Abstract
In an effort to prove to themselves, to their environment, and of course to their physicians that they are healthy and fit, many patients will attempt to deny both the existence and the significance of their acute myocardial infarction by performing deep knee bends, by jogging, or by the execution of other physically demanding tasks. Such attempts to “conquer” pain and thereby to ward off acceptance and understanding of this life-threatening illness may be understood as behaviors based on the defense mechanism of denial but serving to preserve the continuity of the patient’s very concept of self and the position of that person in his or her perceived interpersonal network.
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© 1989 Plenum Press, New York
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Ohlmeier, D. (1989). Denial in Patients with Myocardial Infarction. In: Edelstein, E.L., Nathanson, D.L., Stone, A.M. (eds) Denial. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-0737-2_18
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-0737-2_18
Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA
Print ISBN: 978-1-4612-8057-6
Online ISBN: 978-1-4613-0737-2
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