Freuds Defense Mechanisms - Projection - Essay Example

A person who strongly dislikes another person may instead believe that this other person does not like him or her. Projections function by allowing impulses or desires to be expressed in a way that cannot be recognized by the ego. This works to reduce anxiety.

An example of an individual, who uses projection as a defense mechanism, is Dr. House from the TV show House M.D. Dr. House is a notoriously anti-social character who does not like meeting other people. He eats his food in the morgue or while in the comatose patients’ rooms and does not prefer consulting directly with patients. He chooses to use his team for in-patients or duck outpatient consults altogether. To keep away anxiety about this behavior, especially since he is constantly accused of being anti-social, he accuses other people, including fellow doctors and patients, of being anti-social and only working together because it is necessary. In one scene, he accuses a patient stranded at the south pole of going there to get away from people because she cannot stand them. He also believes that his best friend is just like him, although, he happens to be the popular doctor in the hospital.

Projection of emotions or thoughts on other people allows House to consider, how dysfunctional they may be but sans the attendant discomfort of being in the knowledge that the emotions or thoughts are his. He can thus criticize other people and distance himself from his dysfunction. One explanation for this is that one’s ego perceives a dysfunction from one place and seeks to transfer it to another place (Cramer 40). The superego warns one of punishment in case this place is internal and so the ego Trans-locates it to a place that is more acceptable, often in more convenient alternative people. Projection sometimes even turns moral or neurotic anxiety into reality anxiety that is easier to handle for the subject. Projection also acts as a common attribute in people with paranoia where a person projects his dislike for himself onto others, making them believe that these other people dislike them. It helps to justify behavior that is unacceptable (Cramer 41).

One repercussion of projection is that the subject continues to suffer under the negative aspects that they are projecting (Cramer 44). While it allows an individual to escape their feelings of inadequacy, they still feel uneasy and suffer. The more energy they utilize to avoid this realization, the harder it will be to face them eventually. One alternative response that may have been beneficial to Dr. House might have been empathy, which is a form of reverse projection whereby the person projects other persons onto them. Identification might have been another alternative reverse projection form that may have been more beneficial. To help Dr. House, it would be advisable to encourage him to work with others authentically and avoid projecting their problems onto them. It would also help to hold up a mirror that shows them how they act during projection (Cramer 45). Read More