Adult Development: Psychological Defense Mechanisms

             Human personality, expressed emotions, strivings, and beliefs arise from a conflict between aggressive, pleasure-seeking, biological impulses and the social restraints against their expression (Bee, 2000). This conflict between expression and repression, in ways that bring the achievement of satisfaction without punishment or guilt, drives the development of personality. Understanding an individual means understanding which defense mechanisms their subconscious has chosen and how their defenses work for them.
             Psychotherapist, Sigmund Freud, based his understanding of psychological defense mechanisms on the conflict between three interacting systems: the id, ego and superego. Freud did not propose a new anatomy, but saw these terms as useful aids to understanding the mind's dynamics (Psychological Self-Help, Available Online).
             The id is a reservoir of unconscious psychic energy that continually seeks to satisfy basic drives to survive, reproduce and aggress. The id operates on the pleasure principle. If unconstrained, it seeks instantaneous gratification (Hales & Hales, 1995). The id is most easily observed in a newborn child who cries out for satisfaction the moment he feels hungry, tired or uncomfortable. The child is unacquainted with the conditions, wishes, or expectations of his environment.
             As the child learns to cope with the real world, his ego develops. The ego operates on the reality principle, which seeks to manage the id's impulses in realistic ways yet, still achieve pleasure in practical ways and avoid pain in the process. The ego negotiates between the impulsive demands of the id, the restraining demands of the superego and the real-life demands of the external world. The ego contains partly conscious perceptions, thoughts, judgements, and memories.
             Around age 4 or 5, a child's ego recognizes the demands of the newly emerging superego. The superego is the voice of conscience that forces the ego to consi...

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