I Didn't Use Procrastination as a Defense Mechanism to Cope With the Anxiety of Having to Write this Blog Post

This week in English we have been learning about Freudian psychology. Freud believed that there were three parts to the mind: the id, ego, and superego. According to him, the id is your primal drive and is where all of your emotions and impulses come from. It is instinctual and the same for everyone. The superego is the conscience of the mind and resists the id’s impulses and tries to make you act in a mature and responsible way. The ego is what mediates between the id and superego and deals with reality. I found this theory of the mind interesting because it is fairly similar to the age-old image of the devil and angel standing on your shoulders trying to influence your decisions. The id is like the devil trying to make you do what you want, while the superego is like the angel imposing morals and influencing you to make the right decision. While I do not necessarily agree with Freud’s exact image of the brain, I do agree that there is an impulse center and a rational center and that they work to influence how you behave.

The other thing we learned about this week is Vaillant defense mechanisms. These are the different ways that your mind deals with traumatic events and range in acceptability. The least acceptable ones are considered psychotic and prevent people from functioning in society. The mechanisms range from those to ones that are considered mature and perfectly acceptable and healthy. We all exhibit some of these defense mechanisms, though the vast majority of what we do is considered perfectly healthy. Freud was especially interested in two of these behaviors: suppression and sublimation. He believed that suppression, the postponing of emotions, was the most basic mechanism. As long as people eventually deal with their issues, it is perfectly heath, and even positive, to put those emotions aside temporarily. I know that I do this a lot. If I am nervous about doing something, I just try to forget about it and just do it. For example, whenever I get a shot, I just try to think about something else until it is over. The other defense mechanism Freud thought was particularly important is sublimation. Sublimation is the channeling of negative energy into a positive action, like working out when you are angry. Freud believed that this is the most advanced defense mechanism and the best one because it makes a positive outcome from a negative influence.