Coping Mechanism Thesaurus Entry: Denial

When a character suffers emotional pain, the brain’s response is to stop the discomfort, and often this results in a coping mechanism being deployed. Whether it’s an automatic response or a learned go-to strategy, a mechanism helps them cope with the stress of the moment or escape the hurt of it.

But if the character develops an unhealthy reliance on that mechanism, problems will arise. Long-term, certain coping behaviors will impair their connections with others, their ability to achieve goals and dreams, and their resiliency in handling life’s pressures.

At some point, they must have an Aha! moment where they realize their coping method is holding them back and they need to seek other ways to deal with stress. Namely, they’ll have to adopt healthier mechanisms that enable them to manage difficulties and ultimately have a happier future.

To help you write your character’s growth (or regression) journey, we’ve created The Coping Mechanism Thesaurus, which contains a range of coping methods. The one we’re highlighting today can be damaging, and we hope this partial entry will help you show your character’s struggle in a way readers can relate to.

Denial

Definition

Refusing to accept facts or reality to avoid painful truths. This can apply to past events or current truths that are unpleasant, upsetting, or frightening.

What It May Look Like

Creating a fantasy version of unpleasant memories, and believing this is how they happened
Becoming agitated or angry when certain subjects are brought up
Avoiding people who continue to bring up the truth
Rationalizing unhealthy behavior (their own or someone else’s), thereby denying a problem exists
Blaming others, so the character can pretend there isn’t an internal issue to address

Basic Human Needs It Could Compromise

Love and Connection: Refusing to manage their problem or face the truth can create friction in important relationships. The character’s denial may even cause them to push away people who speak the truth.
Safety and Security: Denial of physical problems will only make them worsen, and not accepting a known truth can create mental health issues that can impair the character’s health.

Fallout (and Possible Turning Points)

Feeling powerless, as if they’re incapable of dealing with the problem
A relationship falling apart because the character fails to acknowledge how they’re contributing to its failure
A physical or mental condition worsening when the character refuses to seek treatment
Experiencing a crisis due to fallout from ignoring a personal problem (getting fired, beating someone up, etc.)
Medical problems from high cortisol produced by long-term stress

Commitment to Change

Replacing negative coping mechanisms with positive ones is how your character turns the page, but it starts with internal work, new habits, and practices:
Recognizing that their response isn’t healthy, and wanting to change
Listening to the internal voice trying to tell them the truth or that the way they’re remembering events isn’t quite right
Engaging a therapist to help them cope

Need More Descriptive Help?

While this thesaurus is still being developed and expanded, the rest of our descriptive collection (18 unique thesauri and growing) is accessible through the One Stop for Writers THESAURUS database.

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