Compensation is the methods that a person uses to establish relationships with himself and with the environment, in order to better adapt to this environment. Compensatory strategies help a person to more effectively resolve life’s contradictions, to relate to what is happening with less damage to yourself and others, organize your environment in such a way as to be less exposed to traumatic influences. There are also such phenomena that psychologist A. Adler wrote about as overcompensation and pseudocompensation. These are maladaptive strategies of behavior. Overcompensation is characterized by an excessive increase in the antithesis of those personality traits that a person considers to be his shortcoming. As a result, he spends too much energy on this, but the problem is not solved, but only masked. For example: sexual promiscuity of a man who is afraid of emotional intimacy with a woman, the arrogance of an insecure person, the aggressive behavior of a cowardly person, overcompensation for short stature by purchasing large cars, complexes about appearance - fanatical exercise, diets, plastic surgery, etc. Pseudo-compensation is an unproductive way of using psychological defenses aimed at avoidance, attempts to solve the problem in roundabout ways, or hope that the problem will disappear by itself. However, this approach only leads to aggravation of the situation. For example: flight into illness, denial of problems, silence, ignoring discussion of problems, various kinds of addictions as a way to cope with frustration (alcohol, overeating), rituals in behavior as a way to cope with anxiety, withdrawal into a state sacrifices, laziness, deceit, suppression of others, manipulation, etc. Unproductive strategies are tended to be used by people who have difficulties with trust, self-disclosure, with the expression of feelings, who are afraid of appearing weak, being rejected and experiencing many other complexes. For example, they cannot directly ask another for support, but they do it manipulatively - through orders, suppression, humiliation, demonstration of their own helplessness, resentment, claims, demonstration of their over-self-sufficiency, independence. The inability to constructively build boundaries with others forces a person to simply distance himself, hide in his “shell” from the surrounding reality. In a new series of articles, I will write about the compensatory mechanisms of people with different personality types. Don't miss out! You can make an appointment with me via Viber or What'sApp: +7 919 324 75 26.