just imagine that you fenced yourself off from him with a thick glass of an aquarium that does not let a word through at all. You see the distorted face of the offender, but the stream of his words is absorbed by the water. Offensive words do not affect you at all, which means that you remain calm and unshakable, while your opponent becomes more and more inflamed and loses his balance. Thanks to such a simple, but very effective technique, it is sometimes possible to reverse the outcome of even a hopeless conflict. Having noticed at least once how the technique called “Aquarium” works in practice, you will always use it to deal with negativity.

4. Reception of psychological protection "Kindergarten"

You can minimize the negativity flying into you and repel the painful blows of a person who is unfriendly towards you, if you start treating him like a small child. Well, you won't be offended by small children, will you? This method is great for protecting against bullying when the whole team is against you, and each of your colleagues is trying to sting you more painfully. Just imagine that you are in a playground where a group of children are behaving just disgustingly: children are roaring and angry, acting up and stamping their feet. You imagine yourself as an adult who is condescending to the whims of small children, does not react to their antics, but only shakes his head, maintaining imperturbable calmness and waiting for the kids to throw out all their anger and calm down. And even if you carry out this psychological technique mentally, if in reality you are silent, not responding to the barbs of the team, but only smiling condescendingly in response, soon the opponents will realize that they have lost, will shut up, and will no longer use this forbidden technique against you.

5. Reception of psychological protection "Fox and grapes"

It's no secret that we get the most painful blows from people close to us - relatives or those whom we considered kindred in spirit. If a similar story happened to you, and a person once close to you suddenly went over to the camp of the enemy, becoming on a par with ill-wishers to stigmatize and disgrace you, use the defense technique called “The Fox and the Grapes”. Remember how in Krylov's fable, the fox, who was unable to get the grapes, declared that she did not really want delicacies, the grapes, they say, were green and sour. So you should do with the offender, whom you trusted. Convince yourself that the opinion of this person is not so important to you, and his support is not so necessary. In general, tell yourself that if a person did this to you, he is not such a friend to you.

6. Reception of psychological protection "Ocean"

We have already considered situations when the negative comes not from one person, but from the whole team at once. Not everyone can cope with such pressure. You need a powerful visualization of superiority over opponents in order to find the strength to withstand this pressure with dignity and not let a single poisonous arrow penetrate your heart. Experts in such situations recommend using the "Ocean" technique. Imagine that you are an endless ocean, into which a huge number of raging rivers flow. All of them pour into the ocean in violent streams, but it remains calm and motionless. It seems that he does not even notice their aggressive pressure. So you, listening to the streams of abuse coming from the offenders, remain impassive and absolutely calm.

7. Reception of psychological defense "Absurd situation"

This psychological technique is to, without waiting for open aggression and ridicule from their offenders, “make an elephant out of a fly”, that is, exaggerating, bringing any situation to the point of absurdity. Only when you feel ridicule from the aggressor, begin to exaggerate the situation so that all the words that follow cause only laughter and are not taken seriously. By doing this, you simply disarm your opponent, and soon everyone will start laughing at him.

8. Reception of psychological defense "Dolls"

Do you remember the famous TV show by V. Shenderovich "Dolls", where the author ironically ridiculed political figures, using for this caricatured puppet characters that outwardly resemble politicians? With people who are trying to offend you or openly mock you, you can only communicate through the prism of the psychological technique of "Doll". Keep an eye on your offenders. This one pretends to be a specialist, although in fact he has superficial knowledge, and the other tries to pose as a humorist and joker, although he looks for jokes on the Internet every day. Just laugh at the abilities of your offenders and their imaginary superiority over you will immediately dissipate. By the way, if you laugh at the aggressor as a comical character, this is a sign that the defense is working. Health to you and psychological stability!

Being a social, conscious and independent being, a person is able to resolve internal and external conflicts, deal with anxiety and tension not only automatically (unconsciously), but also guided by a specially formulated program.

In this publication, we will try to consider the ways of psychological protection of the individual, which are most significant for its positive interaction in social groups.

Classification of the main methods of psychological protection

Negation

Negation- this is the desire to avoid new information that is incompatible with the prevailing ideas about oneself.

Protection manifests itself in ignoring potentially disturbing information, avoiding it. It is like a barrier located right at the entrance of the perceiving system. He does not allow unwanted information there, which is irreversibly lost for a person and subsequently cannot be restored. Thus, denial leads to the fact that some information either immediately or subsequently cannot reach consciousness.

When denied, a person becomes especially inattentive to those areas of life and facets of events that are fraught with trouble for him. For example, a manager can criticize his employee for a long time and emotionally and suddenly find out with indignation that he has long been "turned off" and does not react at all to moralizing.

Denial can allow a person to preventively (proactively) isolate themselves from traumatic events. Thus, for example, the fear of failure operates, when a person strives not to be in a situation in which he can fail. For many people, this manifests itself in the avoidance of competition or in the refusal of activities in which a person is not strong, especially in comparison with others.

The incentive to launch denial can be not only external, but also internal, when a person tries not to think about something, to drive away thoughts about unpleasant things. If you can’t admit something to yourself, then the best way out is, if possible, not to look into this terrible and dark corner. Often, having done something at the wrong time or in the wrong way, and nothing can be corrected, “protection” makes a person ignore a dangerous situation, behave as if nothing special is happening.

A generalized assessment of the danger of information is made with its preliminary holistic perception and a rough emotional assessment as "something undesirable is brewing." Such an assessment leads to a weakening of attention when detailed information about this dangerous event is completely excluded from subsequent processing. Outwardly, a person either fences himself off from new information (“It is, but not for me”), or does not notice, believing that they do not exist. Therefore, many people, before starting to watch a movie or read a new book, ask the question: “What is the end, good or bad?”

The statement "I believe" denotes a certain special state of the psyche, in which everything that comes into conflict with the object of faith tends to be denied. Sincere and sufficiently strong faith organizes such an attitude towards all incoming information, when a person, without suspecting it, subjects it to a thorough preliminary sorting, selecting only that which serves to preserve faith. Faith tends to be much more universal and categorical than understanding. When there is already faith in something, there is no place for a new one. A person rejects new ideas, often without trying to give a rational explanation for such behavior. Any attempt on the object of veneration causes the same reaction on the part of the individual, as if it were an attempt on her life.

suppression

suppression- protection, manifested in forgetting, blocking unpleasant, unwanted information either when it is transferred from perception to memory, or when it is brought out of memory into consciousness. Since in this case the information is already the content of the psyche, since it was perceived and experienced, it is, as it were, provided with special marks that allow you to then keep it.

The peculiarity of suppression is that the content of the experienced information is forgotten, and its emotional, motor, vegetative and psychosomatic manifestations can persist, manifesting itself in obsessive movements and states, mistakes, slips of the tongue, and slips of the tongue. These symptoms symbolically reflect the relationship between real behavior and repressed information. To fix traces in long-term memory, they must be emotionally colored in a special way - marked. In order to remember something, a person needs to return to the state in which he received the information. If then he was angry or upset (for example, by asking him to do something), then in order to remember this, he must return to this state again. Since he does not want to feel so bad again, he is unlikely to remember. When a person eliminates the thought that he does not want or cannot do something, he says to himself like this: “It wasn’t so necessary”, “I’m not interested in this, I don’t like it”, thereby revealing a negative emotional labeling.

crowding out

crowding out, unlike suppression, is not associated with the exclusion from the consciousness of information about what happened as a whole, but only with forgetting the true, but unacceptable for a person, motive for an act. (Motive is an incentive to a specific activity).

Thus, it is not the event itself (action, experience, situation) that is forgotten, but only its cause, the fundamental principle. Forgetting the true motive, a person replaces it with a false one, hiding the real one from himself and from others. Recall errors, as a consequence of repression, arise from an internal protest that changes the train of thought. Repression is considered to be the most effective defense mechanism, as it is able to cope with such powerful instinctual impulses that other forms of defense cannot cope. However, displacement requires a constant expenditure of energy, and these expenditures cause inhibition of other types. vital activity.

