noun
(psychiatry) an unconscious process that tries to reduce the anxiety associated with instinctive desires
• Syn: ↑defense mechanism, ↑defence mechanism, ↑defence reaction, ↑defense, ↑defence
• Topics: ↑psychiatry, ↑psychopathology, ↑psychological medicine
• Hypernyms: ↑psychoanalytic process, ↑process, ↑unconscious process
• Hyponyms:
↑compensation, ↑conversion, ↑denial, ↑displacement, ↑idealization, ↑idealisation, ↑intellectualization, ↑intellectualisation, ↑isolation, ↑projection, ↑rationalization, ↑rationalisation, ↑reaction formation, ↑regression, ↑repression
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noun* * *
defense mechanism or defense reaction,
1. any self-protective reaction by an organism, such as the development of resistance to infection.
2. Psychology. any psychological device by which a person limits or prevents his own awareness of unpleasant feelings such as guilt or anxiety, by rationalizing or denying a situation, concealing or repressing an unacceptable drive, or transferring emotion to a new object or activity.
Useful english dictionary. 2012.