image by Milo Winter

Defense Mechanisms are psychological processes
that protect the conscious mind from threatening
impulses, thoughts and feelings

they do so by denying or distorting reality, and
they are largely unconscious

defense mechanisms are normal and, if used in
moderation, they can be helpful -

helpful in that they can give us time to recognize
our discomfort, identify its source and find ways
to consciously deal with it

however, the extensive and prolonged use of
defense mechanisms can be problematic in that
underlying difficulties remain, energy is wasted
and stress builds

Sigmund Freud first used "defense" as a psycho-
analytic term in 1894; and it was his daughter,
Anna Freud, who refined and expanded his
theories in the 1930s

the defense mechanism referred to as rational-
ization is the cognitive distortion of facts, done
at a near-conscious level, to reduce discomfort or
distress

for an example of rationalization, consider the
illustration above

it is from The Fox and the Grapes, one of the
collection of Aesop's Fables

here, the fox is unable to reach the grapes that
hang high on a vine

he is frustrated and angry; and rather than acknow-
ledging his distress, he seeks to reduce it

he does so by unconsciously distorting reality, by
seeking to convince himself that the grapes are not
what he knows them to be - sweet

he devalues them, re-defines them as sour, and
he goes on his way -

the fox has reduced his distress through the use of
rationalization, but he leaves with a distorted sense
of reality