TABLE 1-17-1 -Common Ego Defense Mechanisms

Denial	Feelings or ideas that are distressing to the ego are blocked by refusing to recognize evidence for their existence.
Projection	Feelings or ideas that are distressing to the ego are attributed to others.
Repression	Feelings or ideas that are distressing to the ego are reduced by behavioral return to an earlier development phase.
Repression	Feelings or ideas that are distressing to the ego are relegated to the unconscious.
Reaction formation	Feelings or ideas that are distressing to the ego are converted into their opposites.
Displacement	Feelings or ideas that are distressing to the ego are redirected to a substitute that evokes a less intense emotional response.
Rationalization	Feelings or ideas that are distressing to the ego are dealt with by creating an acceptable alternative explanation.
Suppression	Feelings or ideas that are distressing to the ego are not dealt with, but they remain components of conscious awareness.
Sublimation	Feelings or ideas that are distressing to the ego are converted to those that are more acceptable.

Modified from Sadock BJ, Sadock VA. Comprehensive textbook of psychiatry. 7th ed. Philadelphia: Lippincott, Williams & Wilkins, 1999.