What are some good psychological defense mechanisms?

When you think of defense mechanisms, you probably think back to what you learned about Freud, and you can likely list many of them off the top of your head. Terms such as “repression,” “denial,” and even “reaction formation” are now part of the popular vernacular. read more

In some areas of psychology (especially in psychodynamic theory), psychologists talk about "defense mechanisms," or manners in which we behave or think in certain ways to better protect or "defend" ourselves. read more

It is very important to know which defense mechanisms are good and which ones should be avoided. Unlike other answers here, I feel ‘laughing it off’, theory of ‘sour grapes’ etc, all come under primitive/less primitive defense mechanisms that technically should be avoided. read more