Final answer:
Defense mechanisms are unconscious strategies used to protect oneself from anxiety due to unacceptable feelings or thoughts. These include repression, where overwhelming memories are pushed out of consciousness, and displacement, where one shifts uncomfortable impulses onto a more acceptable target.
Step-by-step explanation:
The question relates to defense mechanisms, which are psychological strategies used unconsciously to protect a person from anxiety arising from unacceptable thoughts or feelings. Sigmund Freud first proposed the concept of defense mechanisms as a way the ego can protect itself from distress.
Here is a brief description and examples for each defense mechanism presented in the question:
- Repression (A): This occurs when a memory or thought that is too difficult to deal with is unconsciously pushed out of conscious awareness, similar to the analogy of turning up the radio to drown out the noise of the car.
- Sublimation (B): This is a positive defense mechanism where unacceptable impulses are transformed into socially acceptable actions or behaviors.
- Denial (C): In this mechanism, the person refuses to accept reality or facts, blocking external events from awareness. If a situation is too much to handle, the person just refuses to experience it.
- Displacement (D): This involves transferring feelings about, or response to, an object that causes discomfort onto another, less threatening object or person.
It's important to identify these defense mechanisms because they can often influence people's behavior in many situations, some of which may be addressed through psychotherapy or self-awareness.