Cancer Defence Mechanisms

Hey Cancers! What sorts of defence mechanisms do you use to deal with your emotions?

The ones I've witnessed among crabs I know include:
withdrawal, sarcasm, blaming others, temper tantrums, hiding emotions behind intelligence

They side step the issues and either give vague answers or don't answer at all.

I have witnessed all of these..

Don't forget lying. Shameless, looking you straight in the eye, lying.

Self-discipline. When that fails I tend to simply withdraw into myself and try not to burden anyone else with my bad mood.

It's a simple fact; Cancers feel VERY intensely, and our feelings can and will affect the people around us. To be a mature, responsible Cancer takes a level of self-discipline no other sign will understand.

Withdraw,go alone, don't say shit , or sometimes if I am aware that I have to protect myself or I'm just feeling logical, I would pretend I'm above all the shit that I want to stay safe from, I would walk and talk as if this situation was under me. I would talk logic also using inspiration terms and staying a way form the piss off emotions, its hard for me to find this place I would had to catch it before I went to deep into depression.

Also in the pass I had try to do the opposite of wat I'm feeling to have control wat I want to feel act the time. It weird but sometimes it helps. But to do this I would have catch the bad emotion be for it get to depression

Another thing I do if the emotion came from someone doing something bad to me, I would just be a bitch to that person and anyone around that person , thinking about it I become a bitch to everyone, I take that back , saying I become a bitch ,i instead start to act cold to everyone,pushing people away ,doing everything for me ,focusing on me. I start treating my self as if I'm the only one in the world or to say in my world. The shit is weird but I notices sometimes I get like this when people disapoint me. This is another thing I do but don't really no wat makes me do it sometimes ,I don't have control of this one either.

When I can't understand or control my emotions I tend to with draw. I go into my own little world to deal with whatever it is thats going on inside of me. I do this to protect the people that I love and care for. I certainly don't like lashing out on anybody who has nothing to do with my inner battles. Sometimes it gets so intense I just go for a long run it helps me clear my mind and usually I'm feeling better after that. I channel those emotions into activities that will keep me sane. Sometimes people take it on the offensive when we withdraw thinking they had something to do with it, but usually after I feel better i call up my homegirls and go out for some fun.

Self discipline, humour, occasional withdrawal ( this usually happens when someone close hurts Me) and intellectualisation of emotions. That's my 2 cents as a cancer.

Yep. I forgot about counter-attacks and side-stepping issues. I've never known a cancer who outright lied. I know one who uses self-discipline to hide all emotions.

My bff uses self-discipline and hiding emotions behind intelligence religiously. When we first met, she struck me as a cold bitch. As I got to know her, I understood that she was repressing her emotions due to fear of showing vulnerability and losing control. She has a need to show the world - and try and convince herself - that nothing can touch her and that she doesn't give a crap about anything. Underneath that tough exterior though, she is very caring. She's looked after me more than once in ways that no one else would at the time.

With my bf, I've begun to learn what's behind each of his (many)defensive behaviours & starting to understand which ones connect to which emotions. While I frequently witness these behaviours, I'm fortunately not often on the receiving end. He rarely even withdraws from me anymore and when he does, it's usually only for a few minutes.

The one I'm having a hard time with still is the sarcasm. He will be sarcastic when angry/hurt but he can also be sarcastic for seemingly any old reason - though I'm guessing he does it out of insecurity. I'm also on the receiving end of this a lot. When he's sarcastic with me, he sees it as playful teasing but I often find it immature, annoying and sometimes hurtful. For example, sometimes - but not always - I'll try to kiss him or I'll say something loving to him - and he'll respond by saying, "Yuck". Or I'll be reading a book and he'll ask "When did you learn to read?" It's fucking irritating.