Final answer:
Freud and his daughter Anna Freud identified defense mechanisms as unconscious behaviors that reduce anxiety. Defense mechanisms protect the conscious mind from inner conflicts that arise between the ego, id, and superego. Overreliance on these mechanisms, however, can lead to neurotic behaviors, as further discussed by psychoanalyst Karen Horney.
Step-by-step explanation:
Freud, and later his daughter Anna Freud, identified a number of defense mechanisms that help people to cope with anxiety. Sigmund Freud believed that feelings of anxiety are the result of the ego's inability to mediate the conflict between the id and the superego. Freud theorized that the ego employs defense mechanisms, which are unconscious protective behaviors designed to reduce anxiety. Among these mechanisms are repression, denial, and projection, which serve to protect the individual's conscious mind from uncomfortable thoughts or feelings.
Freud's theory of defense mechanisms is a cornerstone of his psychoanalytic theory, which posits that the unconscious mind has a significant influence on conscious behavior. To access the unconscious, Freud utilized techniques such as dream analysis, slips of the tongue, and free association. His work highlights how defense mechanisms can sometimes lead to neuroses when overused. Furthermore, Karen Horney, a psychoanalyst who expanded upon Freud's ideas, suggested that coping styles related to anxiety can become neurotic if used rigidly and compulsively, thus alienating people from others.