Regression as a defense mechanism: types, examples from life

Sometimes, when life throws another dirty trick on us, and problems surround us on all sides, we want to be back in childhood. It’s calm, warm, cozy there, and mom and dad will protect you from any troubles. The subconscious desire to return to the comfortable and safe world of childhood activates the protective mechanism of the psyche, called “regression” - returning back. This psychological defense, described by S. Freud, often becomes the last straw that a person grabs.

Regression - what is it in simple words

Regression in psychology is one of the methods of psychological defense described by Sigmund Freud. He conditionally divided them into 2 large groups:

1. High-level mechanisms transform dissatisfaction and negative experiences into active actions. A good example is creativity.
2. Lower level mechanisms are characterized by distortion of reality. They do not help solve the problem, but, on the contrary, aggravate it, transferring it from consciousness to subconsciousness. It only seems to a person that he is leading a full life. In fact, he is on a direct path to the development of neuroses and other mental problems.

Regression refers to the lower psychological defenses. And that is not all. It is rightfully considered the most primitive technique.

Interestingly, there are several definitions of regression:

1. In psychology, regression is a mental defense mechanism in which an individual adapts to a conflict or alarming situation by resorting to early, but less mature patterns of behavior. He considers them as safe and effective as possible under the circumstances.
2. According to the Glossary of Psychological Terms, regression is a state that involves a return to primitive forms of thinking and behavior characteristic of people at an earlier stage of development.
3. The dictionary of analytical psychology says that regression is the return movement of libido to earlier modes of adaptation. Accompanied by infantile fantasies and desires.
4. R. Comer (Professor of the Department of Psychology at Princeton University with more than 25 years of experience) called regression a protective mechanism of the inner “I”, in which a person returns to primitive ways of interacting with the outside world.

Various areas of psychotherapy give their definition of regression and regressive behavior:

1. In psychoanalysis, regression is a simple defense mechanism related to the stage of reunification, when, if it is impossible to satisfy a particular need, a person turns to those periods of the past in which he experienced pleasure and received complete satisfaction in other ways. The degree of severity of regression in this case depends on the oscillation between adaptation to the new method of satisfaction and the strength of the habit to the old methods.
2. In Gestalt therapy, this term refers to a return to earlier levels of development or a manner of self-expression. Regression, according to psychologists, helps reduce anxiety by abandoning reality in favor of a behavior pattern that helped cope with negative emotions in the past.
3. In behaviorism, regression is a return to an earlier, more primitive and simpler way of responding. Thus, a person justifies himself from the point of view of the reasoning of a small child, refuses logical thinking, and stands his ground even in cases where the interlocutor is absolutely right. In such individuals, mental development has greatly slowed down or stopped altogether, as a result of which their childhood habits often return to them.

As you can see, there are many definitions of the word “regression”. But they all boil down to one thing: this is a protective function, which is characterized by a return to primitive forms of behavior and thinking.

Mental retardation and mental retardation: what is the difference

Both conditions are very similar to each other, since in both cases there is distortion, disruption of mental functions and a discrepancy between the child’s level of development and his age. That is, behavior, emotions, and intelligence are at a stage characteristic of a younger age. However, the specialist is obliged to conduct differential diagnostics in order to determine the diagnosis. This is very important, since mental retardation and mental retardation are subject to different methods of therapy, pursuing separate goals.

To quickly grasp the difference between disorders, let's present their comparison in the form of a table:

Play, the most important activity for children, with mental retardation is more emotional, but rather meager and limited, and it is difficult to imagine it figuratively. Children with delayed developmental skills typically get stuck in story-based play without reaching the role-playing stage. Children with ID become fixated on object-based play.

It should be noted that both disorders entail impairment of the intellectual, cognitive, and social spheres. But with ZPR, these violations are less threatening in nature and have the possibility of their further development under proper conditions. With mental retardation, unfortunately, there is no likelihood of progression of mental development. The formed defect, regardless of the degree, is persistent and unchanged.

