Ego Defense Mechanisms - Essay Example

Ego Defense Mechanisms Sigmund Freud put forward defense mechanisms used by the ego in defense against anxiety. One of these defense mechanisms is repression. According to Freud, whenever undesirable id impulses threaten the ego, it represses those impulses in order to protect itself (Feist & Feist, 35). This is actually pushing the threatening feelings into the unconscious. This repression is usually perpetuated for a lifetime. In an article written by Emily Gould in the New York Times (2008), the author talks about her life as a blogger and how she got addicted to online life.

Through this platform, she had exposed too much about her personal life and had made it public. Although she didn’t care then, the author says that she has learnt how destructive this was. When she realized her mistake, she became angry and all she wanted to do was to write more blogs in self defense. However, she had realized that some defenses don’t work. She chose to ignore them and did nothing. To her, the anger and sadness create too much anxiety that leads her to more mistakes, and hence she learnt how to repress such feelings.

Therefore, by ignoring these impulses, she was able to repress the urge to write in self defense. Furthermore, she notes that she has found a way of keeping personal issues to herself. She has learnt how to control and repress such thoughts, and this helps her keep personal details out of her online life. Freud notes that the repressed impulses may also find an outlet. For Gould’s case, she notes that the Emily Magazine gives her the platform to spew such thoughts whenever she feels like. Works CitedCould, Emily.

“Exposed.” The New York Times. 25 May 2008. Web accessed 20 March 2014Feist, Jess and Feist, Gregory. “Theories of Personality.” McGraw-Hill College. 2005”pp. 16-64. McLeod, Saul. “Defense Mechanisms.” SimplyPsychology, 2008. Web < http://www.simplypsychology.org/defense-mechanisms.html> accessed 20 March 2014