(a) Denial of reality: A man’s relationship with his father is a troubled one. When he is in his late twenties, and living a few thousand miles away form his parents, his mother phones to tell him...

(a) Denial of reality: A man’s relationship with his father is a troubled one. When he is in his late twenties, and living a few thousand miles away form his parents, his mother phones to tell him that his father has just suffered a heart attack. When she says that she can handle everything, he is pleased that he doesn’t have to disrupt his schedule and make a long trip. So he hangs up and goes about his business. He does not allow himself to understand that a heart attack is a serious matter, and that his father might need his help. (His father is an independent and dominating person who never seems to need his help.) Nor does it occur to him that in spite of her brave words, his mother might want some fi rsthand support. Instead he acts as though nothing very important has happened. (b) Denial helps him to conceal his painful feelings and inner confl icts involving love and hate for his father, so he doesn’t have to face them and deal with them. (c) His behavior certainly didn’t improve his relationship with his parents. (d) Everyone knows that a heart attack is extremely serious. He was not making excuses; he sincerely believed that this was a trivial matter. Only the operation of unconscious psychological defenses could lead to such a severe distortion of reality.