Vistopia
To Your Unique Self: 40 Lessons in Personality Psychology
Wang Fang

Introduction

Hello amid this gentle music; I’m Wang Fang. Last time we saw Freud divide personality into three psychological functions—the id, ego, and superego. Their different goals often conflict, leaving the ego, trapped between them, anxious. When ordinary rational means cannot relieve that anxiety, the ego may turn to irrational methods, seeking not success but self-preservation. Together these are called ego defense mechanisms.”。
Defense mechanisms take many forms. Today I will introduce eight representative ones. One further note: Freud proposed the concept and basic framework, but their detailed exposition was completed by his youngest daughter, the distinguished psychologist Anna Freud (1895–1982).
Anna with Her Father (1913)

Defense Mechanism 1: Repression

First comes the most fundamental and important defense mechanism: repression.（repression）。Repression is the process of driving desires and motives forbidden by the superego or social morality into the unconscious. For Freud’s patients, these might include an unspeakable love for a father, sexual longing, secret aggressive impulses, or memories too painful to revisit. Displayed openly in the conscious “living room,” they would be too threatening and unacceptable to the superego. The ego therefore packs them away in the unconscious “dark room.” That is repression.
Repression protects the ego from the superego’s reproach, leaving the “living room” apparently serene. Yet the desires and motives do not disappear. Filled with energy and seeking release, they stir restlessly in the unconscious, looking for an outlet and waiting to break through. In Freud’s clinical experience, repressed impulses found many forms of expression, commonly symptoms of illnesses such as hysteria.
As mentioned in Episode 20, during Freud’s era hysteria was the most prevalent mental illness, and the great majority of patients were women. Its common features included physical symptoms—partial paralysis, repeated coughing, blurred vision, even loss of speech—with no corresponding physiological basis. No organic lesion caused them; the problem was psychological.
Episode editor: 夏夏、小蒲
2022.02.15
Audio in Chinese

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Featured comments

51 comments
  • S
    SHU
    2022-02-15 16:17:38

    王芳老师，听了您的课我对北师大心理学考研更坚定了。王芳老师，我要努力考上北师大当面去听您的课！

    猫不想鱼 ：很想知道最后成功了吗，愿一切顺利

    　 ：加油啊

  • M
    2022-02-17 16:32:35

    有时候总觉得“远离负能量的人”这句话是一种全社会的人格解体……

    Linlin ：害怕脆弱和反对意见

    Min ：我想这句话指的应该是远离经常输出负能量的人，如果只是偶尔的情绪释放一般不会被打上负能量这个标签吧。

  • 马克叔
    2022-09-07 15:13:15

    我有一个朋友爱上了王芳老师

  • panjingwei1945
    2022-02-15 17:18:05

    "爱的反义词是什么呢？恐怕不是恨，也不是不爱，也不是爱过，而是内心毫无波澜，既无视，又无感。" 好多金句，我都要背下来。

  • 大猫
    2022-02-16 11:38:46

    所以恐同即深柜也是有道理

    　 ：是的

  • k
    kiss989
    2022-03-08 10:19:37

    最具代表性的心理防御机制8种。压抑。否认替代反向形成投射合理化理智化升华。

  • 平
    平而不庸
    2024-01-29 20:57:26

    通过制造外部敌人来缓解内部矛盾，最终必然是饮鸩止渴

  • 铮铮
    2023-06-06 08:03:39

    发现生活中很多表现都是自己在进行自我防御😂

  • aileen
    2025-10-29 12:57:58

    当发生了一些事情会导致极度焦虑和痛苦时，一个人就可能会采用否认（denial）的防御机制，即拒绝承认这些事情，似乎它们根本没有发生过。常用语言比如“Oh No！”“这不可能”“绝对不会”等，我在学生们看到期末成绩的时候经常能听到这些话。 ———真实

  • 曲小星儿
    2024-11-10 13:29:36

    阐（三声）述

  • 真正的哲学大师
    2024-11-10 10:16:31

    谁让我不舒服了，我就让它滚😡，我不用“理性”思考

  • 新小na
    2024-10-12 12:12:38

    升华，是我一个普通人可以做到的吗？

  • 媛儿
    2024-08-25 19:28:18

    想到了弗洛姆对于二战纳粹的分析

  • 1
    192****3759
    2024-03-08 15:53:56

    比如恐同即深柜……

  • Lydia
    2023-11-08 23:05:07

    “情绪是需要被体验、应对、理解的东西。”如何和情绪相处太重要了，我仍在学习。