Understanding Defense Mechanisms, Essay Example

Defense Mechanism is often defined as the unconscious response of an individual to the conscious situations that occur in his life. It could be identified then as the process by which the brain intends to interpret how matter occur and how an individual should specifically respond to such situations. The response is often based on the individual characteristic of a person. If an individual is notably positive, then the reaction would be optimistic towards the occurring situations. On the other end, if a person has a negative outlook in life, then it could be possible that the reaction that one has towards the situations that occur in his life would be more dependent on the pessimistic implications of matters.

In the process of recovering from particular addictions and specifically damaging attitudes that one develops through time, defense mechanisms play a great role in either allowing or hindering an individual from completely adjusting themselves into a better state of understanding their need to change. There are different types of defense mechanisms that a person might incur especially during times of psychological treatments dedicated to adjustment and recovery of a person towards a better being and understanding of the situation that he is currently involved in.

There are two very common defense mechanisms that are evident among individuals who usually develop an attitude of substance addiction. One is that of denial; this mechanism is noted as a level one defense, which is pathological in nature, meaning it is usually predominating among all the defenses that one develops through time based on the situations he is dealing with. One’s defense through denial is established when he believes that he is not in the place where he is suggested to be. Not accepting the fact that he is addicted to a substance is one way of showing one’s denial of his own situation. Relatively, this would insist on the capacity of the one providing therapy to help the individual understand why he is labeled to have an addiction over a certain substance. This may involve more than just lecturing him about the situation. There should be a mirror approach that would help him understand the development of matters based on his own understanding of himself. How he sees himself is very important in this case. Considerably, the primary goal in this particular sense of breaking the defense is helping him realize the truth in a manner that would best respond to his thinking process. The approach may take slowly and the results may come in gradually, nevertheless, if the person is convinced that he does need help to be able to recover from an addiction is all worth the time and effort applied for the therapy.

Another aspect of defense mechanism is that of the process of extreme projection. In this manner, a person tries to over perceive on matters that would come. Motivated with fear and negativity, remaining pessimistic about what might happen next usually becomes the condition that hinders one from accepting any therapeutic approaches to reduce their addiction on a particular substance. In this case, it is essential for the therapist to consider the need to help the patient understand reality. Giving him a step-by-step figure that would help him realize matters in a more realistic manner would greatly help in this process. Most often than not, dealing with the situation gradually helps in making it easier for the patient to cope with the different changes that he needs to undergo during the therapy.

It is often said that the saying ‘it is only in the mind’ applies to many matters in life. True, in this case, the realignment of one’s mental understanding of a particular situation occurring in his life is a great tool to break down defense mechanisms that individuals use to shun themselves from the truth. Helping a person accept his situation and be willing enough to do something about it is not as easy as counting one two three. It often involves tactical moves that would allow the therapist to see through the being of the person being helped and work from inward elements towards the outer presentation of the attitude of each individual.