What Are Defense Mechanisms and How Can They Affect Relationships?

What Are Defense Mechanisms and How Can They Affect Relationships?

Everyone faces moments in their relationships where they do not see eye to eye with the other person. Compromise usually resolves these issues. You might avoid certain behaviors or actions that previously caused problems in your relationships. However, in some cases, people develop maladaptive defense mechanisms. According to a book by StatPearls Publishing, “[T]he early identification of defense mechanisms can have great clinical significance.” Identifying defense mechanisms and processing the underlying causes can improve the effectiveness of treatments at Newport Beach Recovery Center.

What Are Defense Mechanisms?

The famous psychologists Sigmund and Anna Freud used the term “defense mechanism” to describe an unconscious process that protects the ego from internal or external stress. In modern psychology, defense mechanisms can indicate how a person may react to stressors and treatment. According to a study in Frontiers in Psychology, “More than half century of empirical research has demonstrated the impact of defensive functioning in psychological well-being, personality organization and treatment process-outcome.” How you automatically respond to pressure or stress within your environment often depends on what defenses you have developed.

Unconscious emotional defenses protect you by doing the following:

  • Helping you avoid situations that can cause pain or discomfort
  • Lessening the emotional impact of traumatic events
  • Keeping you from fixating on things you cannot change or control

However, the majority of defense mechanisms are inherently maladaptive. Risk-taking behaviors like substance abuse often manifest as an unhealthy defense against stress. By entering into treatment, you can heal from substance use disorder (SUD) and work to create more positive coping skills.

Common Types of Defense Mechanisms

Most people have unconscious mechanisms they use to decrease stress or emotional pain. In some cases, they may play a significant role in your ability to function from day to day. However, they can also cause social and relationship issues. Everyone is unique. Your defenses might look very different from the ones other people use.

Some of the different types of defense mechanisms include:

  • Acting out
  • Avoidance
  • Compensation
  • Conversion
  • Denial
  • Displacement
  • Humor
  • Identification
  • Intellectualization
  • Isolation
  • Projection
  • Rationalization
  • Regression
  • Repression
  • Sexualization
  • Schizoid fantasy
  • Splitting
  • Sublimation
  • Suppression

Many categories and sub-categories of defense mechanisms exist. You may unconsciously use some of these in your relationships to cope with stress related to recovery or other issues.

What Are Signs You Have Maladaptive Defense Mechanisms?

The cause and effects of defense mechanisms vary significantly from person to person. However, there are some noticeable signs that someone has a maladaptive defense against specific thoughts, feelings, behaviors, or situations. You may use unhealthy defense mechanisms if you do the following:

  • Gaslight and manipulate others
  • Act out
  • Become dismissive or argumentative
  • Self-isolate
  • Project personal issues onto others
  • Rationalize negative behaviors
  • Deny negative behaviors and beliefs

Often defense mechanisms have a negative effect on social relationships. In many cases, adverse defenses play a role in the development of SUD. Treatment for SUD can help clients learn healthier ways to avoid stress. You do not have to continue relying on defense mechanisms that will decrease your quality of life.

How Do Defense Mechanisms Affect Social Interactions?

Most defense functions provide some distance between you and the people, thoughts, or situations that might cause you distress. Unfortunately, this can lead to aggressive behaviors, self-isolating, and manipulative tactics. If you often feel victimized, you may shut yourself off from emotional intimacy with loved ones. Also, if you lash out during stressful social situations, it can make it harder for you to form healthy attachments. Rehabilitation will give you the tools you need to overcome defensive urges by teaching you the following:

  • Effective communication
  • Establishing and respecting social boundaries
  • Conflict resolution
  • Essential life skills
  • Mindfulness and grounding techniques

Once you have the skills in place to cope with your stress, you can begin to replace defense mechanisms with healthier behaviors.

How Can You Effectively Redirect Your Defenses?

Redirecting your thoughts or behaviors is one way to stop relying on unhelpful defense mechanisms. Your therapist can help you learn how to recognize defense mechanisms and their possible triggers. You can use that information to redirect your focus when you notice yourself slipping back into unhealthy thought patterns.

Some common ways people redirect their thoughts or behaviors include:

  • Using mindfulness-based grounding techniques to focus on the present moment
  • Focusing on positive experiences that directly contradict maladaptive thought patterns (a technique called thought-balancing)
  • Mentally taking a step back and looking at a situation objectively to determine the best way forward

By healthily diverting your defense mechanisms, you open yourself up to healing. You’ll find yourself engaging with your emotions instead of stifling them. It may feel painful and difficult at first, but it’s an important part of getting better.

Take Back Control of Your Behaviors

Defense mechanisms can control your thoughts, beliefs, and behaviors. However, you can change them by processing whatever underlying issues caused them to manifest. The dedicated care team at Newport Beach Recovery Center can help you overwrite maladaptive defenses and replace them. You do not have to continue living with the consequences of unhealthy defense mechanisms.

