The study of coping strategies and mechanisms of psychological protection is an important area of modern psychology, as these processes play a key role in overcoming stress and adapting a person to difficult life circumstances. Although these concepts have historically been considered interrelated, their clear differentiation causes significant difficulties. Defense mechanisms are usually considered as stable, unconscious formations that are formed at the level of the personal structure. Instead, coping behavior strategies are characterized by awareness, flexibility and depend on the specificity of stressors.
Modern research shows considerable attention to the relationship between these mechanisms. Evidence suggests that maladaptive coping strategies are often associated with immature defense mechanisms, whereas adaptive coping strategies are associated with mature forms of defense. However, stress coping mechanisms show less plasticity compared to protective mechanisms, which opens up new perspectives for scientific research [3].
Coping was studied within the framework of stress theory [2, p.180], as a mechanism that allows overcoming stress, as well as in the context of adaptation as a human activity to maintain a balance between the demands of the environment and resources and human capabilities. It is believed that a person living in the environment somehow interacts with this space. There are some requirements from the environment that a person must satisfy. Stress occurs when resources are scarce. Then you can increase your resources or change something in the situation in order for the situation to change. In conditions that exceed the resource, two processes of the mediator of the mediator, cognitive evaluation and coping, are included.
Within the transactional theory of Lazarus, coping is defined as cognitive and behavioral efforts, some attempts. Moreover, these attempts can be aimed both at managing the situation, changing it and at acquiring resistance to this situation or minimizing its impact on a person [1, p. 290]. In the latter case, it is already connected with defensive strategies, when a person instead of influencing the situation, escapes from it by avoiding leaving or ignoring the fact that this situation exists.
Coping involves the involvement of new resources and includes both influencing the situation and influencing one's emotional processes. On the one hand, coping can be problem-oriented and emotionally-oriented, as a person tries to achieve balance within himself.
Coping behaviors are purposeful processes that allow a person to cope with stress or a difficult situation in ways that are appropriate to personal characteristics and the situation.
Psychological defenses are mechanisms that allow a person to be aware of important incoming information, that is, psychological defenses are automatically triggered in traumatic situations in order to protect a person's inner confidence and peace of mind. Information is either distorted, falsified, ignored, that is, some conditions and stimuli exist, but the person does not see them. Psychological defenses form a special state of consciousness where a difficult situation is either strongly distorted or not at all. In figurative techniques, it looks like a fog, a cap, enveloping a person, clear vision is disturbed.
Defense mechanisms, also known as adaptive mental strategies, help reduce the level of internal conflict and cognitive dissonance that arise due to sudden changes in a person's internal or external world. If these changes are not processed through denial or distortion, they can cause severe anxiety or depression, which can significantly impair mental health. The choice of a specific defense mechanism, although voluntary, can have a significant impact on a person's emotional well-being.
These mechanisms play an important role in maintaining psychological balance, allowing to weaken or neutralize excessively intense emotions, impulses or affects. They can create a temporary "psychological buffer" that allows a person to adapt to sudden changes in reality or in his perception of himself. In addition, defense mechanisms contribute to the mitigation of acute conflicts in relationships with loved ones, regardless of whether these people are nearby or have already left. They also help to overcome internal contradictions by using the resources of social experience or moral beliefs.
Defense mechanisms (sometimes called adaptive mental mechanisms) reduce conflict and cognitive dissonance in the event of sudden changes in internal and external reality. If such changes in reality are not 'distorted' and 'denied', they can lead to disabling anxiety and/or depression. The choice of protection is voluntary, but such a choice can lead to huge differences in mental health.
Defense mechanisms can restore psychological homeostasis by ignoring or deflecting sudden increases in impulse, affect and emotion. Defense mechanisms can provide a mental time-out to adjust to sudden changes in reality or self-perception. Protective structures can mitigate sudden intractable conflict with important people, living or dead. Finally, defense mechanisms can mitigate conflict through social learning or conscience [4].
Mechanisms of psychological protection and coping strategies show significant differences in the nature of the course. Defense mechanisms are automatic and unconscious in nature, they are often formed in early childhood and are fixed in the form of behavioral automatisms. These mechanisms are activated spontaneously in response to a sudden increase in emotional stress or a conflict situation. Instead, coping strategies are conscious processes that involve the active use of cognitive and emotional resources. Although coping strategies may show some rigidity in stressful situations, they have greater flexibility compared to psychological defense mechanisms.
Another important difference is the level of differentiation of these mechanisms. Defense mechanisms aimed at reducing emotional discomfort "here and now" do not take into account the integrity of the situation and act in the opposite direction. They focus on short-term stress relief, which can sometimes impair long-term results. CS, on the contrary, take into account the multidimensionality of the situation, realistically evaluate the available resources and allow the sacrifice of immediate benefits for the sake of achieving strategic goals. Focused on the future, CSs contribute to greater adaptation of the individual and the accumulation of positive experience.
That is coping strategies are characterized by plasticity, purposefulness, taking into account the specifics of the situation and the involvement of thoughtful and analytical processes. Instead, psychological defense mechanisms are rigid, mostly unconscious and undifferentiated in relation to specific situations.
Conclusion. Mechanisms of psychological protection and coping strategies are key processes that ensure adaptation of the individual to stressful conditions and life challenges. Despite the historically interconnected nature of these phenomena, they demonstrate significant differences in terms of awareness, flexibility and functional purpose. Psychological defense mechanisms being automatic and unconscious reactions, provide a quick reduction of emotional discomfort, but often ignore the long-term consequences and complexity of the situation. Instead, coping strategies are conscious processes based on analysis and assessment of resources, allowing for greater adaptation through a strategic approach to coping with stress.
The study of the relationship between these psychological phenomena, taking into account the impact on the emotional state, interpersonal relationships and long-term adaptation of the individual opens perspectives for the development of new methods of psychotherapy.
References:
1. Lazarus, R. S. The role of coping in the emotions and how coping changes over the life course. Handbook of emotion, adult development, and aging / C. Maletesta-Magni, S. H. McFadden. New York: Academic Press, 1996. P. 289-306.
2. Lazarus, R. Theory of stress and psychophysiological research. Emotional stress. Wetness, 1990. P. 178-208.
3. Silverman J., Aafjes-van Doorn K. Coping and defense mechanisms: A scoping review. Clinical Psychology: Science and Practice, 2023, 30(4), 381–392. DOI: 10.1037/cps0000139
4. Vaillant, G. E. Defense Mechanisms. In: Zeigler-Hill, V., Shackelford, T. K. (eds) Encyclopedia of Personality and Individual Differences. Springer, Cham, 2020. DOI: 10.1007/978-3-319-24612-3_1372
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