Dementia, in contrast to mental retardation, entails the disintegration of personality, a total, gross disorder of activity with an almost complete shutdown of functions.

Types of Regression

Every person has regression. But it manifests itself in different ways. It all depends on its type:

1. Short-term. Occurs most often. It is a common reaction, weakness caused by emotional or physical stress. Helps you relax and cope with the consequences of stress and failure. This regression occurs without complications.
2. Partial. Has a longer duration. Causes changes in human behavior, and in particularly difficult situations, the development of mental disorders. For example, imagine a person who has a serious illness. He uses it to manipulate family and friends, while getting what he needs. This behavior will eventually turn him into a hypochondriac. He will look for and, most interestingly, find signs of more and more new diseases in himself, only in order to continue to receive attention from others. And this is already a mental disorder.
3. Full. This type of regression is in most cases associated with senile dementia or dementia. You've probably also heard the words that an elderly person has fallen into childhood? But it is worth noting that complete regression also occurs among young people if they have experienced severe psychological trauma. It is difficult for their consciousness to come to terms with what happened, so it “closes itself” from all this horror, returning to childhood. This type of regression in psychology is considered a serious mental illness, the treatment of which will require the help of a psychiatrist.

In essence, regression is a fuse that protects the psyche from excessive overstrain. It works at the subconscious level, so a person is not able to control its development. If someone is becoming childish, don't immediately make fun of them. The alarm needs to be sounded only in cases where complete regression occurs.

Mental retardation

This name was given to underdevelopment of mental activity. As a rule, it is provoked by several factors, among which genetic diseases come first. The other group consists of exogenous factors: trauma, intoxication, infection, fetal hypoxia.

Mental retardation is irreversible and is characterized by the following features:

• totality of the lesion - all neuropsychic functions are disrupted. Speech especially suffers - the grammatical side, the active vocabulary is very meager. Emotions are flat, monotonous, little controlled;
• Among mental processes, thinking is the first to suffer. Its deficiency leads to underdevelopment of elementary mental processes: memory, speech, perception.

UI is primarily represented by oligophrenia . This is underdevelopment of the brain associated with irreversible damage to the cerebral cortex. It is a congenital or acquired defect before the age of two.

There are three degrees of oligophrenia:

• debility;
• imbecility;
• idiocy.

They differ in the severity of the intellectual defect. If IQ with debility ranges from 50 to 70, then with idiocy this figure is 20.

Children suffering from debility are capable of simple work. They find it difficult to learn new skills, and their emotions are very primitive. Sensorimotor reactions are slowed. Phrase speech and mechanical memory are preserved. They are able to master basic reading, writing, and counting skills. Debility is the mildest degree of the disorder.

Imbecility preserves the most primitive self-service skills, the ability to remember a small amount of information, and allows one to acquire basic learning skills.

Idiocy is a gross, deep disturbance of thinking (virtually absent) and all mental processes in general. Such children are not capable of self-care and have poor spatial orientation. Almost no one recognizes them except the people caring for them. Behavior is often dictated by instinctive programs. The speech is incomprehensible. Expressions of emotions such as crying and tears are not typical.

Dementia is an acquired dementia that develops in a child after 2-3 years of age, and is accompanied by the collapse of already formed mental functions. Infections or injuries can trigger dementia. The condition is characterized by uneven damage, with some parts of the brain affected more than others.

How does the regression mechanism work?

Behavior is always a response to stimuli from the environment. They are some problems, people, events, etc. We all give different reactions. For example, you can show wisdom, think rationally, and act like an adult. And, let’s say your friend acts childishly, infantilely.

In the process of development, each person learns to react to the world around him more intelligently and logically. But it also happens that there is a rollback to long-forgotten, childhood reactions. This is regression.

Manifestations

As stated above, regression is the simplest, most primitive psychological defense mechanism. Most often it occurs in situations where reasonable adult behavior does not bring the desired results. A good example is a person who is sick. He behaves like a child: he is capricious in order to beg for more attention. When he realizes that such actions help him achieve what he wants, they become a habit. And now in every difficult situation, even not related to illness, he behaves the same way.

