Which term describes the ego's unconscious distortion of reality to reduce anxiety?

• A. Defense mechanisms
• B. Paradoxical effect
• C. Change agent
• D. Involuntary admission

Answer: (A)

Defense mechanisms are unconscious strategies the ego uses to cope with anxiety by distorting or denying reality. They operate automatically to keep distressing impulses or emotions out of conscious awareness and to preserve a stable self-image. Common examples include denial, repression, projection, rationalization, displacement, and sublimation. This concept fits the question because it precisely describes how the ego unconsciously distorts reality to reduce anxiety. Other options refer to unrelated ideas: a paradoxical effect is when a treatment produces the opposite of the expected response, a change agent is something that facilitates change, and involuntary admission is a legal status.