By Rachel Bater, News Correspondent

Melissa Robinson, a freshman business major, said she didn’t exactly know how to cope when her mother was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2007.
She had many questions, she said, and at times, felt isolated.
‘I didn’t really know what to expect when my mom first started chemo,’ she said. ‘I knew only the typical stuff, that she would probably lose her hair and it would make her very weak.’
Amidst the difficulties the situation presented, Robinson said she found a source of solace in a well-known news anchor.
‘My mom and I watch ‘Good Morning America,’ regularly and she actually was diagnosed with breast cancer around the same time that Robin Roberts announced that she had it,’ Robinson said. ‘Seeing the segments the show would run updating the public on Roberts’ condition made me feel like my mom wasn’t the only one going through it.’
During trying times, experts say people resort to defense mechanisms. Sigmund Freud brought this theory forth in the early 20th century through research he conducted with his daughter Anna. Defense mechanisms arise to protect one’s ego, experts say, which Freud defined as part of the id, or unconscious, that has been modified by the direct influence of the external world, in his book, ‘The Ego and the Id.’ These mechanisms include suppression, which is when a person intentionally avoids thinking about disturbing wishes, feelings or experiences, sublimation, which occurs when a person channels potentially maladaptive feelings into socially acceptable behavior, reaction formation, denial, repression and identification, among others, according to the DSM-IV, which provides guidelines for a proper diagnosis.
‘The ego receives the reality that you cannot handle and through the use of defense mechanisms, presents you with a reality that is more acceptable,’ said Richard Ely, a psychology professor at Boston University.
Identification is one such defense mechanism, experts say. Typically, identification is described as the unconscious process of modeling one’s self upon another, but also includes circumstances when one closely relates to the values of a certain group.
‘One will identify with a figure that has desirable attributes that he or she feels they do not posses themselves,’ Ely said. ‘This will then lessen the pain that perceived thoughts of oneself can bring.’
Experts say there is a scope of people who identify with celebrities and find comfort and inspiration in how they deal with their conflicts. Aside from the entertainment aspect, the struggles of celebrities can have a personal impact on everyday people, Ely said.
With every other tabloid dishing on the latest Britney drama, providing hourly updates on Jennifer Aniston’s love life or shaming Michael Phelps for allegedly taking a few hits of marijuana, it’s clear that this corner of the media provides entertainment for many. But does it run deeper than that?
‘I don’t really see it as shallow,’ said Katie Golembieski, a freshman health sciences major. ‘I think our culture tries to live in accordance with celebrities, but it’s a natural tendency.’
A tendency that Alexandra Singer, a sophomore business marketing major, said she often resorts to. Singer, a self-proclaimed ‘Sex and the City’ buff, sees a version of herself in Carrie Bradshaw, the show’s Manolo Blahnik-wearing protagonist.
‘Whenever Carrie and Big have issues on the show, Carrie goes shopping,’ Singer said. ‘I find that when I’m having trouble with a boyfriend or friend, shopping relaxes me and gets my mind off of it.’
Identification is considered one of the more sophisticated defense mechanisms, psychologists say.
‘Identification is considered mature, because it actually can help,’ Ely said
In times of trouble, it is common for people to look for support and advice, and for many, that consolation comes from knowing that celebrities who appear to have everything, struggle with many of the same issues the common man faces.
‘Seeing celebrities go through these difficulties may make us feel better about our own issues,’ said Jack Levin, a sociology professor at Northeastern. ‘We identify with ‘what we could be.”
For Robinson, seeing a television anchor deal with the same illness her mother was facing, and continuing to report national news on a daily basis, gave her hope in a spell that leaves many hopeless, she said.
‘Seeing Roberts go through the same kind of thing as my mom and turn out alright made me feel a little less scared and overwhelmed by everything,’ Robinson said. ‘It helped me feel that if Roberts can go on and work every day, there was no doubt that my mom would be healthy and back to her normal self again.’