Originally Posted by
RobbyRobot 
Hi EndGame. Interesting discussion on denial and defenses and be they either or both unconscious or conscious. For myself, given the above statements on denial, I suppose I'm remarkable in that I do not now, or at anytime since receiving my incurable diagnosis struggle with denial consciously. As for my unconscious, I wouldn't know, lol.
I'm thinking about your and haennies posts. I just wanted to get this out there.
That's okay, Robby.
There are mitigating factors involved in each type of psychological defense, and they often do not work as completely as they might. And sometimes they "go too far." The more we rely on ego defenses in life to get through our difficulties, the more likely they are to grow stronger and to be our first line of defense. And so on...
In retrospect, I'd rather not get into a discussion on this as my OP on the subject was much more about a personal, emotional interaction than it was a theoretical discussion of defense mechanisms. By definition, we cannot fully know to what extent our defense mechanisms are in play, no matter how insightful we may see ourselves. If I were to continue on this line of reasoning, based on Freudian theory and my interpretation of that theory, I'd need to make comments that some people would likely experience as disturbing (or am I just repressing/projecting/denying here?
).
In further response to Haennie, I wanted to say to her that there seems to be a level of projecting in your analysis that overreaches my actual experience which, in turn, seems to have brought about a superficial confrontation on a seemingly theoretical level. And I'm uncomfortable with that, even though I see my part in it.
I don't believe that theoretical discussions are free of either personal investment or emotion. Discussions about Freud's theories and their application easily spill over into fist fights, and I'd much prefer to leave my contributions at that.
There is plenty of information on the Internet to resolve the issues around mechanisms of defense for anyone who's interested in such things without applying that information to an experience between my sister and me beyond what my own experience was in that situation.