This is when someone would sometimes accuse others of having the same feelings they themselves were demonstrating. By engaging in this behaviour, they are ‘better’ able to deal with the emotions they were experiencing. Sounds familiar?
A typical example is when someone has been unfaithful to their spouse, but turns around and accuses their spouse of cheating on them.
Why?
PSYCHOLOGICAL PROJECTION,
is one of many defence mechanisms people engage in regularly. Defence mechanisms are used to cope with feelings and emotions that we have trouble expressing or coming to terms with.
Other common defence mechanisms include:
- Denial – e.g. not believing your therapist when they tell you something about your behaviour that you don’t want to hear.
- Distortion – e.g. thinking that your boyfriend cheated on you because he was scared of commitment.
- Passive Aggression – e.g. purposely parking in your neighbour’s favourite parking spot as retribution for a previous dispute.
- Repression – e.g. being unable to recall the details of a car crash you were involved in the brain sometimes purposely ‘loses’ these memories to help you cope.
- Sublimination – e.g. cooking or going shopping whenever you are angry about something.
- Dissociation – e.g. trying to ‘keep yourself together’ at a funeral for the benefit of others.
- Defence mechanisms are not always unhealthy. #Humour, for example, is a positive defence mechanism that people utilise when dealing with stress. Using humour in a difficult situation allows some people to get their feelings out into the open and also bring pleasure to others by making them laugh.
What to do?
It’s natural to experience anger, jealousy or hurt. These are valid human emotions, but people can sometimes feel overwhelmed by these emotions. However, ‘PSYCHOLOGICAL’ PROJECTION’ is a difficult habit for some people to break and is not the healthiest way to deal with such negative emotions. There are many healthy options for dealing with difficult emotions.
We can start by examining the negative relationships in our lives. Who don’t we get along with? Do we feel as though someone is out to get us? We may need to look into where the animosity began and in some cases, speaking with a therapist may help us examine these relationships more honestly and openly than we can do by ourselves.
The theory of ‘PSYCHOLOGICAL PROJECTION’ was developed by Sigmund Freud, an Austrian psychologist. #GoogleIt!
Know This!
Mental Health Is Real, guard your emotions and mental health jealously, they’re too precious!
DISCLAIMER
This article is not intended as professional advice, they are for conversational purposes only. If you or anyone you know, need support on mental health matters, please contact your GP or visit the links below and get help;