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 un

Understanding a specific individual requires understanding why an ego has chosen a particular defense mechanism, at a specific time, for a specific situation. This explains why people seem to exhibit different personalities in different situations. It is common for a child developing his identity to try on different personalities. A behavior that is acceptable with his friends may not be acceptable in his home. When a situation develops that calls on these personalities simultaneously, the personalities fuse forming an individual with a unique identity. This is less difficult to comprehend if we realize that the mechanisms are driving the personality.

Does the situation form the personality or does the personality create the situation? "How a material physical act in the nerve fibres or cells can be converted into an idea, an act of consciousness, is absolutely incomprehensible" (Griesenger, 1867, pp. 5-6). Just like you cannot anticipate every cycle of life, you cannot predict how an individual's ego will choose to deal with a situation. Freud believed that repressed materials unconsciously exert a powerful influence on behavior and choices (Defense Mechanisms, Available Online).

I believe that I experience Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. At fourteen years old, I was diagnosed with ovarian cancer. This was followed by a series of traumatic life events. There are parts of my life that I cannot recall. The need for comfort being demanded from the id has caused my ego to block these events from being acknowledged by the superego. In addition, not dealing with these events properly has caused the ego to further deceive me by taking me through a period of dissociation. During this time, I experienced dramatic character modification that was observable as "periods of irresponsibility" and a "devil-may-care attitude" (Bee, 2000).

Managing Interpersonal Relationships. (1975). Minnesota: Wilson

Level IV also discusses humor. Humor has the capacity to uplift spirits and allow us to laugh at our shortcomings rather than persecute ourselves. According to Vaillant, however, sarcasm is not viewed under humor in the mature mechanism category (Bee, 2000). I disagree. Sarcasm has the ability to relieve stress and anxiety and should not be discounted as a valuable defense mechanism.

Anna Freud developed her father's theory of defense mechanisms further in The Ego and the Mechanisms of Defense (1936). It is her work that has led contemporary psychologists to believe that "ego defenses are not pathological formations or symptoms of mental illness. They are ingenious self-deceptions that serve as adaptation..." (Sources of Resilience in Adult Life, Available Online).

Bee, Helen L. (2000). The Journey of Adulthood (4th ed.).

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

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