9 types of personality masks we use to hide ourselves

We are labyrinthine beings. We hide in the recesses of our inner shells and create mental layers and layers that, sooner or later, scab over. All of this is the result of our wounds from yesterday, and in the face of which we look for defensive barriers so that no one senses what is broken. Only in this way can we be more or less functional.

Trauma, anxiety and existential contradictions cause us to raise numerous defense mechanisms. These psychological palisades ultimately allow us to achieve a kind of internal homeostasis. That is to say, they are often unconscious resources with which to protect ourselves from what disturbs or harms us, camouflaging ourselves in other attitudes, responses and behaviors.

In this way, and just as an example, it is very possible that I have not yet gotten over the death of my mother. It doesn’t matter if a year or two has passed, the pain is still there, lodged deep inside. But I don’t want to see it, let alone face it. In response, I choose to deny what I feel and I strive to make others believe that everything is fine and that I can handle anything.

This kind of mental alchemy of torment ends up settling in our personality, creating masks. Understanding and identifying them can allow us to know why we sometimes act and react the way we do.

Our masks are patches that relieve pain, but they do not solve the original problem of our suffering.

Types of personality masks: do you use any?

It was Sigmund Freud who described and introduced the concept of defense mechanisms into psychoanalytic theory. Throughout his life, he and his daughter Anna Freud specified different typologies. Thus, and according to this theoretical framework, we will all at some point use some of these strategies to reduce our psychological discomfort caused, above all, by anxiety.

It is also common to establish these processes in childhood due to many of the insecurities with which we grow up.. This means that we end up questioning ourselves frequently, that we do not know how to handle different challenges and hence the need to develop defensive strategies.

Now, the most interesting thing is to know that our defense mechanisms cause our personality to vary. In fact, a study from the University of São Francisco, in Brazil, highlights that these resources can often make us develop somewhat pathological traits and behaviors.

Somehow, in our attempt to relieve stress and emotional discomfort, we end up developing different types of personality masks. That is to say, They are different ways of being, acting and reacting that are poorly adjusted., as a result of not addressing our source wound, our problem. We analyze, below, all these existing typologies.

1. The evasive personality (nothing suits me)

The first personality mask defines those who tiptoe through life. She is the one who doesn’t get involved in any activity, the one who doesn’t want to take on responsibilities, has a thousand excuses and who seems like nothing worries her too much.

This dynamic that we can sometimes see in adolescents undoubtedly hides more than one internal battle and a large accumulation of insecurities. They are those figures who we ask how they are and they avoid any answer.

2. The victimizer (everything happens to me)

We all know how to recognize the victimizer, who blames others for everything that happens, frustrates or bothers them. It is true that, at times, they seem exhausting to us. It is true that the person who seeks to generate pity to attract attention usually exhausts us. However, we do not always stop to understand what is behind the chronic complaining addict.

Because the truth is that among the types of personality mask this is the most common. The victimizer uses this resource as a defense mechanism against anxiety, fear, poor emotional management or low self-esteem.

3. The aggressive personality (I don’t know what to do with my anger)

It worries us all to see, for example, a child who uses aggressiveness as communication, who hits at school and who always responds in an exaggerated way. It is important to know that in the face of these extreme behaviors, there is almost always a trigger.

Misadjusted behavior full of rage, in many cases, hides within itself many frustrations, loneliness, unreceived affection and, once again, unmanaged emotions.. It is a mask that we can deactivate by providing help, offering tools.

4. Humor (the personality that laughs at everything)

Sometimes, the one who makes others laugh the most is the one who suffers the most. In this type of mask it is very easy to see the actor Robin Williams. He gave us extraordinary characters throughout his career, he attracted us with his histrionics and great sense of humor. However, deep inside him he struggled with problems and depression that he never overcame.

Although we may not believe it, there are too many people who make humor their survival mechanism. It is their defensive barrier to avoid what they have broken inside and do not know how to attend to, heal or address.

5. The mask of excessive perfection (I have to control everything)

A study from the University of Pennsylvania indicates that perfectionism is the ruin of happiness. There are many who pride themselves on being highly perfectionistic, thinking that, in doing so, they reveal a superior personality trait. However, it is enough to scratch a little and look at what is behind that mask to see what is hidden.

The perfectionist is gripped by anxiety, insecurities and, often, by an authoritarian upbringing that undermined his self-esteem. The need to do everything well, to not tolerate failures or errors, can lead to more than one mental problem. Eating disorder is an example.

We all wear some mask to hide many of our fears and insecurities.

6. The accommodating personality (taking care of yourself so that you take me into account)

Among the different types of personality masks, this is one we see frequently. They are people who need to please, who do not confront, but rather please to the extreme. of being little more than a doormat. Everyone passes over them, they are the shoulder on which anyone leans and the figure that solves everything without asking for anything in return.

What can a pleaser hide? Why does this behavior emerge as a defensive mechanism? It shows the need to be seen, be useful and reinforce their low self-esteem. They look to others for what they don’t offer themselves: presence, help, and self-validation.

7. The socializers (connect with everyone, so as not to connect with me)

Do you consider yourself a very extroverted person? The ones who are incapable of being alone for even a moment? Sometimes it happens. There are those who need to be with people, to have social contact almost every moment. They are also those who cannot conceive of being without a partner and make it a priority to always live with someone. Whoever it.

This way of being is also a mask, a defensive mechanism that reveals that latent fear of abandonment.

8. The conformist (the personality that sees everything well)

The conformist, unlike the evasive, does not avoid or avoid any obligation. In reality, he adjusts to any circumstance or request because he lacks initiative. Thus, among the different types of personality masks, this is perhaps one of the most striking.

He who is satisfied with everything means that he longs for nothing, desires nothing, and dreams of nothing. Everything suits him because he doesn’t really know what he wants in life. He doesn’t fight, he lets himself be carried wherever he is taken. This apathy and lack of initiative has behind it a lot of insecurity, lack of self-confidence and even a lot of unaddressed sadness. Happiness is excitement and hope, not conformity.

9. The sarcastic personality (the desire to do harm)

Society sometimes values ​​sarcasm assuming it is a trait of wit and intelligence. It’s true, sometimes it is. However, sometimes the sarcastic uses his brilliant mind to hurt others through mockery and covert criticism.

In this case, We are facing another harmful mask behind which someone hides who does not control their impulses, who feels frustrated and finds undervaluing others cathartic. They are people who like to intimidate with flourishes, but who rarely make an act of self-awareness and reflection to understand the reason for such behavior.

To conclude, it is very possible that we see ourselves identified in some of these figures and personality masks. If so, let’s remove those shells to look inside ourselves and simply heal…

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