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| Photo courtesy of Microsoft |
My
great-grandmother used to spit three times or throw salt over her shoulder if anyone
said something that could be perceived as wishing bad fortune on another person
or situation. Some people say “knock wood” or literally rap their knuckles on a
wood surface to prevent an unwanted event. Others wash their hands or mime this
behavior as if to cleanse themselves of an event or relationship they don’t
want to be associated with. Many kids still make the “cross my heart” pledge to
keep a secret or what have you. (In keeping with my grandma’s fear of tempting
fate, I always left off the “and hope to die” part.) Each of these behaviors is
an example of a defense mechanism, undoing,
whereby a person performs some kind of ritual or gesture to negate the
likelihood or power of a potential consequence of a behavior or belief.
Similar to
undoing, magical thinking is another
form of defense mechanism that entails creating associations—usually imagined
and typically based in superstition—between an event and a behavior. There is a great scene in the 1990 film, Betsy’s Wedding, in which Betsy’s dad (Alan Alda) is
shooting basketball hoops as he repeats the mantra, “If I make this basket, it
will be a great day.” When he doesn’t make the basket, he keeps throwing that
basketball at the net until (finally) the ball goes in and he feels relieved
that he might have a good day. Other examples of magical thinking
include the old adages about breaking your mother’s back if you step on a crack
in the pavement or being cursed with bad luck if you walk under a ladder—seven
years of it if you break a mirror. Neither undoing nor magical thinking truly
has the ability to shield or protect a person from whatever consequence he or
she believes could occur if the behavior is not performed. However, every time
the possible consequence is avoided by performing the action reinforces the
person’s belief in its effectiveness, which further encourages the person to
keep repeating that behavior until he or she achieves the desired result.
These and other
defense mechanisms are strategies that enable a person to cope with a stressful
situation in his or her life. Like other defense mechanisms, undoing and magical thinking are
characterized by the following traits: 1) they are unconscious; 2) they are
self-deceptive; 3) they contain elements of denial; 4) they distort reality
through thoughts and action. Whenever we seem to successfully “avoid” suffering
a possible consequence by performing that action, this success reinforces our belief
(subconscious mental script) in the effectiveness of that ritual. This success also
encourages us to repeat that behavior to avoid negative outcomes in other areas
of our life.
Defense
mechanisms are fabulous temporary devices that can help us achieve such
security. Undoing rituals such as
throwing salt over the shoulder, knocking on wood and crossing the heart are
great examples of learned (and therefore known) behaviors. According
to John Kappas, Ph.D.’s Theory of Mind, everyone is subconsciously motivated to
maintain and/or restore a known physical
and emotional status of comfort and security. Since the subconscious
mind is motivated and even programmed to seek this comfort, we may adopt those
defense-mechanism behaviors because we learned them from someone we trust who does
or used to do the same thing. However, the primary role of a defense mechanism
is to protect the subconscious mind from what it perceives as a threat or “pain”
of having to deal with an unknown. These behaviors really only provide a
temporary perception of control over the environment. Eventually, we must deal
with and resolve the primary issue that has triggered the defense mechanism to
achieve personal growth.
Sara R. Fogan, C.Ht. is a certified hypnotherapist based in
Southern California. She graduated with honors from the
Hypnosis Motivation Institute in 2005. For more information about
Calminsense Hypnotherapy® and to set up an appointment, please visit http://www.calminsensehypnotherapy.com/.
© 2014