Another example of regression is situations when you feel tired, “squeezed like a lemon.” What do you want most at such moments? Yummy, crawl under the blanket and talk to someone. Great script, don't you agree? It gives you the opportunity to feel safe, just like in childhood, and at least for a while to relieve yourself of responsibility. But, no matter how pleasant it may be, it is impossible to return to childhood. It's all an illusion. And the protection of the psyche is also, unfortunately, illusory.

There are other manifestations of regression:

1. If a person wants to get something from the people around him, he copies the behavior of a spoiled child, becomes capricious, hysterical, or promises to behave well in exchange for getting what he needs. Notice how the voice changes at such moments. He becomes childish, with notes of tearfulness.
2. Regression manifests itself in a passion for various religious movements, in a love of mysticism and superstition. A person seeks the cause of his suffering, dissatisfaction and failures not in his behavior, but in punishment from God or curses. Children behave in the same way when they try to shift the blame for misdeeds onto others, perhaps younger comrades or brothers and sisters who cannot give an answer.
3. Another manifestation of regression is addictive or dependent behavior. Most likely, you also know gamers who spend all their free time playing computer games. For them, this is an attempt to escape from real life. It's like a child hiding under a blanket from the night monsters he has invented.
4. Regression also means excessive drinking, smoking, and drug addiction. What does all this have to do with children’s behavior, you ask? These ways to relieve nervous tension are akin to how children bite their nails, pick their nose, etc.

Sigmund Freud spoke about another manifestation of regression. It is associated with problems in sexual life. We are talking about sadomasochism, bisexuality and similar conditions.

Who is most prone to regression?

Most often, children whose psyche is still in the formative stage and is characterized by instability face regression. If they want more attention or have no desire to do something, they cry and are capricious. And sometimes they behave as if they were very small, for example, forgetting to ask to go to the potty or refusing to eat and dress themselves. Such situations arise especially often in families where a second child is born. The elder thus shows his jealousy and demands the return of lost attention from his parents.

Regression in adults is a sign of weakness and infantilism. The following categories of people are at risk:

• weak-willed, with an unstable emotional state of personality;
• insecure individuals with low self-esteem;
• those who are easily influenced by others or the media;
• people who find it difficult to live in society and build relationships with those around them;
• individuals prone to increased anxiety, panic, neuroses and hysteria.

Interestingly, sometimes regression also occurs in those who are self-confident. This occurs in cases where other psychological defense mechanisms have proven to be ineffective or ineffective at all. Sometimes difficulties take away all your emotional and physical strength, while what you want remains somewhere in the distance. At such moments, in order to protect oneself from further disappointment and depression, a person seems to fall into childhood. He cries, complains to everyone, “eats” stress, and with all his appearance shows resentment and suffering.

It is worth noting that for strong-willed people, regression is just a temporary phenomenon; it is a weakness that is needed in order to relieve emotional stress. Afterwards he becomes himself again.

As you can see, regression in psychology has its pros and cons.

Regression is...

To put it very briefly and very briefly, “progress” is “going forward”, and “regression” is “going back”.

The Latin word "regressus" means " movement backwards ". This is the essence of the concept, but in different areas the application of this term has its own characteristics.

Next, we will look at what the concept of “regression” means in relation to various processes.

Examples of regression in human psychology

In psychology, there are plenty of examples of regression from life. It doesn’t matter what a person chooses: childish behavior, a penchant for mysticism, video games, watching TV series, whims, or the use of alcohol and illegal substances. The situation looks something like this:

1. The first time, regressive behavior actually plays a protective role. The individual experiences negative emotions, which he tries to cope with using one of the methods described above. As a result, he enjoys it.
2. The second time a person resorts to regression is no longer because of negativity, but only because he remembers the positive sensations received, for example, from computer games or drinking alcohol.

It turns out that the chosen regression method no longer performs a protective function. And there is no need to use it. But a person resorts to it again and again, remembering the pleasure he received.