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Review
. 2022 Feb 11:10:e12811.
doi: 10.7717/peerj.12811. eCollection 2022.

Defense mechanism responses to COVID-19

Nouf Altwaijri  1 , Turki Abualait  2 , Mohammed Aljumaan  3 , Raidah Albaradie  4 , Zahid Arain  5 , Shahid Bashir  4
Affiliations
Review

Defense mechanism responses to COVID-19

Nouf Altwaijri et al. PeerJ. .

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has had a wide range of negative physical and mental impacts. This review begins with a theoretical explanation of the psychological defense mechanisms used to deal with the pandemic. It then discusses different categories of defense mechanisms and their roles in managing the impacts of psychological distress. The aim of this review is to highlight the various psychological defense mechanisms individuals use to deal with the pandemic and to discuss how adjustment mechanisms can protect individuals from internal and external threats by shielding the integrity of the ego (the mind) and helping individuals maintain their self-schema.

Keywords: Covid-19; Defense mechanism; Pandemic.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare there are no competing interests.

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