What defense mechanism involves separating oneself from the emotional impact of distressing memories?

The identified defense mechanism, dissociation, involves a process where individuals detach from their emotional experience, often in response to trauma or distressing memories. This mechanism allows a person to step back from the implications of their experiences, creating a psychological distance that can help them cope with intense feelings or memories that may be overwhelming.

Dissociation can manifest in various ways, such as feeling disconnected from one’s thoughts or body, experiencing gaps in memory, or feeling like the world around them is unreal. This detachment helps individuals manage their emotional responses and protects them from the immediate emotional impact of their memories, facilitating functioning in daily life despite the ongoing psychological stress.

In contrast, repression refers to unconsciously blocking unpleasant feelings, thoughts, or experiences from awareness without the emotional detachment seen in dissociation. Intellectualization involves focusing on the intellectual aspects of a situation while avoiding the emotional components, leading to an analytical rather than an emotional response. Reaction-formation entails exhibiting behavior that contradicts one's feelings, often resulting in overtly positive behaviors to mask negative feelings, rather than separating from them. Thus, dissociation distinctly aligns with the process of separating oneself from the emotional impacts of distressing memories.