Defense mechanisms and creativity

Annotation. The article discusses the main theories, nature and functions of the mechanisms of psychological protection. Negative and positive functions of defense mechanisms are highlighted. The author reveals and emphasizes the positive, creative potential of defense mechanisms, and also determines the conditions for their transformation into methods of creative problem solving.

Formulation of the problem
The growth of dynamism, unpredictability and complexity of the problems of modern society poses the task of psychological science of ever more profound study of the adaptive social and psychological processes of the personality, its behavior in various frustrating and conflict situations. At the same time, disclosure of the essence and potential of the development of the protective mechanisms of the personality, as well as the ways of their transformation into effective methods for solving internal and external problems, acquires special significance.

Analysis of recent research and publications
In the most general sense, the psychological defense mechanisms include a large group of mental processes, mental action patterns and stable patterns and strategies with which the individual satisfies his or her needs, adapts to reality, copes with internal and external conflicts. Protection mechanisms are considered as specific means of solving universal problems of adaptation, as well as existential personal problems.
In a narrow sense, mental defense mechanisms are understood as unconscious mental operations, with the help of which a person overcomes frustrating situations, mitigates traumatic effects, protects his / her Self and maintains the necessary level of self-esteem. In other words, in this sense, defense mechanisms act as ways by which the ego tries to protect itself from anxiety.
The discovery and description of protective mechanisms was carried out by Z. Freud, who in his work “Protective Neuropsychoses” (1894) first identified specific means that the Ego uses while simultaneously adapting to internal excitations from the subconscious, as well as to external excitations caused by requirements of the surrounding reality.
This concept of defense mechanisms was developed by A. Freud in her work "The Psychology of Self and Defense Mechanisms" (1936), which stated that defense mechanisms are based on two types of reactions:
1. Blocking the expression of impulses in conscious behavior.
2. Distortion of them so that their initial intensity is noticeably reduced [1].
Representatives of the psychoanalytic direction, as a rule, emphasized the negative, frustrating functions of defense mechanisms that impede successful adaptation and personal development. A common and defining feature of the defense mechanisms was determined by the failure of the individual from conscious, purposeful activity, focused on the productive resolution of situations or solving problems.
So, R. D. Lang believed that the essence of protective mechanisms is blocking the direct expression of needs and that it is the increased protection that reduces the ability of an individual to adapt [2]. K. Horney considered defensive mechanisms as neurotic ways of solving problems, that is, as solving conflicts by simply eliminating contradictions from consciousness. F. Perls identified the mechanisms of protection and neurosis and considered them as obstacles to personal growth [3].
The increasing complexity of the structure and content of the socio-cultural environment requires the use of a whole system of mechanisms, and therefore, their conscious regulation and selective activation. The absence of a reflexive analysis in the process of the functioning of defense mechanisms leads to the neglect of the objective laws of the environment and the specific content of conflict situations. The subconscious is not able to build a hierarchical system of mechanisms and maintain their integrity and regulation. To any aggravation of the conflict, it responds by energizing and increasing the activity of the “fixed”, “habitual” mechanism. At the same time, fixing one or two mechanisms, torn from an integrated system, their excessive activity leads to an aggravation of unresolved objective conflicts and problems and to their transformation into intrapersonal ones.
The actualization of defense mechanisms leads to a temporary illusory relief, which is achieved by escaping from both the real situation and the true “I.” Fear of meeting with truth, which is often accompanied by negative experiences and lack of courage to face reality, leads to the encapsulation and blocking of the creative “I”, which is constituted by truth and unfolds along essential trajectories in essential spaces. Psychological protection, understood as neglect of being, as an escape from entities and reality, leads to the depletion of the creative “I”, and each act of implementing defense mechanisms is carried out by “eating” the body of the creative self, as well as the mythical heroes flying on giant birds their own meat.
Creative, in their genetic structure, defense mechanisms, when they are excluded from the holistic context, become unable to respond to the objective characteristics of the situation, lose their effectiveness and become neurotic, pathological.