Defense mechanisms often interfere with relationships. If you find yourself frequently experiencing conflict with loved ones, you might have maladaptive defense mechanisms. In many cases, they stop people from communicating effectively and connecting on a deeper level with the people around them. Conflict resolution is an important skill taught in every level of care at Newport Beach Recovery Center. We can help you find healthier ways to avoid emotional distress without resorting to maladaptive defense mechanisms. This will allow you to slowly open yourself up to underlying issues. No matter where you are in your recovery, our team will guide you through identifying and overcoming self-destructive patterns. To learn more, call our office today at (888) 850-0363.

Understanding Relationships During Addiction Recovery

How Does Understanding Relationships Help Create a Treatment Plan?

Relationships are at the heart of every recovery journey. Motivations, goals, inspiration, and other elements essential to healing often come from personal and social relationships. Newport Beach Recovery Center understands the healing power of positive relationships. We incorporate multiple therapeutic tools in our rehabilitation programs that encourage healthy interpersonal connections during and after therapy, including family therapy and peer support.

According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), treatment plans must be adaptable because “In addition to counseling or psychotherapy, a patient may require medication, medical services, family therapy, parenting instruction, vocational rehabilitation, and/or social and legal services.” Our programs provide personalized treatment to ensure that no matter where you are in your recovery, we can help you reach the next stage. 

What Relationships Impact Recovery?

Any person you have a close relationship with can become an essential part of your recovery, and they may become an integral part of your support system. According to Substance Abuse: Research and Treatment, studies have shown that “Supportive relationships with caring family, partners, and friends — including individuals who do not use substances themselves — have proven to be helpful in abstaining and maintaining sobriety.” 

You can lower the risk of relapse and decrease the severity of symptoms or side effects of substance use disorder (SUD) and co-occurring disorders by involving the people closest to you in recovery. The relationships that often impact recovery include:

  • Family 
  • Friends 
  • Social groups 
  • Co-workers 
  • Community members 
  • Therapists or counselors 
  • Peers 
  • Mentors 

Anyone who is close to you and plays a role in your life can attend family therapy and support groups to assist in your recovery. 

How Can Clients Repair Close Relationships? 

Clients who have had close relationships damaged by substance misuse can work to repair those bonds using individual and family therapy. At Newport Beach Recovery Center, we can help clients learn social, interpersonal, and communication skills to ensure they have the necessary tools to rebuild relationships with friends and loved ones. 

Some of the ways clients can fix damaged relationships include: 

  • Inviting loved ones and friends to attend events at the facility 
  • Involving loved ones and friends in family therapy 
  • Maintaining contact with loved ones during treatment and aftercare
  • Providing information to family and friends about self-help and support groups 

Education is essential, and in order for your friends and family to understand your experience with SUD, they need to have more information about the effects and risk factors associated with addiction. Our facility can provide information to families and direct them to resources in the community.

How Do You Identify Healthy or Unhealthy Relationships? 

Therapy involves analyzing various relationships and how they have impacted or been affected by your substance misuse. Learning to recognize healthy and unhealthy relationships is critical because creating a relapse prevention strategy requires you to avoid people and places that contribute to substance misuse. For example, if you had friends that supplied you with illicit substances, that relationship was unhealthy. Avoiding contact with them will reduce your risk of relapse. 

During treatment, you often have relationships with the following:

  • Family members 
  • Friends 
  • Acquaintances
  • Coworkers
  • Roommates
  • Social circles

Relationships are not always easy to quantify, especially if they involve family members. Many people in recovery have close family members with untreated mental health issues and SUD. If they want to be a part of your life during recovery, they should be willing to get help for anything they are struggling with. You will work with your therapist and care team to determine which relationships can help you move forward and which might keep you from healing. 

What Family Support Services Do We Provide? 

Newport Beach Recovery Center provides information, resource referrals, and support to families during the treatment process. We listen to their concerns and try to ensure that families have a basic understanding of the realities of addiction and recovery. 

Many family members call our office to get help with finding treatment for a loved one. We understand how frightening it can be to see someone you love struggle with addiction, and we can help. Support services include educational events for family members, family therapy, and regular contact between close family members and clients. 

How Can Relationships Affect Aftercare and Recovery? 

Aftercare can be more effective with a strong support system in place to keep you accountable, motivated, and moving forward in recovery. Relationships provide encouragement and inspiration that will help you get through difficult moments. 

Family therapy and support groups will help you maintain healthy boundaries with your family and friends during the transition between structured care and aftercare. We understand that some relationships are more complicated than others. During aftercare planning, we can help you determine the best way to approach those individuals.

Relationships can inspire positive changes and provide clients with recovery goals to work toward. The care team at Newport Beach Recovery Center will collaborate with you to create a comprehensive treatment plan. We understand that family support and involvement in therapy can enhance the effectiveness of treatment for some clients. Not every relationship is essential for treatment, and we can help you determine which relationships will benefit you during treatment and aftercare. Close friends and family often attend family therapy to support their loved ones undergoing treatment. Many relationships impact recovery, and we can help you set clear boundaries and find a healthy interpersonal dynamic with the people you care about most. To learn more about our services and treatments, call us today at (888) 850-0363. Our care team can provide education about addiction and resources to your loved ones.