You’re Getting Defensive Again Sigmond Freud (18851939) pursued studies in Psychoanalytic Theory through many years of human observation. He came to the conclusion that personality consisted of three parts, the Id, the Ego, and the Super Ego. He concluded that the three parts act as a system of checks and balances to keep us in mental balance. However, if the Id (primal urges; such as; hunger, thirst, sexual desire) get too strong and attempts to overpower the Ego and Super Ego it puts the mind in a “state of anxiety,” and the minds “mechanisms of defense” take over. Carrying the Torch He shared these theories with his daughter Anna who furthered the studies and wrote a book in 1946, “The Ego and the Mechanism of Defense.” The premise was to identify and define these mechanisms; repression, projection, reaction, formation and sublimation, which are exercised to alter ones reality in order to alleviate anxiety.
Today in Psychology Psychologists today are working on proving two of these theories scientifically. The Ramachandran study (1995) examined Repression Theory by testing patients who were paralyzed in a part of their body and were in denial of the fact. Through a series of exercises it was demonstrated that the patients were repressing knowledge of their paralysis. It wasn’t until Ramachandran irrigated the left ear with cold water that there was a change. The study suggests that the cold water stimulated part of the inner ear system that has to do with REM sleep, balance and dreaming. This may show a neurological link the Repression theory
The Adams, Wright and Lohr study of 1996 attempted to test the Reaction Formation Theory that states that the mind attempts to avoid impulses the person believes to be evil by taking on behaviors that are the exact opposite. This has been done by dividing men by two groups, homophobic and non-homophobic. They showed erotic films. It found that the homophobic control group showed a marked increase of arousal when watching gay men. The results are consistent with the Formation Theory of Sigmond Freud. All these mechanisms are used by people at one time or another. The problem comes when you get stuck in one of these defenses. A person will not progress well in their life and it could manifest as constant anxiety, and obsessive compulsive disorders. However, if a person had an understanding of these mechanisms, they could better understand the actions and reactions of others and him/her self.