Repression is a universal means of avoiding internal conflict by eliminating socially undesirable aspirations and drives from consciousness. However, repressed and repressed drives make themselves felt in neurotic and psychosomatic symptoms (for example, in phobias and fears).

Repression is considered a primitive and ineffective psychological defense mechanism for the following reasons:

the repressed still breaks through into consciousness;
unresolved conflict is manifested in a high level of anxiety and discomfort.

Repression is activated in the event of a desire that conflicts with other desires of the individual and is incompatible with the ethical views of the individual. As a result of conflict and internal struggle, thought and representation (the carrier of incompatible desire) are forced out, eliminated from consciousness and forgotten.

The increased anxiety resulting from incomplete repression thus has a functional meaning, since it can force a person to either try to perceive and evaluate the traumatic situation in a new way, or to activate other defense mechanisms. However, usually the consequence of repression is a neurosis - a disease of a person who is not able to resolve his internal conflict.

Rationalization

Rationalization- this is a defense mechanism associated with the awareness and use in thinking of only that part of the perceived information, due to which one's own behavior appears as well controlled and does not contradict objective circumstances.

The essence of rationalization is in finding a "worthy" place for an incomprehensible or unworthy impulse or act in a person's system of internal guidelines, values without destroying this system. To this end, the unacceptable part of the situation is removed from consciousness, transformed in a special way, and only after that is realized in an altered form. With the help of rationalization, a person easily "closes his eyes" to the discrepancy between cause and effect, which is so noticeable to an external observer.

Rationalization is a pseudo-rational explanation by a person of his own aspirations, motives for actions, actions, actually caused by reasons, the recognition of which would threaten the loss of self-respect. Self-affirmation, protection of one's own "I" is the main motive for the actualization of this mechanism of psychological protection of the individual.

The most striking phenomena of rationalization are called "green (sour) grapes" and "sweet lemon". The phenomenon of "green (sour) grapes" (known from Krylov's fable "The Fox and the Grapes") is a kind of depreciation of an inaccessible object. If it is impossible to achieve the desired goal or take possession of the desired object, the person devalues them.

Rationalization is actualized when a person is afraid to realize the situation and seeks to hide from himself the fact that in his actions he was guided by socially undesirable motives. The motive behind rationalization is to explain the behavior and, at the same time, to protect the self-image.

Jet formations

Jet formations- this is the replacement of undesirable tendencies with directly opposite ones.

For example, a child's exaggerated love for his mother or father may be the result of preventing a socially undesirable feeling - hatred of parents. A child who has been aggressive towards parents develops exceptional tenderness towards them and worries about their safety; jealousy and aggression are transformed into disinterestedness and concern for others.

Certain social and intrapersonal prohibitions on the manifestation of certain feelings (for example, a young man is afraid to show his sympathy for a girl) lead to the formation of opposite tendencies - reactive formations: sympathy turns into antipathy, love - into hatred, etc.

This inadequacy, often excessive feeling, its emphasis is an indicator of reactive formation. If I show the same avalanche of feelings for the boss as I do for family and friends, then this is a signal that this excessive attitude towards the boss is basically reactive. The question is appropriate here: “Why do I want to sympathize with the leader so much and support him, what negative feelings are hidden behind this?”

Or the reverse situation: “Why do I look so ironically and coldly at the person I love? Why am I showing distance from him (her)?”

A defense like "sweet lemon" is an exaggeration of the value of what you have (according to the well-known principle - "a bird in the hand is better than a crane in the sky").

Most often, rationalization is achieved using two typical variants of reasoning: 1) "green grapes"; 2) "sweet lemon". The first of them is based on understating the value of an act that could not be done, or a result that was not achieved.

substitution

substitution- this is a psychological defense mechanism against an unpleasant situation, which is based on the transfer of a reaction from an inaccessible object to an accessible one or the replacement of an unacceptable action with an acceptable one. Due to this transfer, the tension created by unsatisfied need is discharged.

Substitution is the protection that all people (both adults and children) must use in everyday life. Thus, many people often do not have the opportunity not only to punish their offenders for their misdeeds or unfair behavior, but simply to contradict them. Therefore, pets, parents, children, and so on can act as a “lightning rod” in a situation of anger. Whims that cannot be directed at the leader (an unacceptable object for this) can perfectly be directed at other performers as an object that is quite acceptable for this (“that's who is to blame for everything”). In other words, substitution is the transfer of needs and desires to another, more accessible object. If it is impossible to satisfy some of his needs with the help of one object, a person can find another object (more accessible) to satisfy it.

So, the essence of substitution is to redirect the reaction. If, in the presence of any need, the desired path for its satisfaction is closed, the activity of a person is looking for another way out to achieve the goal. Protection is carried out through the transfer of excitation, unable to find a normal output, to another executive system. However, the ability of a person to reorient his actions from personally unacceptable to acceptable, or from socially disapproved to approved, is limited. The limitation is determined by the fact that the greatest satisfaction from the action that replaces the desired occurs in a person when the motives of these actions are consistent.

Irony

Irony in ancient Greek means "to tell a lie", "to mock", "pretend". An ironist is a person who "deceives with words."

The modern understanding of the dual nature of irony is as follows:

Irony is an expressive technique that is the opposite of the expressed idea. I say the opposite of what I mean. In form I praise, in fact I condemn. And vice versa: I humiliate in form, in fact exalt, praise, “stroke”. Ironically, my "yes" always means "no", and behind the expression "no" looms "yes".
Whatever the noble goal of irony, for example, to give rise to a lofty idea, to open one's eyes to something, including oneself, this idea is nevertheless affirmed in irony by negative means.
Despite the generosity of the ideas of irony, or even despite its disinterestedness, irony gives self-satisfaction.
A person who uses irony is credited with the features of a subtle mind, observation, slowness, inactivity of a sage (not instant reactivity).

As a mental state, irony is a changed sign of my experience of the situation from “minus” to “plus”. Anxiety has been replaced by confidence, hostility - condescension... A person is in states that are autonomous in relation to the situation, another person, object: I am already the subject rather than the object of these situations, and therefore I have the ability to control these states.

Irony, as a mental process, turns what is terrible, terrible, intolerable, hostile, disturbing, into the opposite for me.

Dream

Dream- these are unconscious actions of the "I" in a state of sleep, which may be accompanied by emotional experiences.

A dream can be considered as a special kind of substitution, through which an inaccessible action is transferred to another plane - from the real world to the world of dreams. By suppressing the inaccessibility complex, it accumulates energy in the unconscious, threatening the conscious world with its invasion. Secret repentance, remorse, subconscious fears lead to their breakthrough in a dream. The task of a dream is to express complex feelings in pictures and give a person the opportunity to experience them, thereby replacing real situations. However, feelings cannot be directly depicted. Only the action that reflects this feeling is visually representable. It is impossible to portray fear, but it is possible to depict such an expression of fear as flight. It is difficult to show a feeling of love, but a demonstration of rapprochement and affection is quite achievable. Therefore, the actions that unfold in its plot have a substitute character in a dream.

From the point of view of psychology, a dream is a message or reflection of the situations that a person encounters, his history, life circumstances, his inherent methods and forms of behavior, the practical results that his choice has led to. In a dream, errors of human behavior are reflected not only in relation to oneself, but also to others, including any organic deficiency in terms of physical health.

Mental activity is continuous, so the process of generating images during a dream does not stop.

Sleep can focus attention:

on the current situation or problem (a photographic snapshot of reality);
on the causes of the problem;
on the way out of the problem (its solution).

Dreams allow you to bring passions out, in a dream there can be a release, purification, discharge to the limit of out-of-control emotions, in a dream you can realize the desired behavior, assert yourself and believe in yourself. Dreaming is an alternative way to satisfy desires. In sleep, unfulfilled desires are sorted, combined and transformed in such a way that the dream sequence provides additional satisfaction or less stress. In this case, it is not always important whether the satisfaction occurs in the physical and sensory reality or in the internal imaginary reality of the dream, if the accumulated energy is sufficiently discharged. Such a dream brings relief, especially when you constantly think about something and worry.

