Defense Mechanism: Intellectualization

Emotions can be messy at times. And, especially when going through a challenging time, it can be tempting to do what you can to avoid them. This is a time to be on the lookout for the defense mechanism of intellectualization. Intellectualization involves removing the feelings from a situation and instead focusing on the thinking aspects of it.

This is not to say that you shouldn’t think at all when it comes to your emotions, this is to say that it is not healthy to remove all aspects of emotions and only lean into thinking aspects of experiences.

Examples of this could be:

• A person in debt pours themselves into financial spreadsheets instead of addressing potential sadness, overwhelm, fear, or shame

• A person who is told they have a terminal illness consumes themselves with research on this illness instead of addressing potential sadness, grief, or anxiety

• You just broke up with your partner and find yourself analyzing what went wrong and your partner’s behaviors instead of addressing potential loneliness, sadness, or heartbreak