Intentionally avoiding thoughts of an unpleasant emotion is an example of which defense mechanism?

Suppression

Explanation:

Suppression is one of the defense mechanisms. People reach for these practices in order to shield themselves from unpleasant events, thought, activities, and memories. Depending on the mechanism or situation, they can be healthy or unhealthy.

Suppression is the mechanism we use to shield from negative and unpleasant by consciously avoiding and suppressing the information we don’t want to face. We might be aware of it, but we chose to avoid thinking about it or facing it. We might find the reasons and excuses to face the situation, say we shall do it later, and forcefully avoid it by buying some time.

It is a mechanism similar to repression, but repression is done on the unconscious level, while suppression is done on purpose by the person.