Thirdly, moral anxiety takes place when there is a threat to the superego. Anxiety can be conscious or unconscious. With these points in mind, a defense mechanism can be seen as the ego’s strategies and techniques to keep unacceptable and threatening matter out of the consciousness. Also, there are two basic characteristics that all defense mechanisms share in common. Firstly, they function unconsciously because the individual is not alert that he/she is using a defense mechanism. Secondly, they are able to alter or falsify reality (Ego-Defense Mechanisms, p. 35). In my opinion, the ability to distort reality (to fool yourself) can be an adaptive and maladaptive human trait. I think it depends on how often someone may use it and how old the person is that is using that defense mechanism. For example, I think if a defensive mechanism is used past a suitable age it can be a maladaptive human trait. Such as denial, you see most younger children use denial because they do not know how to use more sophisticated defense mechanisms, but an older adult should not rely heavily on denial because they are able to use more sophisticated defense
Thirdly, moral anxiety takes place when there is a threat to the superego. Anxiety can be conscious or unconscious. With these points in mind, a defense mechanism can be seen as the ego’s strategies and techniques to keep unacceptable and threatening matter out of the consciousness. Also, there are two basic characteristics that all defense mechanisms share in common. Firstly, they function unconsciously because the individual is not alert that he/she is using a defense mechanism. Secondly, they are able to alter or falsify reality (Ego-Defense Mechanisms, p. 35). In my opinion, the ability to distort reality (to fool yourself) can be an adaptive and maladaptive human trait. I think it depends on how often someone may use it and how old the person is that is using that defense mechanism. For example, I think if a defensive mechanism is used past a suitable age it can be a maladaptive human trait. Such as denial, you see most younger children use denial because they do not know how to use more sophisticated defense mechanisms, but an older adult should not rely heavily on denial because they are able to use more sophisticated defense