defense mechanism
Medical term Psychology
An unconscious thought or behavior that reduces anxiety in the short term.
Sources
- Psychology 2e, Chapter 11 Key Terms · OpenStax
Related terms
- anxietyOverwhelming worry, nervousness or apprehension about real or imagined events.
- bereavementThe state of grieving and mourning after a loss, especially a death.
- bipolar disorderA disorder with intense mood swings between mania and depression.
- classical conditioningLearning in which a neutral stimulus becomes linked with one that naturally causes a response.
- copingThe ways a person manages stress.
- deliriumSudden, often reversible confusion, which may be caused by infection, fever or low oxygen.
- delusionA firmly held false belief despite clear evidence against it.
- dementiaChronic, usually irreversible decline in memory and thinking.
- denialRefusing to accept a painful fact or loss; also a stage of grief.