Summarizing the numerous works in which the negative functions of protective mechanisms are emphasized, one can single out their following characteristics:
1. Unawareness. Protective mechanisms operate at an unconscious level and therefore are a means of self-deception.
2. Uncontrollability. Mechanisms manifest as intrusive, uncontrollable drives.
3. Spatio-temporal and content-value limitations .
- Narrowness, lack of integrity, completeness, flexibility, rigidity and fixedness of protection mechanisms;
- The temporality, the lack of a temporal perspective, focus on providing current psychological comfort.
- Situational situation, the subordination of the current situation, the lack of value, content and personal richness, "vyrvannost" from the socio-cultural context.
4. Self-deprivation. Automatism, mechanism, isolation from the essential I. Frustration of self-development of the integral, creative “I.” Lack of courage, fear of a pure and keen awareness of being, of your true “I”, of your creative essence. At the same time choosing easy, palliative solutions to problem situations, a person sacrifices the awakening and development of his genuine, creative self.
5. Stopping the development, regression and disintegration of behavior. Fixing, fixing the mechanism, using it as the only way to solve problems leads to inefficiency and deviations in personality development.
6. Distortion of reality and objective picture of the world. Mechanisms distort, deny, transform or falsify the perception of reality, leading to concealment, distortion and self-deception.
7. Unethical and instrumental orientation. The narrowness of the spatial-temporal framework and the limited content-semantic richness of the current mechanism of protection, ignoring the interests of the environment, focus on the realization of narrow selfish interests and the achievement of their own interests at any cost.
8. Secondary conflict. The use of protective mechanisms leads to "secondary conflict", caused by the preservation of the objective causes of the problem situation, as well as the exacerbation of interpersonal conflicts with others, for which, situations of manipulation and games become meaningfully transparent.

Previously unresolved parts of a common problem.
Currently, in the modern theory of defense mechanisms there are a number of unsolved problems. Among them is the problem of diversity, the existence of numerous, at first glance, unrelated, various processes, operations and actions that are defined as protection mechanisms. This problem can be solved by finding a reliable structural basis uniting and integrating multi-sphere and multi-level protection mechanisms into an integral system.
Another problem is the lack of a coherent system of relations between the mechanisms, as well as the ambiguity of the chronological sequence of their emergence and development.
One more important problem remains the clarification of the substantive, qualitative assessment and functional significance of defense mechanisms, their role in life activity and personality development.

The main material of the article
Modern studies of the problems of defense mechanisms are characterized by a consistent expansion of the substantive field of analysis, as well as their inclusion in the personal and social context. If the methodological basis of psychoanalytic theories of defense mechanisms is the principle of homeostasis and energy saving, then modern theories oppose homeostatic ideas and are based on the principles of development and self-actualization of the personality.
So F.V. Bassin emphasized the positive function of psychological defenses and considered them as the most important form of the response of the individual consciousness to mental trauma [4]. In turn, B.D. Karvasarsky understood psychological protection as a system of adaptive personality reactions aimed at defensively changing the significance of maladaptive components of relationships, with the goal of weakening their psycho-traumatic effect on self-concept.
Yu.S. Savenko introduces the concept of psychological compensatory mechanisms, which are defined as a system of psychological receptions and personality mechanisms that ensure the relatively successful implementation of self-actualization under various conditions that complicate this process, circumstances and difficulties [5].
The theory of psychological defenses overcomes the emphasis on the dynamic aspects of defense mechanisms, paying ever closer attention to their meaningful aspect. So such representatives of humanistic and existential psychology as A. Maslow, R. May, D. Bugental, I. Yalom introduce protection mechanisms in the value-semantic and existential context and consider them as ways to escape from their freedom and responsibility, from their true Self , from being able to live your own life, not someone else’s life.
The modern theory of the personality's defensive behavior is significantly expanded by the introduction of the concept of "coping" (from the English word "cope" to overcome). So, C.K. Nartova-Bochever, analyzing the use of this term in the domestic literature, indicates that it is understood as an adaptive, coping behavior or psychological overcoming.

