Refusing to believe or even to perceive painful realities constitutes the defense mechanism known as

A) regression.
B) denial.
C) displacement.
D) projection.

Denial

A defense mechanism where a person refuses to accept reality or facts, blocking external events from awareness.

Defense Mechanism

Unconscious psychological strategies employed to protect oneself from anxiety or social sanctions and to provide a refuge from a situation with which one cannot currently cope.

Painful Realities

The acceptance or acknowledgment of difficult, distressing, or unpleasant truths or situations.