"Denies" redirects here. Not to be confused with Denys.
A 17th century painting depicting the Denial of Peter, found in the four Gospels in the New Testament. In it, Peter denies having associated with Jesus, who is being sought by authorities.
the assertion that any particular statement or allegation, whose truth is uncertain, is not true;[1]
the refusal of a request; and
the assertion that a true statement is false.
In psychology, denialism is a person's choice to deny reality as a way to avoid a psychologically uncomfortable truth.
In psychoanalytic theory, denial is a defense mechanism in which a person is faced with a fact that is too uncomfortable to accept and rejects it instead, insisting that it is not true despite what may be overwhelming evidence. The concept of denial is important in twelve-step programs, where the abandonment or reversal of denial that substance dependence is problematic forms the basis of the first, fourth, fifth, eighth, and tenth steps.[citation needed]
People who are exhibiting symptoms of a serious medical condition sometimes deny or ignore those symptoms because the idea of having a serious health problem is uncomfortable or disturbing. The American Heart Association cites denial as a principal reason that treatment of a heart attack is delayed.[2] Because the symptoms are so varied, and often have other potential explanations, the opportunity exists for the patient to deny the reality of the emergency, often with fatal consequences. It is common for patients to delay recommended mammograms or other tests because of a fear of cancer, despite the fact that, on average, this worsens the long-term medical outcome.[3]
Psychology
Initial short-term denial can be a good thing, giving time to adjust to a painful or stressful issue. It might also be a precursor to making some sort of change in one's life. But denial can also be harmful; if denial persists and prevents a person from taking appropriate action, it's a harmful response.[4]
In political and economic context
Some people who have been known to be in denial of historical or scientific facts accepted by the mainstream of society or by experts, for political or economic reasons, have been referred to as denialists[5] or true believers. Examples of denialism in this context include:
^"denial". Oxford English Dictionary (Online, U.S. English ed.). Oxford University Press. Archived from the original on 2016-05-10. Retrieved 2014-05-24 – via oxforddictionaries.com.
