The Defense Style Questionnaire

Take the DSQ below.

Read each statement carefully (at the end of each statement in brackets is the defense mechanism it relates to), think about how much the statement applies to your past experiences and answer yes or no.

This is not a test.

I'm interested to see how you respond to each of the statements, so copy and paste them into your reply or quote them (removing the quotes) and post your answers.

The DSQ is from this website: http://web.pdx.edu/~dcoleman/dsq2.html

(I removed the numbering)


- I'm able to keep a problem out of my mind until I have time to deal with it. (suppression)

- I work out my anxiety through doing something constructive and creative like painting or woodwork. (sublimation)

- I'm able to laugh at myself pretty easily. (humor)

- I can keep the lid on my feelings if letting them out would interfere with what I'm doing (suppression)

- I'm usually able to see the funny side of an otherwise painful predicament. (humor)

- When I have to face a difficult situation I try to imagine what it will be like and plan ways to cope with it. (anticipation)

- If I can predict that I'm going to be sad ahead of time, I can cope better. (anticipation)

- Sticking to the task at hand keeps me from feeling depressed or anxious. (sublimation)

- After I fight for my rights, I tend to apologize for my assertiveness. (undoing)

- If I have an aggressive thought, I feel the need to do something to compensate for it. (undoing)

- I get satisfaction from helping others and if this were taken away from me I would get depressed. (pseudo-altruism)

- If I were in a crisis, I would seek out another person who had the same problem. (pseudo-altruism)

- I always feel that someone I know is like a guardian angel. (idealization)

- There is someone I know who can do anything and who is absolutely just and fair. (idealization)

- If someone mugged me and stole my money, I'd rather he be helped than punished. (reaction formation)

- I often find myself being very nice to people who by all rights I should be angry at. (reaction formation)

- People tend to mistreat me. (projection)

- I am sure I get a raw deal from life. (projection)

- If my boss bugged me, I might make a mistake in my work or work more slowly so as to get back at him. (passive aggression)

- No matter how much I complain, I never get a satisfactory response. (passive aggression)

- I often act impulsively when something is bothering me. (acting out)

- I get openly aggressive when I feel hurt. (acting out)

- I'm often told that I don't show my feelings. (isolation)

- Often I find that I don't feel anything when the situation would seem to warrant strong emotions. (isolation)

- I pride myself on my ability to cut people down to size. (devaluation)

- I'm a very inhibited person. (devaluation)

- I get more satisfaction from my fantasies than from my real life. (autistic fantasy)

- I work more things out in my daydreams than in my real life. (autistic fantasy)

- People say I tend to ignore unpleasant facts as if they didn't exist. (denial)

- I fear nothing. (denial)

- Doctors never really understand what is wrong with me. (displacement)

- When I'm depressed or anxious, eating makes me feel better. (displacement)

- I ignore danger as if I was Superman. (dissociation)

- I've special talents that allow me to go through life with no problems. (dissociation)

- Sometimes I think I'm an angel and other times I think I'm a devil. (splitting)

- As far as I'm concerned, people are either good or bad. (splitting)

- I am able to find good reasons for everything I do. (rationalization)

- There are always good reasons when things don't work out for me (rationalization)

- I get physically ill when things aren't going well for me. (somatization)

- I get a headache when I have to do something I don't like. (somatization)

- I'm able to keep a problem out of my mind until I have time to deal with it. (suppression)

That depends on the problem.

- I work out my anxiety through doing something constructive and creative like painting or woodwork. (sublimation)

Sometimes.

- I'm able to laugh at myself pretty easily. (humor)

That depends on whether I find myself funny or not.

- I can keep the lid on my feelings if letting them out would interfere with what I'm doing (suppression)

Sometimes.

- I'm usually able to see the funny side of an otherwise painful predicament. (humor)

I'm not sure how usual that is for me.

- When I have to face a difficult situation I try to imagine what it will be like and plan ways to cope with it. (anticipation)

Yes.

- If I can predict that I'm going to be sad ahead of time, I can cope better. (anticipation)

Sometimes.

- Sticking to the task at hand keeps me from feeling depressed or anxious. (sublimation)

Sometimes.

- After I fight for my rights, I tend to apologize for my assertiveness. (undoing)

No.

- If I have an aggressive thought, I feel the need to do something to compensate for it. (undoing)

No.

- I get satisfaction from helping others and if this were taken away from me I would get depressed. (pseudo-altruism)

No.

- If I were in a crisis, I would seek out another person who had the same problem. (pseudo-altruism)

No.

- I always feel that someone I know is like a guardian angel. (idealization)

No.

- There is someone I know who can do anything and who is absolutely just and fair. (idealization)

No.

- If someone mugged me and stole my money, I'd rather he be helped than punished. (reaction formation)

I don't know because that's never happened to me.

- I often find myself being very nice to people who by all rights I should be angry at. (reaction formation)

No.

- People tend to mistreat me. (projection)

No.

- I am sure I get a raw deal from life. (projection)

No.

- If my boss bugged me, I might make a mistake in my work or work more slowly so as to get back at him. (passive aggression)

That's never happened so I don't know how I'd react.

- No matter how much I complain, I never get a satisfactory response. (passive aggression)

No.

- I often act impulsively when something is bothering me. (acting out)

No.

- I get openly aggressive when I feel hurt. (acting out)

Sometimes.

- I'm often told that I don't show my feelings. (isolation)

No.

- Often I find that I don't feel anything when the situation would seem to warrant strong emotions. (isolation)

No.

- I pride myself on my ability to cut people down to size. (devaluation)

Yes, but that's something that rarely occurs because of the fact that most people, in my experience, have been too stubborn/deluded to be cut down to size at times when I've tried to do that.

