Defense Mechanisms and Cognitive Distortions
Defense Mechanism: Where individuals attribute their own unacceptable thoughts or feelings to others
Projection
True or False: All stress is bad for us
False! Some stress can be motivating and is a natural reaction your body has to certain events. It can sometimes give us an “extra push”. When stress becomes too much to handle, that might be an indication to start making some positive MH changes.
What is an example of an unhealthy/maladaptive coping skill?
Smoking, drinking, avoidance, negative self-talk, isolation, self-harm.
What is it called when someone has both a mental health diagnosis and a substance use diagnosis?
Dual diagnosis
Who won the men's NCAA national basketball championship in 2025?
The Florida Gators!!!!!
Defense Mechanism: Excessive thinking or over-analyzing, which may increase the distance from one's emotions
Intellectualization
What month is Mental Health Awareness Month?
May
True or False: Coping skills fix all your problems
False! Coping skills help us when we feel overwhelmed, and can be used as a tool to self-soothe but are not magical fixes!
True or False: Does chronic alcohol use affect reasoning ability during early sobriety?
True.
Late in the course of alcoholism there can be a decreased ability to solve problems, to perform gross psycho-motor tasks and memory impairment. These will improve substantially (not completely) over time.
What is the national animal of Scotland?
Defense Mechanism: Psychological pain manifesting as physical symptoms
Somatization
What does DBT stand for?
Dialectical Behavior Therapy
A therapeutic tool that allows us to separate oneself from a problem/issue we have, and recognizing that we are NOT the problem, the problem is the problem.
What is externalizing?
Which organ is the most sensitive to the effects of substances?
The brain! While any organ can sustain substantial damage over the long haul, the brain is also acutely affected immediately in the short run by intoxication.
Who won the first season of American Idol?
Kelly Clarkson
Defense Mechanism: "Unconsciously" keeping unpleasant information from your conscious mind
Repression
What are the three parts of the CBT triangle?
Thoughts, feelings, and behaviors
What is the 5-4-3-2-1 method?
5- Things you see
4-Things you feel
3-Things you hear
2-things you smell
1-thing you taste
What is it called when you find that you need to use more of a substance to get the same high you used to experience with less?
Over time your body will adapt to the use of an addictive substance so that it needs the substance just to feel normal. To get high you have to increase the usual dosage. Developing a tolerance is a symptom of addiction.
What condiment was used as medicine during the 1830s?
Defense Mechanism: Feeling a painful emotion/experience but not outwardly expressing it (having a blank face)
Isolation of Affect
What neurotransmitter is affected by depression?
Serotonin
What is TIPP (the Ps can be interchangeable) ?
Temperature, Intense Exercise, Paced Breathing, and Progressive Muscle Relaxation
A DBT skill that you can use to cope with overwhelming emotions and reduce distress in the moment
What is a blackout?
An amnesia like period that is associated with heavy drinking or drug use.
What is the bodies heaviest organ?
The skin