Defense mechanisms-Nursing Paper Examples
Defense mechanisms are behaviors that individuals exhibit in coping with difficult and stressful events, including helping resolve internal conflicts in a person (Coon et al., 2021). The idea of defense mechanism evolved from Freud’s psychoanalysis theory which assumes that individuals deploy defense mechanisms to enable them to cope with unwanted feelings like guilt or shame caused by interactions between the id, ego, or superego. For example, I employed compensation to excel in my studies in high school when I was 16 years old (Defense mechanisms-Nursing Paper Examples).
I experienced challenges understanding some subjects, so I had to put extra effort into my studies. Coon et al. (2021) explain that compensation is a defense mechanism that is utilized to make up for shortcomings and flaws. The extra study enabled me to register improvement and I developed a habit of doing extra study and research throughout my school days. Initially, I felt overwhelmed with the poor performance in the subject areas and often felt ashamed presenting the results to my parents, since I never wanted to disappoint them (Defense mechanisms-Nursing Paper Examples).
According to Lane et al. (2020), students often get worried, stressed, and sad when they register poor performance. Stress and worry are often prevalent during preparation for exams and when receiving the results due to higher expectations by the student and their families. In most cases, I would get home angry and worried about my future owing to my poor performance.
My mother encouraged me to leverage my success in other subjects by putting extra effort into the ones presenting challenges. Therefore, to avoid guilt, anger, and disappointment, I decided to dedicate most of my time to studying, which contributed to immense success. Compensation enabled me to achieve the desired outcomes, resulting in excitement, contentment, and pride. I always presented my results with a lot of happiness and inspiration, indicating satisfaction (Defense mechanisms-Nursing Paper Examples).
References
Coon, D., Mitterer, J. O., Martini, T. S. (2021). Introduction to psychology: Gateways to mind and behavior. (16th ed., pp. 430-431). United States: Cengage Learning.
Lane, A., McGrath, J., Cleary, E., Guerandel, A., & Malone, K. M. (2020). Worried, weary and worn out: Mixed-method study of stress and well-being in final-year medical students. BMJ Open, 10(12), e040245. http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2020-040245