- I'm a very inhibited person. (devaluation)

No.

- I get more satisfaction from my fantasies than from my real life. (autistic fantasy)

No.

- I work more things out in my daydreams than in my real life. (autistic fantasy)

Yes.

- People say I tend to ignore unpleasant facts as if they didn't exist. (denial)

No.

- I fear nothing. (denial)

No.

- Doctors never really understand what is wrong with me. (displacement)

No.

- When I'm depressed or anxious, eating makes me feel better. (displacement)

No.

- I ignore danger as if I was Superman. (dissociation)

No.

- I've special talents that allow me to go through life with no problems. (dissociation)

No.

- Sometimes I think I'm an angel and other times I think I'm a devil. (splitting)

No.

- As far as I'm concerned, people are either good or bad. (splitting)

Most people are both good and bad to varying degrees, but then there's people who lack a sense of altruism and empathy and I consider those ones to be bad.

- I am able to find good reasons for everything I do. (rationalization)

No.

- There are always good reasons when things don't work out for me (rationalization)

There's always a reason why things don't work out, but I don't pretend that all of my decisions are good ones.

- I get physically ill when things aren't going well for me. (somatization)

Rarely.

- I get a headache when I have to do something I don't like. (somatization)

Rarely.

As fun as this looks, i'll just summarize for you.

I'm very good at rationalizing, i suppress anger and probably other emotions as well, and i idealize often too. Those are the three that stick out.

I idealize, devalue, split (according to therapist) and project again supposedly. Other than that it’s really hard to say, I don’t have insight beyond that. I can’t answer a lot of those questions to be honest I’m sure there are plenty of others too

Can you post a shorter one?

- I'm able to keep a problem out of my mind until I have time to deal with it. (suppression)

Yup, things have a priority, and some things appearing important, actually aren't.

- I work out my anxiety through doing something constructive and creative like painting or woodwork. (sublimation)

Sometimes, if not severely burdened.

- I'm able to laugh at myself pretty easily. (humor)

Yes

- I can keep the lid on my feelings if letting them out would interfere with what I'm doing (suppression)

Yes

- I'm usually able to see the funny side of an otherwise painful predicament. (humor)

Yes

- When I have to face a difficult situation I try to imagine what it will be like and plan ways to cope with it. (anticipation)

Yes yes!

- If I can predict that I'm going to be sad ahead of time, I can cope better. (anticipation)

Yes

- Sticking to the task at hand keeps me from feeling depressed or anxious. (sublimation)

Maybe

- After I fight for my rights, I tend to apologize for my assertiveness. (undoing)

No

- If I have an aggressive thought, I feel the need to do something to compensate for it. (undoing)

No

- I get satisfaction from helping others and if this were taken away from me I would get depressed. (pseudo-altruism)

No

- If I were in a crisis, I would seek out another person who had the same problem. (pseudo-altruism)

Maybe if it was effortless

- I always feel that someone I know is like a guardian angel. (idealization)

No

- There is someone I know who can do anything and who is absolutely just and fair. (idealization)

No

- If someone mugged me and stole my money, I'd rather he be helped than punished. (reaction formation)

No

- I often find myself being very nice to people who by all rights I should be angry at. (reaction formation)

No

- People tend to mistreat me. (projection)

Drama is a definite no.

- I am sure I get a raw deal from life. (projection)

Not something I'd think about.

- If my boss bugged me, I might make a mistake in my work or work more slowly so as to get back at him. (passive aggression)

Never

- No matter how much I complain, I never get a satisfactory response. (passive aggression)

Listening really is difficult.

- I often act impulsively when something is bothering me. (acting out)

I have

- I get openly aggressive when I feel hurt. (acting out)

Yes, as said, pointing out their flaws.

- I'm often told that I don't show my feelings. (isolation)

My essence has been reported and described as neutral. By an unapproachable doctor.

- Often I find that I don't feel anything when the situation would seem to warrant strong emotions. (isolation)

Yes, intentional

- I pride myself on my ability to cut people down to size. (devaluation)

No

- I'm a very inhibited person. (devaluation)

No

- I get more satisfaction from my fantasies than from my real life. (autistic fantasy)

No

- I work more things out in my daydreams than in my real life. (autistic fantasy)

Sometimes

- People say I tend to ignore unpleasant facts as if they didn't exist. (denial)

Idk, I find this disturbing in others.

- I fear nothing. (denial)

No

- Doctors never really understand what is wrong with me. (displacement)

No

- When I'm depressed or anxious, eating makes me feel better. (displacement)

No

- I ignore danger as if I was Superman. (dissociation)

I have

- I've special talents that allow me to go through life with no problems. (dissociation)

No

- Sometimes I think I'm an angel and other times I think I'm a devil. (splitting)

No

- As far as I'm concerned, people are either good or bad. (splitting)

No

- I am able to find good reasons for everything I do. (rationalization)

Yes

- There are always good reasons when things don't work out for me (rationalization)

Yes

- I get physically ill when things aren't going well for me. (somatization)

Yes

- I get a headache when I have to do something I don't like. (somatization)

No, not from that.

What a waste of time.

We've been discussing this for days and so here's another thread on the exact same subject.

Point is: Everyone is defensive. The difference is where you lie on the Defensive Spectrum? Are you so defensive that it impacts your ability to change and view yourself objectively; to be able to accept a viewpoint different from your own?

It's like a drowning man and, instead of looking for somewhere to climb out, he's describing the colour of the water.

justonemoreperson wrote:What a waste of time.

Whine more. It really helps...

Reaper stop being so aggressive.

madness00 wrote:Reaper stop being so aggressive.

I can't help help myself. Too many whiny little bitches here make me aggressive.