Isolation Defense Mechanism
Defense mechanisms are various behaviors that the human mind develops when an individual want to separate themselves from unpleasant actions or thought. Often, these defense mechanisms happen subconsciously without even the knowledge of the person. These defense mechanisms happen naturally and are a normal part of human development. First proposed by renowned psychologists, Sigmund Freud, defense mechanism theory has been advanced over time to include many types of defense mechanisms that people apply naturally even without even realizing. One of these defense mechanisms is the isolation mechanism that was first proposed by Sigmund Freud (Kramer, 2010). Generally, the isolation defense mechanism involves separating the ideas or feelings that are distressing from the rest of the thoughts. Through identifying and separating a particular emotion or impulse from the rest of the thoughts, an individual can protect the ego from experiencing anxieties that are aroused by specific situations. Psychologists propose that this happens unconsciously. However, one may also learn to understand their thought process and therefore be able to isolate emotions that may result in anxieties.
For an individual to apply isolation defense mechanism, they have to differentiate between an impulse or emotion from others and hence separate it. By so doing, a person protects the ego from experiencing anxieties caused by a particular situation. An example where the isolation mechanism might be used is in a scenario where a person who works in a rather demanding environment may be experiencing a stressful situation at home. To avoid affecting their productivity at work due to the stressing situation at home. This individual may isolate the feelings and emotions that are aroused by the situation at home and avoid these stressing thoughts. This way, such an individual will function optimally like any other person. Although an individual might make a conscious choice to apply isolation defense mechanism to avoid thinking of a stressful situation, it normally happens subconsciously where an individual is not even aware that they are applying this defense mechanism to avoid bringing the stressing situation at their place of work.
Although the defense mechanism is a natural way that our minds have adapted to deal with stressors, they can sometimes be viewed as self-deception. Not facing emotions that we do not want to deal with can help one to cope up with their daily lives. However, avoiding to deal with such situations for a long time can turn out to be very unhealthy and can subsequently result in serious mental illness (Furnham, 2012). One can however learn to overcome isolation defense mechanisms easily. For instance, with the help of friends and family members who are close. They can help one draw attention to a certain stressor that particularly triggers an individual to apply the defense mechanism. By so doing, one can identify the moment when one makes the isolation decision unconsciously. This can help one make the right decision consciously. Additionally, a mental health expert can help in identifying the defense mechanism and guide an individual on how to make conscious decisions which will tame the unconscious self from making decisions guided by the defense mechanism.
References
Kramer, U. (2010). Coping and defense mechanisms: What’s the difference? –Second act. Psychology and psychotherapy: theory, research, and practice, 83(2), 207-221.
Furnham, A. (2012). Lay understandings of defense mechanisms: The role of personality traits and gender. Psychology, health & medicine, 17(6), 723-734.