How to protect yourself and your loved ones

One of the main and first types of protection is denial. To protect himself from an unpleasant situation, a person begins to deny reality. “This is a mistake”, “this cannot be”, “this is not me”, and similar phrases indicate that a person is under the influence of denial as a method of protection. At a time like this, to protect yourself and your relatives, no need to argue and give weighty evidence. It’s best to just be there and give the person time to think.

The next defense mechanism is regression. She has many manifestations — an older child who begins to urinate and babble when a younger child appears in the house; If a loved one chooses such a method of psychological protection, you need to show him your love, prove with words and deeds that he is dear and loved.

Rationalization as a defensive method is most easily seen on exam day. To explain their ignorance, attempts begin to explain their behavior with the help of invented reasonable and convincing behavior. If a child or family member uses rationalization too often as a way to protect themselves, it can lead to emotional exhaustion and reduced adaptability to life situations. It is necessary to teach and learn, together with loved ones, to take responsibility for their actions and, having made a mistake, draw conclusions about how it would be better to do next time.

The most positive ways of protection are compensation and sublimation. With compensation, a person tries to achieve success in the area in which he considers himself to be disadvantaged. Such protection provides an additional incentive for development. And sublimation is the transformation of unfulfilled desires, fantasies and unacceptable thoughts into some kind of constructive activity.