The Mt Kenya Times 
By: N. George
Worth Noting:
- This type of defense is applied when you face unpleasant feelings due to personal misdeeds but instead of acknowledging that you are the cause of your problems you blame someone else. An example of such a case is when a cheating spouse suspects their partner for unfaithfulness in marriage.
- This is where someone over emphasizes on one issue to cover for failures in another area for example a student who is not good in academics can compensate his failure by becoming overactive in extracurricular activities like sports or a spouse experiencing family crises deciding to over concentrate in work life.
We are living in a world full of wonders with some being favourable while others are unpleasant to us. At one time or another we are faced with challenges which we do not want to accept all what we want to do is to find for ways to make these situation seem untrue, unrelated to us and belittle their impact on us. In today’s article such matters are what we are covering.
Defensive mechanisms are various tools and strategies that you apply to protect yourself from the world around you especially at times of uncertainty. These situations may include strange occurrences, sad news and frightening circumstances.
These defensive mechanisms are unconscious psychological responses.
When using these defensive mechanisms we intend to divert from the true actions, thoughts and events..
Sometimes these feeling are not caused by real occurrences of events but are from mere imaginations.
These defensive mechanisms keep us safe and happy and protect us from inconvenience situations but this is just a temporary measure. In the long term such tendencies isolate us from those we love and hurt our relationships.
Some of the most common defensive mechanisms include the following:
Rationalization
Using this mechanism you try to find reasons for not being held accountable for your actions especially your misdeeds. An example is when your proposal for a date is not accepted then you react by opining that the idea of ending relationship emanated from you and the reason behind that failure in relationship was due to unattractiveness of your partner.
Reaction formation
This happens when you behave in an exact opposite way to your feeling in an attempt to hide your actual feelings for example a mother who bears a child without having planned for it then behaves in a friendly and overprotective way to the child in an attempt to convince herself and the child that she is a good mother. Reaction formation conceals the true self by acting in the opposite manner. It is a camouflage.
Projection
This type of defense is applied when you face unpleasant feelings due to personal misdeeds but instead of acknowledging that you are the cause of your problems you blame someone else. An example of such a case is when a cheating spouse suspects their partner for unfaithfulness in marriage.
Denial
This is a situation where you refuse to accept the existence of something that you have heard of or decline to acknowledge the occurrence of an event that you witnessed or fail to accept something that you have seen. This main reason for this refusal is to protect you from perceiving unpleasant reality.
It usually happens in situations like failure in tests, failed relationships and death.
People who abuse drug and alcohol usually deny that they are having a problem.
Compensation
This is where someone over emphasizes on one issue to cover for failures in another area for example a student who is not good in academics can compensate his failure by becoming overactive in extracurricular activities like sports or a spouse experiencing family crises deciding to over concentrate in work life.
Many times when people apply compensation defense mechanism, fail to improve on their weakness and opt to cover up.
Identification
This is a situation where you identify with an image that you see as ideal for your ego.
People are usually attracted to movements, groups and people whose lives they admire.
Ritual and undoing
In this mechanism a person who has done a wrong performs a good thing or a ritual in an attempt to cover the wrongs for example a mother who beats her child with-out any good reason for doing so then buys gifts to look friendly to the child.
Displacement
This is the process whereby you substitute your feelings and frustrations with a target that is different from the source of your emotions for example a teacher who is quarrelling with the spouse at home and instead of solving their marital affairs with the partner , attends duty at school and punishes students .
Sublimation
This mechanism involves taking negative attributes and converting them in to socially acceptable behaviours.
An example of this is a reforming robber who after getting released from prison engages in community education enlightening the society on the pros of living peacefully with the rest of community members and avoiding crime due to dire effects of being behind the bar or a reformed alcoholic who runs anti-alcohol crusade.
Similar Posts by The Mt Kenya Times:
- Tessie Mudavadi donates Neonatal Incubators to four counties to improve care for premature babies
- StarTimes deepens investment in local content, AI innovation with launch of Sura ya Pili
- Mau Mau caucus launches members’ nationwide banking drive
- Gachagua links Ruto to Kedong, Kibiko land disputes
- Mt Kenya Times ePAPER July 4-5, 2026
About the Author
