Question

Case study

Viki, age fifty-seven, has a demanding job as an executive for an accounting firm. She’s been married to Alex, a sixty-year-old engineering consultant, for thirty-four years. Their three adult children live with their own families in various locations throughout the country.

Viki typically works eleven-hour days, often including weekends. Alex’s job is also demanding; therefore, they don’t see much of each other, nor do they socialize very often. In his free time, Alex enjoys fishing, reading, and doing projects around the house.
Viki often states that she loves her job. Her high-level position makes her feel very important, and she feels the need to keep striving for greater accomplishments in order to keep up with her colleagues. However, she is often exhausted at the end of each workday, and looks forward to a very dry martini upon arriving home to help her unwind. Over the next few hours, she relaxes with a couple more drinks while watching television. Eventually, she passes out on the couch and Alex goes to bed by himself. Viki typically wakes up at 2:00 or 3:00 a.m. and drags herself into bed. A few hours later, her alarm sounds and she’s soon off to work again. She claims that she is not an alcoholic, though. She only drinks because she has a hard time winding down after a whirlwind day at the office, and a few martinis help.
Two weeks ago, Viki attended a going-away party for one of her colleagues. Although she only had a couple of martinis, a police officer pulled her over as she left the parking lot and cited her for driving under the influence. Viki is mortified. She usually only drinks a little at home and emphasizes that she isn’t a public nuisance like those other drunk drivers on the road.

Question
People who abuse alcohol typically adopt a series of defense mechanisms to protect themselves from having to deal with the problems caused by abuse. Which of these defense mechanisms does Viki appear to be using? Give examples from the scenario.

Answer 1

Defence mechanisms are our unconscious attempts to save our ego and identity from harm. From the given case study, Viki seems to be using the following defence mechanisms -

1) Rationalization - problematic behaviour is justified with a rational cause, ignoring the actual underlying cause.

Viki justifies her drinking by stating that she does it to unwind from the day's hard work at office, ignoring the actual situation, that she has become alcoholic and loiks forward to drinking.

2)Denial - occurs when a person refuses to acknowledge the existence of a problem which is apparent to others. When Vicki is confronted by the Police officer, she is mortified and denies that she is a heavy drinker or that her drinking and driving can create a problem.