Which defense mechanism is demonstrated when a person forgets a disturbing event from memory?

• A. Denial
• B. Repression
• C. Projection
• D. Sublimation

Answer: (B)

The main idea here is an unconscious defense that blocks distressing memories from conscious awareness to reduce anxiety. This is repression: the person doesn’t consciously decide to forget the event, but the memory is kept out of awareness to protect the ego from painful feelings.

Why this fits best: forgetting a disturbing event aligns with the idea of an automatic, unconscious barrier to painful memory, rather than a conscious act of refusal or denial. Denial would involve insisting the event didn’t happen or isn’t serious while the memory and its impact may still be present in awareness. Projection would be about attributing one’s own uncomfortable feelings to someone else, not about forgetting a memory. Sublimation involves redirecting impulses into socially acceptable activities, not erasing the memory itself.

So forgetting a disturbing event from memory points to repression, an unconscious mechanism that keeps the painful material out of conscious thought.