CORRECT ANSWER:

A) Reaction formation

• This defense mechanism is sometimes considered an overreaction to unacceptable thoughts that a person may be having or feeling

• These individuals may be inflexible, judgmental, and intolerant. However, they may be having desires to act in the exact opposite way but the overreaction helps to suppress those thoughts. This is done to suppress the guilt from having those thoughts and feelings

• An example: Someone who has racist feelings or thoughts but who acts overly nice to someone from another race.

• Another example: A person who has lustful thoughts about another individual, however tells their current partner how much they can’t stand that other person.

EXAMPLE OF OTHER ANSWERS

• Regression: An 8 yr old child sucks their thumb when they are experiencing stress around them

• Displacement: You had a terrible day at work you go home and yell at your spouse for no reason

• Projection: A person is cheating on their spouse but they constantly accuse their spouse of cheating. This can be similar in some ways to reaction formation-however this more often involves taking ones own feeling or actions and acts as if they are another person’s feelings and actions. Often this happens in instances of cheating spouses who actually accuse the other spouse

NCLEX & OTHER TEST TAKING TIPS:

• KNOW examples of all the different types of defense mechanisms.

• They are often seen on NCLEX and other such medical tests.

• Think of ways that these defense mechanisms can affect a patients care

• Often defense mechanism are used to avoid the feeling surrounding new diagnosis, medical treatment plans, frustrations, and/or disagreement with treatment plans

• Know interventions in response to defense mechanisms (how to respond)

DISCLAIMER: The information posted is not intended to be medical advice. This is for educational purposes only. This information is intended for medical professionals & students. Check with your primary care provider if you have any questions regarding your health. This is not intended to guide in medical decisions or treatment in any way. As always, medical professionals should call the on call provider if any clarifications are needed. This is not intended to guide or direct medical decisions, treatment choices, and or interventions. State and hospital protocols should always be followed accordingly. Med Made Ez (MME) disclaims any liability for the decisions you make based on this information.