Mental Process
defense mechanism
de·fense mech·an·ism
Definitions related to defense mechanisms:
  • Unconscious process used by an individual or a group of individuals in order to cope with impulses, feelings or ideas which are not acceptable at their conscious level; various types include reaction formation, projection and self reversal.
    NLM Medical Subject Headings
    U.S. National Library of Medicine, 2021
  • (psychological defense mechanism) Mental processes, usually unconscious, used by individuals to cope with impulses, feelings, or ideas which are unacceptable at the conscious level.
    CRISP Thesaurus
    National Institutes of Health, 2006
  • Defense mechanism, in psychoanalytic theory, any of a group of mental processes that enables the mind to reach compromise solutions to conflicts that it is unable to resolve. The process is usually unconscious, and the compromise generally involves concealing from oneself internal drives or...
    Encyclopedia Britannica
    Encyclopedia Britannica, Inc., 2020
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