That way, we aren't threatened by the feeling, or even the awareness of the feeling. Like denial and repression, you can begin to do this automatically and as a result never know what your true feelings are. Defenses are ultimately something we do to protect ourselves from pain. While we all use them when troubled, we generally come to a point when we face our problems and don't have to rely so heavily on our defenses to protect us. Defenses become unhealthy when we refuse to face our true experiences, thoughts, and feelings.
Several problems develop.
Pent up emotions can overwhelm us, and make us feel as though we've been knocked over by a tsunami of pain.