Nursing Tips & Cheatsheet: Defence Mechanism
Defense mechanisms is how someone respond to a situation in life. Everyone handles it in a different light, but it’s important to be able to differentiate the defense mechanism that is being used by the patient and to be able to tell the characteristics of the inability to cope.
Defense mechanisms include, but are not limited to the following:
- Rationalization
- Displacement
- Regression
- Introjection
- Reaction Formation
- Repression
- Sublimation
Other defense mechanisms not included on the chart also include:
Denial – Rejecting a thought or idea
Suppression – Hiding a thought or idea
Acting Out – Using extreme behavior to get away from the situation
Isolation of Affect – Thinking about the thought but not really feeling it
Intellectualization – Using rational explanation to avoid the thought
