Final answer:
Anxiety and neurotic behavior can occur when the ego fails to balance the conflicting demands of the id and superego, leading to the use of defense mechanisms such as regression and repression as ways to manage anxiety.
Step-by-step explanation:
A person may experience anxiety and engage in neurotic behavior when there is an imbalance of id and ego, leading to inner conflicts and threats. According to Freudian theory, the ego functions to mediate the conflicting demands of the id and the superego. When the ego is unable to effectively balance these demands, a person might exhibit neurotic behaviors as a part of defense mechanisms aiming to reduce the resulting anxiety.
Neurotic behaviors can arise when individuals employ these defense mechanisms in a rigid and compulsive manner, eventually leading to feelings of alienation from others. Situations that are known to cause significant stress and might trigger such responses include not only life-threatening situations but also deeply psychological ones, such as social pressures or significant life changes.
Defense mechanisms like regression, where a person reverts to a more immature behavioral state, and repression, where anxious thoughts are pushed into the unconscious, are examples of how the ego attempts to manage the anxiety from these internal struggles.