Why Do We Run Away from Truth?

The answer to this question is – Ego Defense. The great psychologist Sigmund Freud, and later his daughter Anna Freud, studied and explained the concept of Ego Defense as a ‘Defense Mechanism’ using which human beings shield their Egos from the truths of their daily lives.

In their studies, the Freuds found that we use 10 total defense mechanisms to protect ourselves from feelings of anxiety and/or guilt.

The five most regularly utilized Ego Defenses are –

1. Denial – Refusal to accept reality, meaning that the person outright ignores or denies the existence of a problem/situation which is very difficult to handle.
2. Projection – Putting one’s own unwanted thoughts, feelings and/or motives onto another person.
3. Displacement – This majorly applies to aggression, where the person redirects their impulse onto another person/object which serves as a symbolic substitute.
4. Regression – One of the most observed defense methods, when facing a high degree of stress, the person reverts psychologically to a mental state where he/she felt the safest.
5. Rationalization – The most utilized form of Ego Defense, Rationalization involves a person mentally distorts the facts to make the stressful event or impulse less effective. In simple words, the person makes ‘Excuses’ and believes these ‘Lies’ to satisfy their own ego.