Sublimation

Sublimation It is one of the highest and most effective human defense mechanisms. It implements the replacement of unattainable goals in accordance with the highest social values.

Sublimation is the switching of impulses that are socially undesirable in a given situation (aggressiveness, sexual energy) to other forms of activity that are socially desirable for the individual and society. Aggressive energy, being transformed, is able to sublimate (discharge) in sports (boxing, wrestling) or in strict methods of education (for example, with too demanding parents and teachers), eroticism - in friendship, in creativity, etc. When the immediate discharge of instinctive (aggressive, sexual) drives is impossible, there is an activity in which these impulses can be discharged.

Sublimation realizes the substitution of the instinctive goal in accordance with the highest social values. The forms of substitution are varied. For adults, this is not only going into a dream, but also going into work, religion, and all kinds of hobbies. In children, regression reactions and immature forms of behavior are also accompanied by substitution with the help of rituals and obsessive actions, which act as complexes of involuntary reactions that allow a person to satisfy a forbidden unconscious desire. According to Z. Freud, relying on sublimation, a person is able to overcome the impact of sexual and aggressive desires seeking a way out, which can neither be suppressed nor satisfied by directing them in another direction.

When a person feels weak and helpless, he identifies, identifies himself with successful or authoritative people. Thanks to subconscious protective processes, one part of the instinctive desires is repressed, the other is directed to other goals. Some external events are ignored, others are overestimated in the direction necessary for a person. Protection allows you to reject some aspects of your "I", attribute them to strangers or, on the contrary, supplement your "I" due to the qualities "captured" from other people. Such a transformation of information allows you to maintain the stability of ideas about the world, about yourself and about your place in the world, so as not to lose support, guidelines and self-respect.

The world around us is constantly becoming more complex, therefore, a necessary condition for life is the constant complication of protection and the expansion of its repertoire.

Identification

Identification- a kind of projection associated with the unconscious identification of oneself with another person, the transfer of feelings and qualities desired but inaccessible to oneself.

Identification is the elevation of oneself to another by expanding the boundaries of one's own "I". Identification is associated with a process in which a person, as if including another in his "I", borrows his thoughts, feelings and actions. This allows him to overcome his feelings of inferiority and anxiety, to change his "I" in such a way that it is better adapted to the social environment, and this is the protective function of the identification mechanism.

Through identification, symbolic possession of a desired but unattainable object is achieved. Through arbitrary identification with the aggressor, the subject can get rid of fear. In a broad sense, identification is an unconscious desire to inherit a model, an ideal. Identification provides an opportunity to overcome one's own weakness and feelings of inferiority. A person with the help of this psychological defense mechanism gets rid of feelings of inferiority and alienation.

The immature form of identification is imitation. This defensive reaction differs from identification in that it is integral. Her immaturity is revealed in the expressed desire to imitate a certain person, a loved one, a hero in everything. In an adult, imitation is selective: he singles out only the trait he likes from another and is able to identify separately with this quality, without extending his positive reaction to all other qualities of this person.

Usually, identification is manifested in the performance of real or fictional roles. For example, children play mother-daughter, school, war, transformers, and so on, consistently play different roles and perform various actions: punish child dolls, hide from enemies, protect the weak. A person identifies with those whom he loves more, whom he values higher, thereby creating the basis for self-esteem.

Fantasy

Fantasy(dream) is a very common response to disappointment and failure. For example, an insufficiently physically developed person can enjoy dreaming of participating in the World Championship, and an unsuccessful athlete can imagine how all sorts of troubles happen to his opponent, which makes it easier for him to experience.

Fantasies serve as compensation. They help to maintain weak hopes, alleviate feelings of inferiority, and reduce the traumatic effect of insults and insults.

Freud believed that the happy never fantasize, only the unsatisfied do it. Unsatisfied desires are the driving forces of fantasies, each fantasy is a manifestation of desire, a correction of reality that somehow does not satisfy the individual.

In ambitious fantasies, the object of a person's desire is himself. In erotically colored desires, someone from a close or distant social environment can become an object, who in reality cannot be an object of desire.

And finally, fantasy plays the role of a substitute action, since a person cannot solve the real situation or believes that he cannot. And then, instead of a real situation, an imaginary, illusory situation is imagined, which is resolved by a fantasizing person. If it is difficult to resolve the real conflict, then a substitution conflict is resolved. In defensive fantasy, inner freedom from external coercion is experienced palliatively. The result of the psychoprotective use of fantasy can be a life in a world of illusions.

Transfer

Transfer is a defense mechanism that ensures the satisfaction of desire on substitute objects.

The simplest and most common type of transference is displacement - the substitution of objects for pouring out the accumulated negative energy of "thanatos" in the form of aggression, resentment.

The boss, in the presence of other colleagues, gave you a dressing. You cannot answer him the same. You understand the situation: if I answer the boss in the same way, stop him, put him under siege, then even more trouble may result. Therefore, your "wise self" is looking for objects on which you can take out your resentment, your aggression. Fortunately, there are many such objects “at hand”. The main property of these objects should be their silence, resignation, the inability to besiege you. They should be as silent and obedient as you silently and obediently listened to reproaches and humiliating characteristics from your boss and generally anyone who is stronger. Your unreacted anger to the true culprit is transferred to someone who is even weaker than you, even lower on the ladder of the social hierarchy, to a subordinate, who, in turn, transfers it further down, and so on. The chains of displacement can be endless. Its links can be both living beings and inanimate things (broken dishes in family scandals, broken windows of electric train cars, and so on).

Projection

Projection- a psychological defense mechanism associated with the unconscious transfer of one's own unacceptable feelings, desires and aspirations to another person. It is based on the unconscious rejection of one's experiences, doubts, attitudes and attributing them to other people in order to shift the responsibility for what is happening inside the "I" to the outside world.

For example, if the subject or object with which the satisfaction of your needs and desires was associated is inaccessible to you, then you transfer all your feelings and possibilities for satisfying needs to another person. And if your dream of becoming a writer has not come true, then you can choose the profession of a literature teacher as a substitute, partially satisfying your creative needs.

The effectiveness of substitution depends on how similar the replacement object is to the previous one, with which the satisfaction of the need was first associated. The maximum similarity of the replacement object guarantees the satisfaction of more needs that were first associated with the previous object.

No matter how wrong the person himself is, he is ready to blame everyone except himself. Declares that he is not loved, although in reality he does not love himself, reproaches others for his own mistakes and shortcomings and ascribes to them his own vices and weaknesses. By narrowing the boundaries of the “I”, this allows the individual to relate to internal problems as if they were happening outside, and to get rid of displeasure as if it came from outside, and not due to internal reasons. If the "enemy" is outside, then more radical and effective methods of punishment can be applied to him, usually used in relation to external "harmfulness", and not sparing, more acceptable in relation to oneself.

Thus, projection is manifested in a person's tendency to believe that other people have the same motives, feelings, desires, values, character traits that are inherent in himself. At the same time, he is not aware of his socially undesirable motives.

Such, for example, is the mechanism of the religious-mythological worldview. Primitive perception is characterized by a person's tendency to personify animals, trees, nature, attributing to them their own motives, desires, feelings. The writer transfers his own needs, feelings, character traits to the heroes of his works.

Projection is easier on someone whose situation, whose personality traits are similar to the one projecting. A person using a projection will always see an offensive hint in a harmless remark. Even in a noble deed he can see malicious intent, intrigue. A person of immense kindness, the one who is popularly called "holy simplicity", is not capable of projection. He does not see malicious intent, malevolence in actions towards himself, because he himself is not capable of this.

introjection

introjection- this is the tendency to appropriate the beliefs, attitudes of other people without criticism, without trying to change them and make them your own. A person endows himself with traits, properties of other people. For example, he takes on the functions of an annoying mentor, since the manifestation of such a trait in other people annoys or injures him. In order to remove internal conflict and avoid psychological discomfort, a person appropriates the beliefs, values and attitudes of other people.

