IMMATURE DEFENSE

MECHANISM
OUTLINE

Acting Out Blocking

Hypochondriasis

Passive-
Projection aggressive Introjection
Behavior

Regression Schizoid Fantasy Somatization

Acting Out
The direct expression of an unconscious wish or impulse in action to
avoid being conscious of the accompanying affect.
The unconcious fantasy, involving objects, is lived out and impulsively
enacted in behavior, thus gratifying the impulse more than the
prohibitions against it.
On a chronic level, acting out involves giving in to impulses to avoid
the tension that would result from the inhibition of the impulses to
avoid the tension that would result from result from postponement of
their expression.
(Kaplan 11th Edition)
Acting Out
Literally acting out in ways that may reveal unconscious desires
For example:
I. A child throwing a tantrum when his/her wishes are not fulfilled.
II. patient self harming to express disgust at themselves.
Movie clips from Inside out
Blocking
Person is aware of the unacceptable feelings or thoughts and refuses
to deal with them.
Substitute work, hobby or project to avoid a situation.
For example :
Man works late every night to avoid fighting with his wife.
Projection
The individual deals with emotional conflict or internal or external
stressors by falsely attributing the unacceptable feelings, thought to
external target.
A man who wants another women thinks his wife is cheating on him.
Seeing the inside in the outside.
Introjection
Our perception of significant figures in our lives are internalized
where they form the part of structure of the personality.
The outside is internalized inside
Example :
A man who was physically abused as a child abuses his own children
(Oxford Handbook of Psychiatry, 3rd edition)
Passive- aggressive Behavior
Expressing negativity and performing below what is expected as an
indirect show of opposition.
For example :
Disgruntled employee is repeatedly late to work.
A student agrees to share class notes but goes home without sharing
them
Splitting
Person separates experiences into all good and all bad categories, no
room for in between or ambiguity.
For example :
A patient believing that a doctor is the best doctor they have ever
had at one point, and the worst doctor they have ever had at
another
Regression
Reversion to an earlier stage of development in the face of
unacceptable thought or impulses.
An adult may regress when under a great deal of stress, refusing to
leave their bed and engage in normal, everyday activities.
For Example :
A teenager who faced a great stress starts to wet bed.
Schizoid Fantasy
The individual deals with emotional conflict or internal or external
stressors by excessive daydreaming as a substitute for human
relationships, more effective action, or problem solving.
Hypochondriasis
Preoccupation with the fear of having a serious disease which persist
despite negative medical investigations and appropriate reassurance
with subsequent distress and impaired function.
(Oxford Handbook of Psychiatry 3rd edition)
Somatization
The experience of bodily symptoms with no or no sufficient physical
cause for them with presumed psychological causation.
(Oxford 3rd Edition)
The transformation of negative feelings towards others into negative
feeling toward self, pain, illness and anxiety.
For example :
Unconsciously depressed person get sick.