Final answer:
The avoidance of facing a personal problem as though it never existed is known as denial, a type of defense mechanism that protects an individual from anxiety. Denial is one of several defense mechanisms, which also include displacement and projection, and it serves to avert the emotional distress of acknowledging a troublesome reality.
Step-by-step explanation:
The avoidance of confronting a personal problem or reality by acting as if the problem or reality never existed is called denial. This defense mechanism is employed by individuals when they refuse to accept the truth of a situation, essentially pretending that a distressing event or experience did not happen. It's a way for the psyche to protect itself from the anxiety that comes with facing the full impact of a particular reality.
Other types of defense mechanisms include displacement, where a person transfers inappropriate urges or behaviors onto a more acceptable or less threatening target, and projection, where a person denies their own uncomfortable feelings and attributes them to others instead.
Denial can manifest in various ways, such as ignoring the evidence that a problem exists or minimizing the problem's significance. This mechanism is subconscious; the person is not usually aware they're engaging in denial.