The earliest introject is parental teaching, which is assimilated by a person without a critical understanding of its value.

An example of introjection: an impressionable man tries to hold back his tears because he has learned the parental attitude that an adult should not cry in the presence of strangers. Or a person constantly criticizes himself, because he has learned (introjected) such an attitude of parents towards himself.

The probability of occurrence of this method of protection is the higher, the stronger and (or) longer the impact of external or internal blockers of desires, on the one hand, and the more impossible it is to remove these blockers and fulfill one’s desires, achieve one’s goals, on the other hand. At the same time, the impossibility of eliminating the frustrator is accompanied by the displacement of negative energy on the replacement object.

The turning of the subject against himself turns into the formation of bodily and mental symptoms, that is, signs of illness. Physical bodily symptoms include: cold feet and hands, sweating, cardiac arrhythmia, dizziness, severe headaches, high or low blood pressure, muscle cramps, dermatitis, bronchial asthma, and so on.

Depersonalization

Depersonalization(from lat. de- denial, person- face) is the perception of other people as impersonal, devoid of individuality representatives of a certain group. If the subject does not allow himself to think of others as people who have feelings and personality, he protects himself from their perception on an emotional level.

With depersonalization, other people are perceived only as the embodiment of their social role: they are patients, doctors, teachers. The act of depersonalizing other people can, to a certain extent, "protect" the subject. This makes it possible, for example, for physicians to treat their patients without experiencing their suffering. In addition, this gives them the opportunity to hide their real feelings (like or dislike) behind a professional mask.

Yuri Platonov, Doctor of Psychology, Professor of St. Petersburg State University, Rector of the St. Petersburg State Institute of Psychology and Social Work, Honored Worker of the Higher School of the Russian Federation.

All mental functions are involved in protective processes, but each time one of them can dominate and take on the main part of the work of transforming traumatic information. It can be perception, attention, memory, imagination, thinking, emotions. In this publication, we will try to consider the ways of psychological protection of the individual, which are most significant for its positive interaction in social groups.

In this publication, we will try to consider the ways of psychological protection of the individual, which are most significant for its positive interaction in social groups.

Classification of the main methods of psychological protection

Negation- this is the desire to avoid new information that is incompatible with the prevailing ideas about oneself.

When denied, a person becomes especially inattentive to those areas of life and facets of events that are fraught with trouble for him. For example, a leader can criticize his employee for a long time and emotionally and suddenly find out with indignation that he has long been "turned off" and does not react at all to moralizing.

Denial can allow a person to preventively (preemptively) isolate themselves from traumatic events. Thus, for example, the fear of failure operates, when a person strives not to be in a situation in which he can fail. For many people, this manifests itself in the avoidance of competition or in the refusal of activities in which a person is not strong, especially in comparison with others.

The incentive to launch denial can be not only external, but also internal, when a person tries not to think about something, to drive away thoughts of unpleasantness. If you can’t admit something to yourself, then the best way out is, if possible, not to look into this terrible and dark corner. Often, having done something at the wrong time or in the wrong way, and nothing can be corrected, “protection” makes a person ignore a dangerous situation, behave as if nothing special is happening.

The statement "I believe" denotes a certain special state of the psyche, in which everything that comes into conflict with the object of faith tends to be denied. A sincere and sufficiently strong faith organizes such an attitude towards all incoming information, when a person, without suspecting it, subjects it to a thorough preliminary sorting, selecting only that which serves to preserve faith. Faith tends to be much more universal and categorical than understanding. When there is already faith in something, there is no place for a new one. A person rejects new ideas, often without trying to give a rational explanation for such behavior. Any attempt on the object of veneration causes the same reaction on the part of the individual, as if it were an attempt on her life.

suppression- protection, manifested in forgetting, blocking unpleasant, unwanted information, either when it is transferred from perception to memory, or when it is brought out of memory into consciousness. Since in this case the information is already the content of the psyche, since it was perceived and experienced, it is, as it were, provided with special marks, which then allow it to be retained.

crowding out, unlike suppression, is not associated with the exclusion from the consciousness of information about what happened as a whole, but only with forgetting the true, but unacceptable for a person, motive for an act. (Motive is an incentive to a specific activity).

Repression is considered a primitive and ineffective psychological defense mechanism for the following reasons:

the repressed nevertheless breaks through into consciousness;
unresolved conflict is manifested in a high level of anxiety and discomfort.

Rationalization- this is a defense mechanism associated with the awareness and use in thinking of only that part of the perceived information, thanks to which one's own behavior appears as well controlled and does not contradict objective circumstances.

Jet formations- this is the replacement of undesirable tendencies with directly opposite ones.

Or the reverse situation: “Why do I look so ironically and coldly at the person I love? Why am I showing distance from him (her)?”

A defense like "sweet lemon" is an exaggeration of the value of what you have (according to the well-known principle - "a bird in the hand is better than a crane in the sky").

substitution- this is a psychological defense mechanism against an unpleasant situation, which is based on the transfer of a reaction from an inaccessible object to an accessible one or the replacement of an unacceptable action with an acceptable one. Due to this transfer, the tension created by the unmet need is discharged.

Substitution is the protection that all people (both adults and children) must use in everyday life. Thus, many people often do not have the opportunity not only to punish their offenders for their misdeeds or unfair behavior, but simply to contradict them. Therefore, pets, parents, children, etc. can act as a “lightning rod” in a situation of anger. Whims that cannot be directed at the leader (an object unacceptable for this) can perfectly be directed at other performers as an object that is quite acceptable for this ( "Here's who's to blame." In other words, substitution is the transfer of needs and desires to another, more accessible object. If it is impossible to satisfy some of his needs with the help of one object, a person can find another object (more accessible) to satisfy it.

Irony in ancient Greek means "to tell a lie", "to mock", "pretend". An ironist is a person who "deceives with words."

The modern understanding of the dual nature of irony is as follows:

Irony is an expressive device that is the opposite of the expressed idea. I say the opposite of what I mean. In form I praise, in fact I condemn. And vice versa: I humiliate in form, in fact exalt, praise, “stroke”. Ironically, my "yes" always means "no", and behind the expression "no" looms "yes".
Whatever the noble goal of irony, for example, to generate a lofty idea, to open one's eyes to something, including oneself, nevertheless this idea is affirmed in irony by negative means.
Despite the generosity of the ideas of irony, or even despite its disinterestedness, irony gives self-satisfaction.
A person who uses irony is credited with the features of a subtle mind, observation, slowness, inactivity of a sage (not instant reactivity).

As a mental state, irony is a changed sign of my experience of the situation from “minus” to “plus”. Anxiety gave way to confidence, hostility to condescension... A person is in states that are autonomous in relation to a situation, another person, an object: I am already a subject rather than an object of these situations, and therefore I have the ability to control these states.

Irony, as a mental process, turns what is terrible, terrible, intolerable, hostile, disturbing, into the opposite for me.

Dream- these are unconscious actions of the "I" in a state of sleep, which may be accompanied by emotional experiences.

From the point of view of psychology, a dream is a message or reflection of the situations that a person encounters, his history, life circumstances, his inherent ways and forms of behavior, the practical results that his choice has led to. In a dream, errors of human behavior are reflected not only in relation to oneself, but also to others, including any organic deficiency in terms of physical health.

Mental activity is continuous, so the process of generating images during a dream does not stop.

Sleep can focus attention:

on the current situation or problem (a photographic snapshot of reality);
on the causes of the problem;
on the way out of the problem (its solution).

Dreams allow you to bring passions out, in a dream there can be a release, purification, discharge to the limit of out-of-control emotions, in a dream you can realize the desired behavior, assert yourself and believe in yourself. Dreaming is an alternative way to satisfy desires. In sleep, unfulfilled desires are sorted, combined, and transformed in such a way that the dream sequence provides additional satisfaction or less stress. In this case, it is not always important whether the satisfaction occurs in the physical and sensory reality or in the internal imaginary reality of the dream, if the accumulated energy is sufficiently discharged. Such a dream brings relief, especially when you constantly think about something and worry.

