Dedicated to "No More Drama Queens" who is the Drama queen himself.....
Psychological Projection, as defined by Wikipedia, is commonly known as a defense mechanism in which one attributes to others one’s own unacceptable or unwanted thoughts, behaviors and/or emotions. Projection reduces anxiety by allowing the expression of the unwanted subconscious impulses/desires without letting the ego recognize them. The theory was developed by Sigmund Freud and further refined by his daughter Anna Freud.
Additional Common Definitions for Psychological Projection are as follows:
· "Projection is the opposite defence mechanism to identification. We project our own unpleasant feelings onto someone else and blame them for having thoughts that we really have."
· "A defense mechanism in which the individual attributes to other people impulses and traits that he himself has but cannot accept. It is especially likely to occur when the person lacks insight into his own impulses and traits."
· "Attributing one's own undesirable traits to other people or agencies."
· "The individual perceives in others the motive he denies having himself.”
· "People attribute their own undesirable traits onto others. An individual who unconsciously harbours his or her aggressive/sexual tendencies may then imagine other people acting in an excessively aggressive or sexual way."
· "An individual who possesses malicious characteristics, but who is unwilling to perceive himself as an antagonist, convinces himself that his opponent feels and would act the same way."
Projection is a commonly used defense mechanism in people with certain personality disorders; one of those being Narcissitic Personality Disorder. (I thought it would be interesting to add this and the definition for this in this blog as it relates imperically with the "subject" of the blog.)
Though individuals with NPD are often ambitious and capable; the inability to tolerate setbacks, disagreements or criticism, along with lack of empathy, make it difficult for these individuals to work cooperatively with others or to maintain long-term professional achievements (lets just say that Joe bounces around from Job with Big Title to Job with Big Title, with ease... Hmmmmm). With NPD, the person's perceived fantastic grandiosity, often coupled with a hypomanic mood, is typically not proportionate with his/her real accomplishments.
The interpersonal relationships of those with NPD are typically impaired due to the individual's lack of empathy, disregard for others, exploitativeness, sense of entitlement, and constant need for attention. They frequently select as mates, and engender in their children, "co-narcissism," which is a term coined to refer to a co-dependent personality style similar to co-alcoholism and co-dependency. Co-narcissists organize themselves around the needs of others. They feel responsible for others, accept blame readily, are eager to please, defer to other's opinions, and fear being considered selfish if they act assertively.
Some time ago I had written a quote regarding projection and how I absolutely detest how people use this defensive mechanism (primarily via the internet) in order to attack others for either what they themselves are doing… or to detract from the wrongs that they themselves are guilty of. In researching this blog it seems that we as humans use defense mechanisms to make it quasi-unscathed through life with some sanity intact (“A healthy person will use many different defenses throughout life, including immature and/or pathological ones” – IMMATURE being the keyword in this phrase). Interestingly enough, in the defense of “insanity”-- What we call "mental illness" is actually a manifestation of an individual's continued pathological adaptive response to events in his/her life. So when someone projects onto someone else that they are “insane” or a "drama queen" out of some sort of defensiveness, the projected insane person is somewhat justified in that they are only responding to how people have treated them (Im thinking I got a little lost in writing this myself, so I digress LOL)
I wrote this some time ago when I came across a very intensely degrading conversation with someone and thought I would post it here as a reminder to the person indicated above that he has a serious issue. If you dont want Drama queens in your life, stop being one.
*kttn*
