The Media: Can The Mainstream Media Teach Someone A Lot About Defence Mechanisms?

When it comes to explaining something it can be hard to explain it directly, which is why analogies can be so effective. Using an analogy can allow someone to get their point over a lot faster than they would otherwise.

Through thinking about something that is not related to the topic at hand, one can understand the topic that is being spoken about. Once this has taken place, there can be no need for them to think about the thing that is not related to the topic.

An Interesting Area

When it comes to psychology, there are plenty of people who will have heard of the term ‘defence mechanism’. Still, the average person probably doesn’t have a deep understanding of this area.

They might be familiar with a few defences, such as denial or justification, but that could be as far as it will go. If this is the case, one thing that they could do, to gain a deeper understanding of this area of psychology, is to look towards the mainstream media.

One Way

Yet, instead of seeing the mainstream media as a combination of different organisations; they can see it as another human being. But, even though this human being has a different purpose to other human beings, it still uses defence mechanisms just like other human beings do.

And just as defence mechanisms can cause one to harm themselves and others, the defences that the media use can harm themselves and others. The main difference is that due to how much power this source has, it will generally have a far greater impact than a human being.

A Slightly Different Approach

So, to kick things off, a human being will push certain feelings down that are too painful for them to handle. When this takes place, one will have repressed their painful feelings, allowing then to avoid their pain.  

When it comes to the media, however, certain information will end up being cast aside or ignored. Thus, just like someone will cut themselves off from their emotional truth by repressing how they feel, this source of information will often avoid what is actually going on, stopping a lot of people from finding out about it in the process.

A Reflection

One way of looking at this source would be to say that the reason it rarely reveals the truth is because it is undeveloped. Therefore, just as a human being will need to develop themselves in order to face their emotional truth, this source may also need to take the same approach.

As a result of being stuck in an undeveloped state, it has to lie to itself, and this is why it has to lie to others. If it was to develop itself, it doesn’t mean that it would no longer use defence mechanisms; what it means is that it wouldn’t be dependent on one defence mechanisms in a particular.

There Is More

It doesn’t end there though, as this source also uses the defence known as ‘splitting’. When someone uses this defence, they will have the tendency to see everything as being black or white.

The media uses this defence when it paints some people as good and others as bad, creating a one- dimensional view of the world. It will show that this source also can’t tolerate ambiguity, adding further weight to the view that it is undeveloped.

Pointing the Finger

When someone represses a part of themselves that is too painful for them to face, they can end up seeing this part in other people. Yet, as they will have disconnected from it, they won’t be able to see that what they find irritating in another is a reflection of what they have pushed out of their own awareness.

In the same way, this source has things that it has lost touch with, causing it to project these parts into others. One example is when this source accuses ever other source of creating fake news, with this being a textbook example of projection.

Resistance

If someone was told that their partner is cheating on them and they were supplied with clear evidence, they could still end up denying it. Once again, this will be a way for them to avoid their feelings.

Likewise, the media can also use denial when it is pointed out that what they have published doesn’t match up with reality. And, even if they do acknowledge what has taken place, they will most likely end up doing the same thing again before long.

The Wrong Person

Even though someone can get angry at how another person is treating them, it doesn’t mean that they will do anything about it. Instead, they can end taking their anger out on someone else entirely.

This is called displacement, and it is what happens when someone is unable to embrace their true feelings around someone due to not feeling safe enough. When they do embrace how they feel and express these feelings, it will most likely show that they are in the company of someone who is not perceived as a threat.

A Target

The media, through not being able to resolve something directly, can end up directing their anger at people who have played no part in their experience. A group of people can then end up being demonised for no reason.

Conclusion

There are bound to be a plenty of other defence mechanisms that this source of information utilizes, and these can be identified by reading more about this area of psychology. Having an understanding of these certainly makes it easier to see through the propaganda that this source comes out with.  

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Oliver JR Cooper
http://www.oliverjrcooper.co.uk