Sublimation It is one of the highest and most effective human defense mechanisms. It implements the replacement of unattainable goals in accordance with the highest social values.

Sublimation is the switching of impulses that are socially undesirable in a given situation (aggressiveness, sexual energy) to other forms of activity that are socially desirable for the individual and society. Aggressive energy, being transformed, is able to sublimate (discharge) in sports (boxing, wrestling) or in strict methods of education (for example, with too demanding parents and teachers), eroticism - in friendship, in creativity, etc. When a direct discharge of instinctive (aggressive , sexual) drives is impossible, there is an activity in which these impulses can be discharged.

When a person feels weak and helpless, he identifies, identifies himself with successful or authoritative people. Thanks to subconscious protective processes, one part of the instinctive desires is repressed, the other is directed to other goals. Some external events are ignored, others are overestimated in the direction necessary for a person. Protection allows you to reject some aspects of your "I", attribute them to strangers or, on the contrary, supplement your "I" at the expense of qualities "captured" from other people. Such a transformation of information allows you to maintain the stability of ideas about the world, about yourself and about your place in the world, so as not to lose support, guidelines and self-respect.

The world around us is constantly becoming more complex, therefore, a necessary condition for life is the constant complication of protection and the expansion of its repertoire.

Identification- a kind of projection associated with the unconscious identification of oneself with another person, the transfer of feelings and qualities desired but inaccessible to oneself.

An immature form of identification is imitation. This defensive reaction differs from identification in that it is integral. Her immaturity is revealed in a pronounced desire to imitate a certain person, a loved one, a hero in everything. In an adult, imitation is selective: he singles out only the trait he likes from another and is able to identify separately with this quality, without extending his positive reaction to all other qualities of this person.

Usually, identification is manifested in the performance of real or fictional roles. For example, children play mother-daughter, school, war, transformers, etc., consistently play different roles and perform various actions: punish child dolls, hide from enemies, protect the weak. A person identifies with those whom he loves more, whom he values higher, thereby creating the basis for self-esteem.

Fantasy (dream) is a very common reaction to disappointment and failure. For example, an insufficiently physically developed person can enjoy dreaming of participating in the World Championship, and an unsuccessful athlete can imagine how all sorts of troubles happen to his opponent, which makes it easier for him to experience.

Fantasies serve as compensation. They help to maintain weak hopes, alleviate feelings of inferiority, and reduce the traumatic effect of insults and insults.

Freud said that a happy person never fantasizes, only an unsatisfied one does. Unsatisfied desires are the driving forces of fantasies, each fantasy is a manifestation of desire, a correction of reality that somehow does not satisfy the individual.

In ambitious fantasies, the object of a person's desire is himself. In erotically colored desires, the object can be someone from a close or distant social environment, who in reality cannot be the object of desire.

Transfer is a defense mechanism that ensures the satisfaction of desire on substitute objects.

The simplest and most common type of transference is displacement - the substitution of objects for pouring out the accumulated negative energy of "thanatos" in the form of aggression, resentment.

The boss, in the presence of other colleagues, gave you a dressing. You cannot answer him the same. You understand the situation: if I answer the boss in the same way, stop him, put him under siege, then even more trouble may result. Therefore, your "wise self" is looking for objects on which you can take out your resentment, your aggression. Fortunately, there are many such objects “at hand”. The main property of these objects should be their silence, resignation, the inability to besiege you. They should be as silent and obedient as you silently and obediently listened to reproaches and humiliating characteristics (Lazy! Incompetent! Insolent!) from your boss and generally anyone who is stronger. Your anger, unreacted to the true culprit, is transferred to someone who is even weaker than you, even lower on the ladder of the social hierarchy, to a subordinate, who, in turn, transfers it further down, etc. The chains of displacement can be endless. Its links can be both living beings and inanimate things (broken dishes in family scandals, broken windows of electric train cars, etc.).

Projection- a psychological defense mechanism associated with the unconscious transfer of one's own unacceptable feelings, desires and aspirations to another person. It is based on the unconscious rejection of one's experiences, doubts, attitudes and attributing them to other people in order to shift the responsibility for what is happening inside the "I" to the outside world.

introjection- this is the tendency to appropriate the beliefs, attitudes of other people without criticism, without trying to change them and make them your own. A person endows himself with traits, properties of other people. For example, he takes on the functions of an annoying mentor, since the manifestation of such a trait in other people annoys or injures him. In order to remove internal conflict and avoid psychological discomfort, a person appropriates the beliefs, values and attitudes of other people.

The earliest introject is parental teaching, which is assimilated by a person without a critical understanding of its value.

The subject's turning against himself turns into the formation of bodily and mental symptoms, i.e., signs of illness. Physical bodily symptoms include: cold feet and hands, sweating, cardiac arrhythmia, dizziness, severe headaches, high or low blood pressure, muscle cramps, dermatitis, bronchial asthma, etc.

Depersonalization(from lat. de - denial, person - face) - this is the perception of other people as impersonal, devoid of individuality representatives of a certain group. If the subject does not allow himself to think of others as people who have feelings and personality, he protects himself from their perception on an emotional level.

With depersonalization, other people are perceived only as the embodiment of their social role: they are patients, doctors, teachers. The act of depersonalizing other people can, to a certain extent, "protect" the subject. This makes it possible, for example, for physicians to treat their patients without experiencing their suffering. In addition, it enables them to hide their real feelings (like or dislike) behind a professional mask.

The means of protecting the individual are divided into social, physical and psychological (Fig. 5).

Social protection involves the regulation and organization of information circulating at the level of society and its individual groups. It is carried out, in particular, through the system of education and distribution of socio-cultural values. With its help, the state ensures the social security of citizens. The latter largely depends on the security of society as a whole.

Rice. 5. The structure of personal protective equipment

Physical protection provided by various technical devices. These may be personal protective equipment such as helmets, bulletproof vests, etc., detailed in the relevant manuals, and various protective structures. As a defense weapon, you can use any object at hand (keys, comb, deodorant spray, umbrella, a handful of coins, shoes, bag, sand, stones, stick, etc.). The feeling of security at the physical level increases the efficiency of activity in extreme situations, helps to reduce anxiety and forms a positive attitude towards resolving the situation.

Modern legislation gives Russian citizens the right to use means of self-defense against unlawful encroachments. It should be remembered that on the territory of the Russian Federation it is forbidden to use as a weapon for self-defense castes, brass knuckles, surikens, boomerangs and other special items of shock-crushing and throwing action, gas weapons and cartridges equipped with nerve agents, poisonous and other substances not permitted by the Ministry health care of the Russian Federation, as well as gas weapons capable of causing moderate harm to a person located at a distance of more than 1 m.

Psychological protection- this is an activity that prevents the violation of the internal stability of the individual and the social community, the normal course of the psychological life of a person and his behavior under the influence of external influences.

Let us consider in more detail the psychological means of protecting the individual.

Psychological protection

Psychological protection is divided into social-group and individual-personal.

Social group protection is determined by the presence of information flows within and between formal and informal groups in which the individual interacts, group norms, requirements, and a system of sanctions. It assumes the security of a particular group.

Individual-personal protection is the degree of personal security of the individual. It is provided by a complex of protective mechanisms of the individual, strategies of behavior and interaction with others and is divided into three main groups: interpersonal protection, mental self-regulation and intrapersonal protection (Fig. 6).

Rice. 6. Personal protective equipment

Interpersonal psychological defense is an activity of the individual in order to preserve its integrity by changing the nature of external interaction.

There are several types of protection against external influences. They are divided according to the level of awareness, the number of subjects of protection, in relation to objective reality.

1. According to the level of awareness, intentional and unintentional defense are distinguished. Intentional defense carried out at a conscious level in accordance with the goals and intentions of those who are affected. An individual who is affected by certain external stimuli and circumstances consciously chooses a certain type of defensive behavior aimed at resolving the situation. Unintentional protection is a behavior associated with a learned stereotype.

