Everyone deals with anxiety in a different way. At an unconscious level, one develops defense mechanisms to reduce tension aiming for some state of balance. This however can create some distortion in one’s reality making it hard for the person to differentiate between what is real and what is not.
Some forms of defense mechanisms include Undoing, rationalization, displacement, projection, denial, reaction formation, withdrawal, introjection, fantasy, acting out, regression, compensation, intellectualization and identification.
Awareness is the first step to address these mechanisms that interfere with personal growth and having healthy relationships and interactions.. It is important to choose more constructive alternatives for coping that you can use instead.