Сoping, or overcoming behavior, includes all kinds of interaction of the subject with problems of an external or internal nature and manifests itself as an attempt to master or soften, get used to or evade the demands of a problem situation. The author identifies three existing approaches to the problem, in which coping is understood as:
1. The method of psychological protection used to relieve tension (N. Naan).
2. The relatively constant tendency of the individual to respond to stressful events in a certain way (RH Moos).
3. The dynamic process, the specificity of which is determined not only by the situation, but also by the stage of development of the conflict and the collision of the subject with the outside world (R. Lazarus) [6].
The concept of overcoming behavior goes beyond instinctive, habitual and routine ways of adapting to the external environment and brings this type of protective behavior closer to creativity, which is understood as solving problems and changing one's own strategies and attitudes regarding the situation.
E. Bibring (Bibring, 1943) and D. Lagash ((Lagache, 1956), working in the paradigm of psychoanalytic theory, introduced the concept of mining mechanisms, which
contrasted with defense mechanisms. At the same time, if the purpose of the latter was considered an urgent easing of internal stresses associated with the pleasure principle, then the purpose of the refinement mechanisms was to realize the existing possibilities, even if at the cost of even greater stress [7].
At the same time, the defense mechanisms themselves are distinguished by their degree of development and quality level at:
1. Primitive - non-productive, implemented at a lower level.
2. Limit - unproductive, representing rather imaginary solutions and semi solutions.
3. Full - successful solutions, including creative ones [8].
Further development of the theory of defense mechanisms should be carried out along the path of expanding and complicating the environmental context, raising the qualitative level of personality activity to the processes of sense formation and creativity. The analysis of defense mechanisms itself should be deepened by introducing them into the system of socio-cultural and creative determinants, as well as their understanding as dynamic patterns of free expression of the person, as universal patterns of behavior, saturated with value and creative elements.
The kreatological approach to the theory of psychological defense mechanisms is aimed at examining them from the point of view of some ideal dynamic model, the structural components of which will be mechanisms that are at their highest level of development and in their most perfect and constructive manifestation. At the same time, the actual, actual protection mechanisms should be understood as “structurally original”, “germinal”, which have not yet reached their highest level of development, the mechanisms of creativity. Each mechanism should be considered in interaction with all other mechanisms, as well as within the field of all its possible, including the most perfect states. At the same time, the functioning of defense mechanisms must be considered in the context of the vital activity of creative individuality, which freely self-exits and creates in inseparable unity with the whole set of its basic, mutually nested worlds and, first of all, with the world of culture that integrates them.
With this approach, psychological defense mechanisms can be defined as the activity of a limited, “squeezed”, undeveloped creative “I”, as primary, primitive, structurally isomorphic, but still value-based and meaningfully unsaturated, not amenable to individual-semantic regulation, mechanisms of creativity.
Most of the psychological mechanisms in their development are three stages: first they manifest themselves as defense mechanisms, then as socialization mechanisms and, at a higher stage, as mechanisms of creativity.
The criterion of the level of development of the mechanism is its awareness, controllability, inclusion in the internal and external whole, its value-semantic potential, quality and modality of emotional coloring, as well as the target orientation and the expected result of the application.
The underlying cause of the emergence of defense mechanisms can be understood as frustration of the basic need for creativity, which manifests itself within the spectrum of qualitatively defined existential needs, including needs for play, freedom, love, beauty and harmony, in understanding the mysterious essence of things, in serving the Supreme and mastering the world, in a spontaneous, self-sufficient expression and manifestation of its present, creative self, in the need to live according to its own nature.
The negative value of protective mechanisms is determined by the discrepancy between their complexity and organization, the complexity and qualitative certainty of the external environment. In this regard, the quality level of defense mechanisms directly depends on the level of personal development, its activity and creative orientation of life position. The presence of the creative position of the individual, as well as the external kreatological space, serves as a condition for the transformation of defense mechanisms into isomorphic, but conscious, value-rich mechanisms of development and creativity. At the same time, the defense mechanisms themselves retain their structure and specificity and become effective depending on the level of interaction of the individual with reality.