2. According to the number of subjects of protection, individual and group protection are distinguished. Personal protection associated with the protective behavior of one person, group defense implies the protective behavior of the group as the subject of interaction. AT this case a whole group of people acts according to a single plan, their behavior is based on a common agreement.

3. In relation to objective reality, a general and selective defensive strategy is distinguished. At overall strategy the criticality of the individual in relation to the totality of external influences is realized. When electoral protection the personality is fixed on a specific object of influence and develops a specific reaction to it.

In the process of socialization of the individual, various behavior strategies, both constructive and passive. Constructive behavior- these are active actions to eliminate the traumatic situation, the result of which is an adequate perception of reality. Passivity, non-constructiveness implies flight, avoidance of a traumatic situation, as a result of which a person has an illusory feeling of security, which does not give confidence in the stability of reality.

Depending on the degree of participation of the individual, behavior is divided into suppression, displacement of negative stimuli from consciousness, avoidance of a disturbing situation (for example, into the fantasy world), search for information, and implementation of direct actions to solve the difficulties that have arisen.

Behavior can be formed in response to a specific situation, in this case it will not necessarily be repeated in the future. However, it can also be long-term, stable, stereotyped, and repetitive. Depending on the goals of behavior, it can be divided according to the focus on oneself or others.

According to the significance of the results, behavior is divided into the regulation of one's own emotional states or the restoration of interpersonal relationships. The forms of manifestation of behavior can be plastic, capable of changing depending on the situation, or they can be formed as stereotypes, be “ossified”, rigid.

The strategy of behavior is formed as a result of the systemic interaction of the cognitive (intellectual), emotional and behavioral spheres of the psyche. At the level cognitive sphere determines the significance of the situation for a person. If it is caused by external circumstances, it is perceived as inevitable. A person may feel personally responsible for the situation, blame himself for its occurrence. At the same time, he either does not see a constructive way out of the current situation, or assesses the significance of the traumatic situation for himself, looking for a positive way out of it. In the event that the responsibility for the occurrence of such a situation is assigned to others, then its resolution becomes their prerogative.

At the level emotional sphere a person's ability to control their emotions. Here the determining role is played by the degree of individual emotional significance of the emergency, the experience of successfully resolving a similar situation in the past, and the readiness of the individual for its occurrence. The emotional perception of what happened depends on these factors, which can vary from maintaining self-control to a state of hysteria or passivity, inaction.

The behavioral response of a person depends on the cognitive assessment of the situation (as a result of thinking about the event) and its emotional perception. The degree of awareness of the critical moment depends on a number of factors:

personality traits;

Physical and social environment;

available information;

Own cognitive structures of reality.

Allocate two types of cognitive assessment:

primary- what can be expected from the stressor - threat or prosperity;

secondary- assessment of own resources and opportunities to solve the problem.

In accordance with them, a certain strategy of behavior is formed - copping, that is, the development of mechanisms for resolving the situation (Fig. 7). As a result of coping, the assessment of the situation changes, and the person's well-being improves.

Rice. 7. The process of forming coping behavior

There are several main types of interaction in conflict situations: cooperation, rivalry, compromise, avoidance and accommodation. The most productive strategy of behavior is considered cooperation, which allows to overcome the conflict with the least losses for all participants. Next in terms of productivity is compromise, which is determined by the successful completion of the conflict situation with minimal damage to the interests of various parties to the conflict. Rivalry involves the resolution of the conflict in favor of one side and to the detriment of the interests of the other. Strategies fixtures and avoidance are unproductive, since they do not contribute to a way out of the conflict situation, but only stretch it out for a long time or do not resolve it at all.

Interpersonal protection can be implemented in various forms that contribute to the resolution of a traumatic situation - withdrawal, expulsion (displacement), blocking, management (control), hiding, masking, informing. These forms are the same in cases of the impact of a personality on a personality, the impact of entertainment events and the media on a personality (Table 1).

Table 1

Forms of manifestation of interpersonal protection

Table continuation

The whole gamut of interpersonal relations, ways of resolving various situations of a social or natural nature and interaction in them is determined by the personality itself, using internal defense mechanisms for this.

Intrapersonal psychological protection. For the first time, the concept of "psychological defense" was used by 3. Freud to designate ways of a person's struggle with unpleasant and unbearable ideas for consciousness. The task of psychological defense is to minimize and even completely eliminate unpleasant affects.

The main factors in the formation of protective mechanisms include disharmonious family upbringing, character accentuations 5 Accentuations of character - excessive severity of individual character traits and their combinations, representing extreme variants of the norm, bordering on psychopathy (character pathologies). [Close] and adaptation problems. The social environment puts before the person four adaptation problems: territoriality, temporality, identity, hierarchy.

Territoriality implies the presence of one's own habitat, one's own inviolable space, protected from the influence and will of others. Temporality manifests itself in an adequate awareness, experience of one's age and the productive passage of life crises. Identity is determined by the gender-role identification of a person with a significant adult or ideal, both real and fantastic. Hierarchy means an adequate perception of one's place in a particular social group, the place of the group itself in society and satisfaction with the place it occupies.

With disharmonious upbringing, which, as mentioned above, includes conniving and dominant hyperprotection, hypoprotection, emotional rejection, increased moral responsibility, the needs of the individual are frustrated, making it impossible to adequately satisfy the actualized needs. Their prolonged blocking leads to a stable violation of social adaptation and adaptation to the environment. In this case, a person is forced to apply some kind of psychological defense to maintain the positivity of his "I", that is, a positive self-esteem. The chosen protective behavior may not correspond to reality (Table 2).

table 2

The relationship of disharmonious education and protective attitudes

The set of psychological defenses depends on which of the parts that make up the positive "I" was under threat, as well as which of the types of disharmonic upbringing suppressed this or that need of the individual.

All defense mechanisms, formed as a result of certain life events can be conditionally divided into four groups. The first group is determined by the lack of information processing. It includes: repression, blocking, denial, suppression. The second group is characterized by the transformation (distortion) of the content of thoughts, feelings, behavior. It includes: transfer, withdrawal, rationalization, intellectualization, projection, identification, alienation, reactive formations, compensation and hypercompensation. The third group of defense mechanisms is distinguished by the discharge of negative emotional stress. It includes: realization in action, somatization of anxiety, sublimation. The fourth group is determined by the presence of manipulative actions: regression, "going into the disease", fantasizing.

Let us consider each of these groups in more detail, characterizing the protective mechanisms included in it.

The first group of defense mechanisms is the lack of information processing.

1. crowding out is a process, the result of which is the rejection by the individual of certain experiences, emotions, memories, thoughts, psychological states that “settle” in the sphere of the unconscious, but at the same time continue to have a certain influence on behavioral acts and the psyche of the individual. There are several options for repression: the repression of attraction, the repression of reality and the repression of the instructions of the "Super-I".

Repression of attraction does not remove attraction itself. His energy remains and strives for satisfaction, sometimes fatally influencing human behavior. "Super-I" constantly controls attraction. Energy is wasted, and therefore fatigue occurs, control is lost, irritability, tearfulness appear. The repression of attraction excludes the possibility of a person's sociocultural development. Often this happens in the form of a socially dangerous affect - explosive reactions, unmotivated affects, hysterical seizures, etc.

repression of reality promotes distortion, displacement of unpleasant information, which distorts a person's idea of himself. The repression mechanism works during illness, manifesting itself in the fact that the individual does not notice the ever-increasing number of symptoms. The information that the environment returns to a person in a form that contradicts his knowledge of himself is displaced. The displacement of impartial information occurs as a result of cognitive dissonance - a discrepancy between two concepts about oneself. For example, a student with low self-esteem does not believe in a good grade. Repression of reality is manifested in forgetting names, situations, events. The rejection of reality is sometimes so strong that it can lead to the death of the individual.

Repression of the prescriptions of the "Super-I" expressed in satisfaction with what they have done and, as a result, gaining comfort or receiving secondary displeasure, which can lead to asthenic symptoms: insomnia, an existential crisis.

