Defense Mechanisms

We try to avoid our negative feelings by using psychological defense mechanisms such as repression, projection, and rationalization, to name a few. All defense mechanisms are
designed to reduce or eliminatie psychological pain by reducing or eliminating our awareness
of our uncomfortable feelings. Thus, we reduce our self-awareness to tiny micro perspectives. Mechanisms For defending the Micro Self include:

Acting out - Reducing the anxiety aroused by forbidden desires by permitting their expression
Compensation - Making up for frustration in one area by over gratification in another, or detracting attention from a weakness by emphasizing a strength
Denial of Reality - Protecting micro self from an undesirable aspect of reality by denying its existence (ignoring it), often by getting "sick" or over involvement with job, hobby, etc.
Displacement - Discharging feelings (usually hostility) on people or objects less dangerous than those which aroused the feeling
Emotional Insulation - Withdrawing from emotional involvement to protect self from hurt
Fantasy - Gratifying frustrated desires by imagining their achievement
Identification - Increasing feelings of worth by identifying self with illustrious person or organization
Introjections - Adopting values of others to avoid rejection
Isolation - Prohibiting self from feeling the pain caused by hurtful situations, or separating incompatible attitudes into logic-tight compartments
Projection - Attributing one's own unethical desires to others, or putting blame on others for one's own difficulties
Rationalization - Attempting to rationally prove that one's behavior is justifiable and deserving of approval
Reaction Formation - Preventing expression of dangerous (socially unacceptable) desires by over- emphasizing their opposite
Regression - Retreating to earlier level of development which demands less mature behavior and/or lower level of aspiration
Repression - Blocking painful or dangerous thoughts from consciousness
Sublimation - Satisfying frustrated desires by substituting socially acceptable behaviors
Sympathism - Gaining sympathy from others to bolster feelings of self-worth
Undoing or Atonement- Atoning for immoral desires or actions by causing self to suffer