Thus, the creative person is faced with the task of not eliminating the defense mechanisms, but their awareness, structuring and dynamization, as well as saturating them with creative elements and integrating into the self. The very formation of the self does not eliminate the functioning of mental mechanisms, but makes them conscious and transparent, fills them with new content, gives them creative, developing meaning. Reflexive awareness and control of defense mechanisms, selection and activation of the most effective in each specific situation, essentially turns defense mechanisms into mechanisms for creative problem solving.
Modern researchers offer in their theories of protection numerous classifications, various lists, including dozens of protective mechanisms [7-11]. The terminological wealth of defense mechanisms is explained by the existing diversity and even expansion of their functioning, their inclusion in various qualitative levels of vital activity and self-fulfillment of the personality.At the same time, it can be argued that the reflexive or experience-based separation of new defense mechanisms, as well as finding their meaningful connections with the mechanisms of creativity, will enrich and generate new qualitative contents of consciousness.
In turn, among a wide list of multilevel defense mechanisms, one can single out a number of higher, most developed and perfect mechanisms, which in their content are close to the mechanisms of creativity:
1. Creativityas a defense mechanism. In the psychoanalytic direction, special attention is paid to youthful creativity, which is regarded as an effective defense against the conflict of internal motives. The most common form of expression of creative efforts at this time are diaries containing confessions, plans, as well as such type of activity as poetic creativity. At the same time, creativity and in adulthood has an undoubtedly integrating and enhancing personality function, which leads to increased self-esteem and even physical, mental and spiritual healing.
2. Fantasies, dreams, or dreamsthey manifest themselves as a defense mechanism, consisting in the elaboration of idealized images and illusions, in flight into a world of fantasy, in which the unfulfilled desires are satisfied. If dreams have an important protective and adaptive function, then imagination is the manipulation of ideas and the search for solutions to specific problem situations. This definition helps to an adequate understanding of the protective-adaptive functions of the imagination. In frustrating problem situations, due to the blockade of the purposeful activity of the individual, numerous images are generated in the sphere of consciousness: the processes of implementing motives are transferred to the internal plan and realized by creating pictures of satisfaction of repressed needs.
3. Sublimationconsidered as the most constructive and highly developed defense mechanism, manifested in the direction of the energy of instincts into productive channels. Freud described artistic creativity and intellectual activity as the main forms of sublimation. This mechanism is understood as a mental process in which the most conflicting subconscious impulses are transformed and expressed in socially-approved activity. At the same time, the most successful sublimation is manifested as creative activity.
4. Idealizationis a mental process by which the positive qualities and virtues of an object are exaggerated, and it is treated as something perfect. Self-identification with an idealized object contributes to the formation and development in a person of such an ideal instance as I am an ideal.
5. Identification is one of the basic, end-to-end mental mechanisms functioning in the meaningful continuum of pathology-creativity. As a defense mechanism, it appears as a subconscious mechanism through which an individual presents himself as someone else, identifies himself with other persons. Similarity to another contributes to the establishment of closer, human relationships, empathic closeness, improving understanding and enhancing creative dialogue.
6. Almighty control- the feeling of one’s ability to influence the world, one’s power and strength, is a mechanism whose functioning is a necessary condition for self-esteem. This mechanism originates in the infantile and unrealistic, but at a certain stage of development, normal fantasies of omnipotence. The first one to arouse interest in the “stages of the development of a sense of reality” was S. Ferenci (1913). He pointed out that at the infantile stage of primary omnipotence, or grandeur, the fantasy of owning control over the world is normal [11].
7. Humor. Irony.Humorous attitude and understanding of a difficult situation can be considered as an independent creative protective mechanism. Taking a position of detached contemplation of conflicting circumstances, a conscious desire to present them in a ridiculous light, allows you to maintain self-control, dignity and self-control, as well as defuse the situation, reduce the significance and eliminate the negative potential of conflict.

findings
Таким образом, защитные механизмы могут рассматриваться как неразвитые, зачаточные творческие психические операции, которые модифицируют содержание сознания и восприятия и выступают средствами построения бессознательно сконструированных, желаемых и удобных моделей реальности. Механизмы проявляются как приспособительные реакции, подсознательно сформированные паттерны, помогающие индивиду успешно решать экзистенциальные проблемы и конфликты, а также адаптироваться к условиям жизни. При этом бессознательная модификация конфликтных ситуаций, которая элиминирует их отрицательный аффективный потенциал, представляется наивным способом разрешения конфликтов.
Любой защитный механизм в зачаточном виде несет в себе конструктивный, творческий потенциал и может выступать успешным способом адаптации при условии его осознания, личностной регуляции, при его ценностно-смысловом насыщении и трансформации в эффективный прием творческого решения проблем.

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