DENIAL AS DEFENSE

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Denial As Defense


Dear Readers:

I call to your kind attention a behavioral pattern which I have observed in many people. These people (perhaps all of us, at one time or another) use denial as a defense, either when doing something wrong or when being accused of cowardice. Apparently, very few people favor the notion of being seen as cowards - and even more, they really do not like when answering a question honestly would force them to admit acting cowardly. These seem to be the most commonly occurring cases:

1. When something has gone wrong, and others are looking to fix blame;
2. When responding to a legal summons and complaint;
3. When being accused of not facing-down an enemy -- this is my perosnal favorite. This twist on the basic Human theme of denial is through the use of logic with a spurious premise.

• "He's not really my enemy - he's trying to help me."
• "She's not really my enemy - she's just doing her job."
• "He's not my enemy - he's just pretending so that other people won't realize that he's really an ally."
• "Oh, come on...she's really harmless."
• "Your don't understand! That's how he/ she shows his/ her love."

This pattern of denial is so firmly entrenched that we often alter our internal perspective in favor of something less effacing of ourselves. We actually deny ourselves the knowledge of the truth. This can be a very destructive form of psychic or emotional defense...it prevents learning, stifles self-growth and rewards inertia.

Faithfully,

Douglas Castle

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