In psychology, the unconscious redirection of energy or emotion that opposes or suppresses a natural impulse or desire.
From counter- (opposite) + cathexis (from Greek kathexis, 'holding fast,' used in psychoanalysis to describe emotional investment). A Freudian psychological term coined in early 20th-century psychoanalytic theory.
Countercathexis might explain why people sometimes make jokes about topics that make them deeply uncomfortable—their mind is actively redirecting anxiety into humor, which is a form of emotional self-protection.
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