*3.6. Psychological Defence Mechanisms*

Defense mechanisms adopted by patients and controls during the COVID-19 emergency were analyzed: both groups tried to use mature psychological defenses (33% versus 36%, respectively) or denied any concern (11% of patients versus 7% of controls); annihilation was encountered in 11% of patients and 15% of controls; a tendency to discredit others was present in 11% of patients and 14% of controls; some of the patients (17%) activated distressing and pacifying actions; this was also seen in 7% of controls. A small percentage of patients (11%) showed a passive mood, demonstrating lack of affective interactions.

Almost half of the patients thought that, from this experience, they learnt something positive (47%) such as the real meaning of relationships, gratitude, and the ability to accept and respect others and to identify priorities. This feeling was even stronger in the control group (70%), stating that some positive aspects were coming from the actual situation as the discovery and enforcement of community spirit, sense of belonging to the same community and nation, values of life, solidarity, and the ability to face hard tasks and overcome limits gave a look inside themselves. Twenty percent of patients stated that they were living this experience in a negative way, learning disillusion, frustration, and resignation to death; 10% of controls lived this dramatic situation as subverting daily routine and forcing to reschedule life; 33% of patients stated that there was nothing to learn by this situation, but to just wait for improvement; and 20% of controls were not able to cope with the actual moment. The proportion of subjects who reported to have learnt positively or negatively from this experience did not differ between the groups (*X*2(1, *N* = 25) = 1.3, *p* = 0.5118).
