Denial is simply refusing to acknowledge that an event has occurred or is taking place. The person affected simply acts as if nothing has happened, behaving in ways that others may see as bizarre.
In its full form, it is totally subconscious, and sufferers may be as mystified by the behavior of people around them as those people are by the behavior of the sufferers. It may also have a significant conscious element, where the sufferer is simply 'turning a blind eye' to an uncomfortable situation.
Denial is a form of repression, where stressful thoughts are banned from memory. If I do not think about it, then I do not suffer the associated stress have to deal with it. However, people engaging in Denial can pay a high cost in terms of the psychic energy needed to maintain the denial state.
Repression and Denial are two primary defense mechanisms which everybody uses.
Children find denial easier, as with age, the ego matures and understands more about the "objective reality" it must operate within.
Denial is one of Freud's original defense mechanisms.
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