2. blocking involves the temporary repression of negative, disturbing thoughts, emotions, actions.

3. Negation- a procedure by which the subject expresses one of his previously repressed desires, thoughts, feelings, continuing to seek protection from him and denying that these are his own desires, thoughts, feelings. Denial is the most primitive type of defense. It develops in order to contain the emotions of others if they demonstrate emotional indifference or rejection. Denial implies an infantile substitution of acceptance of others by attention from their side, and any negative aspects of attention are blocked at the stage of perception. As a result, a person gets the opportunity to painlessly express a sense of acceptance of the world and himself, but for this he must attract the attention of others by all available means. Features of defensive behavior in the mechanism of denial are egocentrism, suggestibility, affectivity, easy tolerance of criticism.

4. suppression- a protective mechanism by which unwanted thoughts, impulses and emotions that have reached consciousness are eliminated by it. Suppression develops when restraining the emotion of fear, the manifestations of which are unacceptable for positive self-perception and threaten to directly fall into dependence on the aggressor. Fear is blocked by forgetting the real stimulus and the objects associated with it. Normally, defensive behavior manifests itself in the form of careful avoidance of situations that can become problematic and cause fear of inability to defend one's position in a dispute, conciliation, humility.

The second group of defense mechanisms is the transformation (distortion) of the content of thoughts, feelings, behavior.

1. Transfer- this is the impact of a previously formed operational action skill on mastering new operational-instrumental actions, skills. The reason for the transfer is in affective pinchedness, undeveloped past relationships. For example, if there was a tense relationship with the father, and the boss reminds him, then the relationship is reproduced.

One of the simplest and most common types of transfer is displacement- manifestation of aggression and resentment towards objects that are not direct irritants. For example, a subordinate has been reprimanded by his superior and is looking for an uncomplaining object - another employee with the same or lower status. Displacement can be directed outward - then the surrounding people or objects become the object of aggression, or it can be directed at oneself, in this case aggression manifests itself in causing damage to oneself, self-torture. It is typical for a person who implements the displacement mechanism to put himself at risk, or, if this becomes possible, then the individual himself becomes an aggressor.

The next type of transfer is substitution- symptoms or formations (erroneous actions, character traits, etc.) that replace unconscious desires. It can be directed at oneself, in this case one speaks of narcissism. Substitution controls anger. Features of protective behavior are normal: impulsiveness, irritability, exactingness, uncharacteristic feelings of guilt, activities associated with risk.

2. Care(avoidance, flight). In this case, the perception of one's own incompetence leads to a retreat into the area where control over reality is maintained. Avoidance of solving the problem can be justified by one's own busyness, as well as the lack of the necessary skills for this. Withdrawal is often characterized by an "escape" into a fantasy world.

3. Rationalization arises as a result of unacceptable behavior for the individual, when there is a need for its justification. Rational explanation as a defense mechanism is not aimed at resolving the situation, but at relieving tension. Rationalization may include:

In the absence of information, when a person begins to build his hypotheses;

With the manifestation of unexpected and ridiculous actions, both their own and the actions of others;

With inconsistency of views on the same object;

In the absence of the meaning of activity.

The behavior of people with a rationalization mechanism is strictly regulated, rational, without deviations. This behavior can lead to obsessions. Rationalization is primarily aimed at maintaining personal status. Rationalizing the situation, a person closes the way to the reflection of the situation, to a new choice, violates relations with people (someone is always to blame for his failures).

rationalization can be irony. As a mental process, irony transforms the disturbing and terrifying into the funny. What has become funny cannot be dangerous.

4. Intellectualization develops in adolescence and is formed in connection with frustrations 6 Frustration (from lat. frustratio- deceit, frustration, destruction of plans) - the mental state of a person caused by objectively insurmountable (or subjectively perceived as such) difficulties that arise on the way to achieving a goal or solving a problem; experience of failure.[Close], which are associated with failures in competition with peers, problems in communication. The process of intellectualization involves the arbitrary schematization of events in order to develop a sense of subjective control over any situation. In behavior and communication, the mechanism of intellectualization is manifested primarily in the predominance of abstract thinking over the experience and non-recognition of affects and fantasies.

5. Mechanism projections develops to contain the feeling of rejection of oneself and others that arises as a result of emotional rejection on their part. The projection is used in case of containment (stopping) of the feeling of rejection of oneself, it is associated with the repression of one's own desires and inclinations.

Projection is easier on the person whose situation, personality traits are similar to the one projecting.

There are the following projection types:

attributive- unconscious rejection of one's own negative qualities and attributing them to others;

rationalistic- awareness of one's qualities and projection of the type "everyone does it";

complimentary– interpretation of their shortcomings as advantages;

simulative- attribution of shortcomings by similarity, for example, parent - child.

6. Identification- a protective mechanism that is associated with identifying oneself with some kind of image (imago). As the child grows up, certain ideas about the immediate environment arise. They are a criterion for assessing the social environment.

The identification situation is characterized by the following:

This is a situation of hierarchical relations (the one with whom I identify is at the top, I am at the bottom);

The one who is identified is in rigid dependence on the superior;

The superior sets a rigid algorithm of behavior, punishes for deviations.

Identification forms such a protection mechanism as transfer, which was discussed above.

7. Alienation(isolation) - a defense mechanism that leads to isolation within the consciousness of individual zones associated with a traumatic factor. The unified consciousness is split. Separate consciousnesses arise, each of which can have its own perception, memory, attitudes. Some events are perceived separately, the emotional connections between them are not reproduced. At the same time, there is a detachment from that part of the personality that provokes unbearable experiences. The mechanism of isolation often manifests itself in obsessional neuroses: the isolation of any thought or action, the severing of their connections with other thoughts or other aspects of the subject's life.

8. Jet formations expressed in a psychological attitude or habit, which is something diametrically opposed to the repressed desire, a reaction to it in the form of the so-called inversion of desire. For example, shame instead of an unconsciously repressed desire to demonstrate oneself. The mechanism involves the development and maintenance in the behavior of a directly opposite attitude.

9. Compensation and overcompensation- the latest defense mechanism designed to contain feelings of sadness, anxiety, grief over real or imaginary loss, inferiority, inability to possess anything. It is used, as a rule, consciously.

If, when problems arise in one area, the subject begins to develop in the area in which, in his opinion, he will achieve the greatest success, then this mechanism is called compensation. If the subject begins to develop in the area where he feels unsuccessful, then this is a manifestation of the hypercompensation mechanism.

The third group of defense mechanisms is the discharge of negative emotions.

1. Implementation in action involves affective discharge in the form of expressive behavior. It often manifests itself under the influence of psychoactive substances, forms a tendency to various types of addictive (dependent) and aggressive behavior.

2. Somatization of anxiety(formation of symptoms). The probability of occurrence of this protective mechanism is the higher, the stronger and longer the impact of external and internal blocks of desire and the less the ability to eliminate these blocks. It occurs when it is impossible to remove the frustrator and vent aggression on the culprit or a substitute object. Then the subject itself becomes the object. At the somatic level, it manifests itself in the appearance of a rash, spots, blindness, deafness, loss of sensitivity.

3. Sublimation- transferring the energy of attraction or aggression into a socially acceptable channel. The feeling of anxiety is reduced, comes to a socially acceptable result.

The fourth group of defense mechanisms is the mechanisms of manipulative action.

1. Regression– return to individual-childish forms of behavior, to transitions-transformations to the previous levels-forms of psychoevolution. It is a transition to the less complex, less structured, and less disjointed ways of responding that are characteristic of children. It develops at an early age to contain feelings of insecurity, fear associated with the manifestation of initiative.

The regression is physical activity- involuntary actions to relieve stress.

2. "Departure into Sickness"- this protective mechanism is manifested in the fact that the presence of a real (psychosomatic disorder), and often an imaginary illness, justifies one's own insolvency, a person refuses to solve his problems on his own. He strives for guardianship and recognition by others of his own soreness, weakness.

