Alzheimer’s Delirium and Dementia Q 15
Joy who has just experienced her second spontaneous abortion expresses anger towards her physician, the hospital and the “rotten nursing care”. When assessing the situation, the nurse recognizes that the client may be using the coping mechanism of:
A. Projection
B. Displacement
C. Denial
D. Reaction formation
Correct Answer: B. Displacement
The client’s anger over the abortion is shifted to the staff and the hospital because she is unable to deal with the abortion at this time. Displacement is a psychological defense mechanism in which a person redirects a negative emotion from its original source to a less threatening recipient. A classic example of defense is displaced aggression. If a person is angry but cannot direct their anger toward the source without consequences, they might “take out” their anger on a person or thing that poses less of a risk.
Option A: Projection is a defense mechanism that involves taking our own unacceptable qualities or feelings and ascribing them to other people. For example, if you have a strong dislike for someone, you might instead believe that they do not like you. Projection works by allowing the expression of the desire or impulse, but in a way that the ego cannot recognize, therefore reducing anxiety.
Option C: Denial is probably one of the best-known defense mechanisms, used often to describe situations in which people seem unable to face reality or admit an obvious truth (e.g., “He’s in denial”). Denial is an outright refusal to admit or recognize that something has occurred or is currently occurring. People living with drug or alcohol addiction often deny that they have a problem, while victims of traumatic events may deny that the event ever occurred.
Option D: Reaction formation reduces anxiety by taking up the opposite feeling, impulse, or behavior. An example of reaction formation would be treating someone you strongly dislike in an excessively friendly manner in order to hide your true feelings. Why do people behave this way? According to Freud, they are using reaction formation as a defense mechanism to hide their true feelings by behaving in the exact opposite manner.