Premium
Does ‘denial’ really cover our everyday experiences in clinical oncology? A critical view from a psychoanalytic perspective on the use of ‘denial’
Author(s) -
Salander Par,
Windahl Gunnar
Publication year - 1999
Publication title -
british journal of medical psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.102
H-Index - 62
eISSN - 2044-8341
pISSN - 0007-1129
DOI - 10.1348/000711299159899
Subject(s) - denial , psychoanalytic theory , operationalization , psychology , coping (psychology) , perspective (graphical) , social psychology , psychoanalysis , personality , trustworthiness , confusion , epistemology , psychotherapist , artificial intelligence , philosophy , computer science
The concept of ‘denial’ emanates from psychoanalytic psychology. Within this framework it is regarded as a primitive defence mechanism related to personality disorder. The concept has been adopted by coping research but invested with quite other implications. Different researchers operationalize ‘ denial’ in different ways which contributes to this confusion. This paper views ‘denial’ from the different perspectives of psychoanalysis and coping research and, based on a previous qualitative study, it proposes a reconceptualization which distinguishes between three different processes: ‘avoidance’, ‘disavowal’ and ‘denial’. ‘Disavowal’, self‐deception in the face of accurate perception, is, more than ‘denial’, regarded as the appropriate concept covering everyday experiences of patients dealing mentally with their strain.