3. fantasizing- an imaginary scenario in which one or another desire of the subject, who seeks to increase the personal significance and significance of his life, to increase his own value and control over others, is fulfilled, albeit in a form distorted by the defense.

Psychological protection contributes to the internal stability of the individual, normalizes the mental state of a person. The need for this kind of protection arises as a result of disharmonious family upbringing, character traits, and difficulties in adapting to environmental conditions. Methods of mental self-regulation help to gain psychological stability.

"The wind of change"
"Mine doesn't understand yours"
"I didn't really want to"
"Ocean"
"Apotheosis of the Absurd"
"The whole world is a theater"

One of the important properties of a mature person with a high level of development of intellect, emotional sphere and other important qualities of a successful personality is the ability to defend oneself from psychological attacks of ill-wishers. The balance of emotions is an important defensive fortress that an envious person or competitor seeks to destroy. After all, it is worth taking a person out of himself - he immediately loses the ability to think logically, make informed decisions, and see the dirty tricks in the actions of other people.

Offensive words, reproaches, nagging, spreading gossip and other methods of psychological attack act like bee venom - if a person is stung by one or more bees, then nothing bad will happen to him. But if a whole swarm attacks him, the attacked one may even die. It is the same with the emotional attacks of enemies - one injection may not piss off the opponent, but if you annoy him over and over again, the baiting tactics will bear fruit. The stronger the psychological sphere is protected, the more “bee stings” a person can withstand. But there are those who are similar to allergy sufferers - even one serving of poison completely unsettles them and even endangers their lives, they are so not protected from external attacks.

They can remain hothouse flowers for life and protect themselves from contact with aggressive personalities, or they can learn the necessary psychological defense techniques and become stronger opponents in this bloodless war.

Most prestigious and highly paid professions involve working with people, so encounters with hostile and even inadequate characters are inevitable. If you have chosen the path through thorns to the stars of high achievements, then you should take the utmost care to strengthen the approaches to your nerves. Otherwise, they will be ruffled by all and sundry.

A strong psyche depends on the innate qualities of a person, his upbringing, worldview, understanding of the psychology of other people, attentiveness, ability to analyze the behavior and motives of opponents.

First of all, it is necessary to learn to understand that a person goes on a psychological attack when he has no other way to prove his case, such as facts, evidence, legal norms. When the opponent cannot do anything in more effective and obvious ways, he uses the only remaining opportunity - to drive the opponent out of himself so that he surrenders under the pressure of emotional attacks. Therefore, you need to have a stable position, be aware of your rightness from a moral and legal point of view, have a firm confidence in the steadfastness of your opinion and understand that the enemy will not be able to get you in any other way than psychological harassment. So, it is necessary to be ready for this and perceive attacks as a dishonest game of a weak person - after all, a strong and fair person will not stoop to such a level. Such an attitude puts you in the position of an elephant, at which the importunate Pug barks - it barks, but cannot do anything.

And to make it easier to cope with aggressive ill-wishers, use the following methods of psychological defense, which have been tested in psychological training and have shown their effectiveness in real life.

"The wind of change"

Remember which words, facial expressions or intonations are the most painful for you, how you can be guaranteed to get angry or depressed. Recall and vividly imagine a situation where the offender is trying to anger you with such tricks. Speak to yourself the most offensive words that can hurt you, visualize the expression on your opponent's face, which drives you crazy.

Feel this state of anger or, on the contrary, confusion that such behavior causes in you. Feel it inside yourself, disassemble it into separate emotions and sensations. What do you feel? It may be a rapid heartbeat, you are thrown into a fever, or maybe your legs are taken away, thoughts are confused, tears come to your eyes. Remember these feelings well. Now imagine that you are standing in a strong wind, and it blows away both the words of the offender and the negative emotions in response. You see how he screams and swears, but all this is useless, because his cry and your reaction to his anger flies away with the wind.

Do this exercise in a quiet environment several times, and you will feel that you are already more calm about such attacks in your direction. And when faced with this situation in real life, again imagine that you are standing in a strong wind and the words of the offender, along with your emotions, fly off to the side without causing harm.

"Mine doesn't understand yours"

If you are in an unpleasant situation, shouting at you, cursing and throwing insults at you, then imagine that you are deaf or you have loud music on your headphones. Imagine that you do not hear this person at all, he opens his mouth, waves his arms, his face is distorted by a grimace of anger, and calm water surrounds you, in which you sway peacefully, like algae, and do not react to external stimuli. Words cannot affect you, they do not penetrate your consciousness, because you do not hear them. Observing such calmness, the enemy will quickly run out of steam, and you will be able to turn the tide in your favor.

"Kindergarten, nursery group"

If you imagine that your enemies are three-year-old unintelligent kids, then you can learn not to treat their attacks so painfully. Imagine that you are a teacher and your opponents are kindergarten children. They run, scream, act up, get indignant ... But how can you be offended by them?

Detail the situation, imagine how the enemies fall awkwardly, angrily tear toys, babble their childish curses, whimper. You must be calm and balanced, because at the moment you are the only adequate person among those present. Thinking in this way, it is impossible to take attempts to offend or humiliate seriously - they will only cause mild irony.

"I didn't really want to"

In this method, it is proposed to put oneself in the place of the fox from the fable "The Fox and the Grapes" - having failed to get what she wanted, the animal simply convinced itself of its unimportance so as not to be upset. In a situation where a friend or just a good acquaintance suddenly finds himself in the camp of the enemy, it is better to simply convince yourself that his opinion is not so important, his support is not so necessary, and his attacks are acid and unripe grapes, due to which you still don't want to see him among your friends. It is known that the most painful blow to us is dealt by those whom we trust. If this happened, it’s better not to take it as a tragedy, but to act like a fox, saying: “He was not such a close friend to me.”

"Ocean"

Seas and oceans take in the waters of turbulent rivers, but at the same time remain majestically calm. In the same way, in any situation, you are able, like the ocean, to remain calm even during the outpouring of stormy streams of abuse on you.

"Apotheosis of the Absurd"

This method of psychological defense is that the situation must be brought to the point of absurdity, after which it cannot be taken seriously either by the instigators of the conflict or its alleged victim. Most often, the aggressor starts from afar - hints, makes cautious attacks, watching the person's reaction. In this case, it is necessary to immediately exaggerate the situation to such a degree of delusion that it turns out to be bizarrely and unnaturally inflated, and any attacks in this direction arouse only laughter and irony.

"The whole world is a theater"

There are always people around us against whom we are emotionally unstable. Gather them on one stage of an imaginary puppet theater and play a funny performance in your head with the participation of these people. Bring to the fore their most stupid, funny and ridiculous characteristics - greed, slovenliness, arrogance, vanity. Make them victims of your shortcomings. Make you do funny things and look comical. The main thing is that they start to make you laugh. Then, when you meet them, you will no longer be embarrassed and afraid to fight back.

These methods and techniques of psychological defense help you learn how to stop the emotional attacks of opponents, so as not to be a hostage to your own psychological weakness and instability against aggressive and hostile people.

If you find an error, please highlight a piece of text and click Ctrl+Enter.

Portal for the student. Self-training

What you need to know about psychological protection

8 methods of psychological protection from negativity

1. Reception of psychological protection "Fan"

2. Reception of psychological protection "Kukish"

3. Reception of psychological protection "Aquarium"

4. Reception of psychological protection "Kindergarten"

5. Reception of psychological protection "Fox and grapes"

6. Reception of psychological protection "Ocean"

7. Reception of psychological defense "Absurd situation"

8. Reception of psychological defense "Dolls"

Classification of the main methods of psychological protection

Negation

suppression

crowding out

Rationalization

Jet formations

substitution

Irony

Dream

Sublimation

Identification

Fantasy

Transfer

Projection

introjection

Depersonalization

Psychological protection

"The wind of change"

"Mine doesn't understand yours"

"Kindergarten, nursery group"

"I didn't really want to"

"Ocean"

"Apotheosis of the Absurd"

"The whole world is a theater"

RELATED ARTICLES