Anyone familiar with the "jargon" of mental health professionals of all persuasions has undoubtedly heard the term denial. What you may not know is that it's fairly common not only for professionals but also for others to use the term improperly or in a poorly defined or overgeneralized manner. In classical (psychodynamic) psychology, denial is an unconscious ego defense mechanism. Basically, that means that a person unconsciously puts up a barrier to experiencing what is too painful to consciously bear. An example might be a situation in which a woman who has been married to the same man for 40 years has just had to rush him to the hospital because while they were out in the yard working, he began having trouble speaking and appeared in some distress. The doctors later tell her that he has suffered a stroke, is now virtually brain-dead, and will not recover. Yet, every day she comes to his bedside, holds his hand, and talks to him. The nurses tell her he cannot h