In case you experience something unpleasant or have unpleasant thoughts, chances are you’ll attempt to detach yourself from the event or thought. This could be each positive or negative. It’s important to discover the negative defense mechanisms that chances are you’ll be experiencing in the event you are scuffling with substance abuse.
You’ll find assist in outpatient rehab in Los Angeles and other facilities. Defense mechanisms could also be happening unconsciously and lead to more negative behavior.
Sublimation
One good example of a defense mechanism is sublimation. That is if you decide to put your energy right into a positive activity like understanding or specializing in a hobby. We use defense mechanisms like this to positively remove ourselves so as to keep ourselves from making a nasty decision like taking our anger out on another person.
Denial
Denial is a defense mechanism an individual may use to maintain their unwanted experiences out of their thoughts. Denial is a contradiction of reality. It’s an unconscious process and by refusing to acknowledge or accept reality or facts, they will protect themselves from unwanted thoughts or emotions. An example of denial can be if someone has a substance abuse problem, but they deny it because they will still go to work every day.
Rationalization
Rationalization is one other defense mechanism used to guard oneself from feelings of guilt. Someone may rationalize by offering good reasons instead of the true reasons they’re using drugs or alcohol.
When one is participating in questionable behaviors, they could acknowledge there’s an issue; nonetheless, they may give you their very own reasons as to why they’re making these decisions. They could blame a stressor like work, traumatic experiences or grief as a substitute of themselves.
Projection
Projection occurs when one assigns blame on another person as a substitute of accepting blame themselves. Projection could be positive or negative, but someone with a substance abuse disorder will almost certainly put the blame on another person. For instance, when confronted a few drinking problem, one might respond with “Come on, I don’t drink as much as Jim.” Projection allows one to maneuver their negative thoughts about themselves to another person.
Repression
Repression is when one puts unwanted memories or thoughts away in efforts to completely forget them. Although the memories or thoughts are usually not completely forgotten, this helps prevent stress that will come from these painful experiences. Unfortunately, these instances can have a negative impact on one’s feelings, actions, and relationships.
For an individual with a substance abuse disorder repression helps them to forget the outcomes of their actions. When one cannot accept reality, they often turn to substance abuse, which in turn results in more must hide reality. This may turn right into a vicious cycle.
Avoidance
Avoidance is when one stays away from places, people, things or situations which have anticipated negative outcomes. That is one solution to take care of anxiousness or a possible response to fear or shame. When someone is scuffling with a substance abuse disorder, they could avoid visiting family and friends who’re unhappy with the alternatives made. This prevents shame they could feel and in addition allows the person to proceed to take part in the negative behavior.
