Defense Mechanisms

Defense Mechanisms arise to allow incompatible Moods to coexist.

Escalator Moods seldom resonate well with other Moods. Thus they require Defenses as part of their interaction with others.

Select the specific Escalator Mood most associated with each Defense Mechanism to learn more about it.

Denial

Denial is a Major Defense Mechanism that allows us to keep the presence of overwhelming Moods entirely hidden from awareness, thus creating space for less intense Moods to make their presence felt.

Denial can be active as a barrier between any Moods. (One can deny one’s Suspicious feelings in order to access the Trust needed to dance the Salsa with a stranger) But using a Major Defense like Denial between everyday Moods that are meant to converse with one another will usually spell trouble (“Why didn’t I listen to my Suspicions from the beginning before getting into this mess?”)

Denial is best reserved for those special Moods that can tend to run us over like a Mack Truck.

The Stoat Mood of Deprived is all consuming in that it operates with profound fearlessness in facing sensations of overwhelming Shame and overwhelming Rage. There are times (like before a good long cry) when a full release into one’s core vulnerability can feel helpful. It’s those times we can turn our focus to our inner Stoat to take us there. It’s an important balancing act to access deeply uncomfortable feelings like Deprived without getting lost in them.

It’s not everyday that we want to succumb to the fury and anguish of our helplessness in life. More often we need a powerhouse Defense like Denial to keep our Stoat at bay in order to let in more socially acceptable responses to shame and rage.

Denial allows us to play a part in deciding when and where to be overwhelmed by our most intense Moods.

Withdrawal

Major Defense Mechanisms, like Withdrawal, are acquired pre-verbally in infancy, and thus are prewired to protect the youngest parts of ourselves. Withdrawal is an advanced version of a babe’s instinct to simply fall asleep when overstimulated.

Even though the urge to avoid is paramount in Withdrawal, the capacity to disappear as needed into a different state of consciousness actually offers nearness to the wildest Moods. (“If it gets too much I can always just check out”) Not participating is not the same as being absent. A Withdrawn personality type might have some of the most insightful commentaries about what they just seemingly slept through.

The drawback for Withdrawal is that it does not make space for interpersonal sharing. The habit to immediately cut off from all things distressing, creates endless tensions in relationships.

Tolerance for stress can be at an all time low while swimming within an unpredictable and meanspirited world. No Problem! The Manatee Mood of Despondency reminds us we can always escape into our own private headspace! To others it may seem irritating that they’ve lost us once again. Yet direct connection with others is a luxury that we need not always prioritize. Despondency takes perfect refuge in a childlike disillusionment with our place in the world.

Holding on to the deep layers of cushioning that separate her from a hurtful world, Manatee embodies Withdrawal at its purest level. So easily discouraged, she nevertheless ends up combing the depths of human experience - from a colossally safe distance. She might as well be orbiting her own cold star in a galaxy far far away.

Withdrawal allows us to retreat from interpersonal realities while maintaining our sensitivity to them.