by Edmund Talob, BScPsych, MAEd Guidance & Counselling, MRehabClng, PhD(c) (16 September 20246 First published 16 November 2021


AUTHOR'S NOTE: This article was first published online in 2021. It is not meant to replace seeing a mental health professional when the going gets tough and when people are rough. We are raising mental health awareness and inspiring hope for those struggling with mental health issues. We encourage everyone to seek help and support when rainy days and Mondays are getting you down.


In Freud's personality theory, the ego deals with reality and strives to cope with the conflicting demands of the id and the superego. The ego employs defence mechanisms as a rational strategy to protect itself against anxiety and other external threats. Projection and sublimation are ego defence mechanisms propositioned by Freud. When feeling anxious or under extreme pressure and stress, we may be inclined to ascribe our own unacceptable qualities and feelings to other people or objects. It is not uncommon that many people who hate gay people may be hiding their own homosexual tendencies and are in reality gay themselves. These people are projecting their undesirable qualities on others instead of owning up to them because of a fear of rejection. It is also quite common to hear of many famous artists who project their negative feelings and thoughts about themselves in poems, paintings, sculptures and songs.


In the case of many who ascribe and project their anxieties and frustrations on creative pursuits, Freud propositioned the mechanism of sublimation. For example, some people may project their anger and other undesirable feelings through artistic endeavours like dance, drama, music or painting.


During the course of the coronavirus pandemic, many of us may have been unconsciously projecting and sublimating our inability to cope with lockdowns and restrictions by blaming others for our pain and sufferings particularly government leaders, health experts and decision-makers. We are inclined to blind ourselves from our own failures and ineffectiveness. By using projection and sublimation as ego defences, we reduce our anxiety by taking less responsibility for our actions and reassigning that responsibility on other people and things.


Coping with challenges of everyday life by projecting and sublimating may work for a while, particularly if the attribution is expressive and productive. But if the attribution becomes pathological and virulent, then we may need to seek professional help. We have to acknowledge that both projection and sublimation may lead to obsessive-compulsive behaviour. As such, we need to be vigilant in identifying our undivided attention to details and excessive attachment and rumination on people and things.


A practical and simple step to take going forward is to first acknowledge that we are experiencing an attachment or an obsession to someone or something. From there, we may enable ourselves to divert or distract our attention on other people and other things by simply embarking on something new or engaging with other people in our social circle. It is therefore important to maintain a high degree of flexibility, open mindedness and variety in our life in order to reduce the risk of excessive projection and extreme sublimation that may result in obsessive-compulsive disorder and behaviour patterns.


References:


+Freud, A (1966). The ego and the mechanisms of defence (1st ed). London: Routledge (204 pages).


++Freud, S (2005). The psychopathology of everyday life (English Translation by A A Brills). Online Access: Digiread.com (116 pages).