Question

If a patient starts accusing you of being frightened of something they are really frightened of themselves, they are using which defense mechanism?

Answer 1

The defense mechanism in question is projection, where a person denies their own unconscious feelings and instead attributes them to someone else. In this case, the patient is accusing you of being frightened of something they are actually frightened of themselves.

Step-by-step explanation:

The defense mechanism in question is projection. Projection is a defense mechanism in which a person denies their own unconscious feelings or thoughts and instead attributes them to someone else.

In this case, the patient is accusing you of being frightened of something that they are actually frightened of themselves. They are projecting their fears onto you as a way to avoid acknowledging and dealing with their own fears