What is self-deception?

Self-deception is when you believe something that isn’t really true, and you're the one who made it happen.

Imagine you have a toy box full of your favorite toys. But today, someone took away your favorite car. You want to believe it’s still in there, so you pretend you can hear it inside the box. That's self-deception, you’re telling yourself something that isn’t true just to feel better.

Sometimes, self-deception helps us stay happy. Like when you're playing a game and you lose, but you say, "I was almost the winner!" You're pretending it wasn't as bad as it really was.

It's like wearing glasses that make everything look green, even though everything is actually blue. You believe what your glasses show you, even if they’re wrong. Self-deception is a bit like that, your brain puts on special thinking-glasses to help you feel good or avoid being sad.

And guess what? It’s totally normal! Everyone does it sometimes. Self-deception is when you believe something that isn’t really true, and you're the one who made it happen.

Imagine you have a toy box full of your favorite toys. But today, someone took away your favorite car. You want to believe it’s still in there, so you pretend you can hear it inside the box. That's self-deception, you’re telling yourself something that isn’t true just to feel better.