[ashleigh]

I read some info on a Sigmun Freud site about what Anna Freud called things like regression, projection and those things, which are deviations of facing the truth. One thing that I read was that Freud supposedly thought that sublimination is a good thing. I think it is the MOST avaoidant way of facing the truth, but it is the subconciouses way of facing it.
Anyway, my question is, what is it called when a person is afraid of something happeneing, so they make it happen? What would that be called? Hopefully the Doc will have an answer for this. And what would the opposite be? I guess an example of what
I'm saying is what if a person was afraid of running out of money, so then they go buy a whole buch of things and spend all thier money.
Or what if they think they won't get thier homework done, so they don't even start it. Anyone???

[pebblypoo]

Hi Ashleigh,

Self-fulfilling prophecy? That may be what your thinking of in terms of being afraid of or expecting the worst from yourself and behaving in ways that fulfill that idea.

Regression and projection are defense mechanisms.

Why did I leave psychology and go into nursing???!!!
pebs

<font color=purple> The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated--Gandhi

Sometimes I lie awake at night in bed and I ask, "Is it all worth it?" And then a voice says, "Who are you talking to?" And another voice says, "You mean, ' To whom are you talking?'" And I say, "No wonder I lie awake at night."--Charlie Brown </font color=purple>

[ashleigh]

Maybe you use psychology in nursing. Maybe it helps you understand your patients better. Thanks for the reply. I'm not sure if that is what to call that. What is a self-fullfilling prophecy?

[Rapunzel]

Ashleigh,
I'm not sure if what you are looking for is in here, but here is a list of Psychoanalytic (Freudian) terminology:
<font color=blue>Defense mechanism</font color=blue> A method used by the ego to ward off threats from the id, superego, or external world, and to reduce the corresponding anxiety. Most defense mechanisms operate unconsciously, making possible the primary goal of self-deception.

<font color=blue>Denial of reality</font color=blue> Refusing to believe, or even to perceive, some threat in the external world; a defense mechanism

<font color=blue>Displacement</font color=blue> Transferring behaviors or emotions, often unconsciously, from one object to another that is less threatening; a defense mechanism.

<font color=blue>Fantasy (daydreaming)</font color=blue> Gratifying unfulfilled needs by imagining situations in which they are satisfied; a defense mechanism.

<font color=blue>Identification</font color=blue> (1) Reducing painful feelings of self-contempt by becoming like objects that are illustrious and admires, such as idols, aggressors, or lost loves; a defense mechanism that may be partly or wholly unconscious. (2) The healthy desire to become like one's parents.

<font color=blue>Intellectualization</font color=blue> Unconsciously separating threatening emotions from the associated thoughts or events and reacting on only an intellectual level; a defense mechanism.

<font color=blue>Introjection</font color=blue> Unconsciously incorporating someone else's values or personal qualities into one's own personality.

<font color=blue>Parapraxis</font color=blue> An apparent accident that is caused by unconscious mental processes, and therefore indicates one's real feelings and beliefs; a "Freudian slip."

<font color=blue>Projection</font color=blue> Unconsciously attributing one's own threatening impulses, emotions, or beliefs to other people or things; a defense mechanism.

<font color=blue>Rationalization</font color=blue> Using and believing superficially plausible explanations in order to justify illicit behavior and reduce feelings of guilt; a defense mechanism.

<font color=blue>Reaction Formation</font color=blue> Repressing threatening beliefs, emotions, or impulses and unconsciously replacing them with their opposites; a defense mechanism.

<font color=blue>Regression</font color=blue> (1) Unconsciously adopting behavior typical of an earlier and safer time in one's life; a defense mechanism. (2) A reverse flow of libido to an object previously abandoned, or to an earlier psychosexual stage.

<font color=blue>Repression</font color=blue> Unconsciously eliminating threatening material from consciousness and using anticathexes to prevent it from regaining consciousness, thus being unable to recall it; a defense mechanism.

<font color=blue>Sublimation</font color=blue> Unconsciously channeling illicit instinctual impulses into socially acceptable behavior. A form of displacement, but one that represents ideal behavior.

<font color=blue>Undoing</font color=blue> Unconsciously adopting ritualistic behaviors that symbolically negate previous actions or thoughts that cause feelings of guilt; a defense mechanism.

Personally, I feel like all of the defense mechanisms serve a purpose, as they allow us to be able to function even when faced with things that we are not ready to deal with. But I think that we should try to be aware of them when possible and recognize why we need to do the things that we do.

What you are giving examples of could be self-fulfilling prophecy (I don't think that's a Freudian term - just sometimes predicting something causes it to happen), or possibly parapraxis. I would tend to label it self-sabatage, or self-destructive behavior.

Wendy

<font color=red>"Striving for excellence motivates you; striving for perfection is demoralizing." -Harriet Braiker</font color=red>

[ashleigh]

Thanks, Wendy. The answers you gaveare really intelligent, about self-destruction. I don't know why people do things like that. Our minds are really powerful. Thanks for replying. And thanks for the list of defense mechanisms. peace

[Rapunzel]

You're welcome, ashleigh. I needed to review that stuff anyway. I do plenty of self-destructive behavior myself. Books have been written about why we do things like that. Some reasons I have found are that we don't feel like we deserve to get what we want, or also that we are afraid of failing and if we can blame it on something (for example, not studying for a test) then we might not feel as bad because we can still tell ourselves that maybe if we had really tried we could have done it. The same idea underlies perfectionism too, well, that's another self-destructive behavior. By telling ourselves that we have to be perfect, we either don't even start on things because it would never be good enough, or we put everything we have into obsessing over one thing and just let everything else slide. Just one more way to sabotage ourselves.

Isn't the human mind amazing?
Wendy

<font color=red>"Striving for excellence motivates you; striving for perfection is demoralizing." -Harriet Braiker</font color=red>

[Peanut61]

Very good thread = interesting post and replies.

<font color=blue>HI FROM PEANUT</font color=blue>