Podcast

Ego Defense Mechanism

Our ego minds are programmed and then neurologically wired to select and interpret evidence supporting the relationship to our self as “I'm OK” and there is nothing wrong with me that I need to change. A variety of mechanisms: conscious, unconscious, and social will direct our attention to ignore the negative behaviors we cause in our life and to instead highlight what we think is positive or acceptable in order to increase our optimism and reduce our anxiety.

Through the course of growing up from childhood into adulthood, we develop coping skills and will come to label people, places or objects in the environment that are acceptable or not acceptable in our belief systems. Ego defenses are similar to mental racketeering programs that are commonly used as coping mechanisms for reducing day to day anxiety, fears, and obsessions that are related to thought addiction or the need to control the environment. When we are addicted to our thoughts, we have lost balance with our feelings and sensory abilities that allow us to be fully present in the moment and be in a receptive mode to better discern the environment and their energies.

We work hard to retain the belief that “I'm OK” and there is nothing is wrong with me, even when faced with repeated negative patterns and feeling unhappy in life. Self-justification based upon social and mental programs of acceptance of negative and harmful behaviors, is deeply ingrained in each of us in order to feel better. To cope in this world our mental patterns make it easier for us to surface skim the information in the environment that easily supports what we already think we know or believe. To remain comfortable with our world view through confirmation bias, even if its not working well for us, is the way we resist change, or resist the need for emotional and spiritual growth.

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