Denial

I’m not in denial, I’m just selective about the reality I accept. –Bill Watterson

Denial is a type of defense mechanism or coping strategy described as sticking your head in the sand or ignoring the elephant in the living room. The Emperor’s New Clothes is a story to explain collective denial. Denial can keep us stuck, ignoring the reality of a situation because the consequences of facing that reality can be devastating. For example, we deny knowledge of our partner’s infidelity because accepting reality means a difficult confrontation and a possible breakup. We deny sex abuse in a family because the only way out is to expose the collusion in the family system. We deny addiction and become co-dependent ourselves because addiction is such an insidious and seemingly intractable situation. Collectively we deny reality to avoid political or social consequences and we do not want to be the only one to call out the naked emperor.