Self-deception is the psychological protection of a person from troubles and life problems, difficulties. Self-deception is a process of self-hypnosis, when a person is ready by any means to convince himself that everything that happens to him in life is the truth that really suits him. Self-deception is the creation of an illusion that does not allow a person to develop and realistically assess the current situation.
Often a person, even to himself, is not able to admit his fears, weaknesses, insecurities and problems that require immediate solutions. What is the danger of self-deception? Why shouldn't you come up with stories about your life that do not correspond to reality?
If you continue to lie to yourself, then all the fears will not go anywhere, the problems will not be solved, the people you don’t want to see will not leave on their own, the work will not change itself. This means that all this will continue to destroy a person and not give an opportunity to be realized in life.
Self-deception is a completely conscious action that a person performs, trying not to see the truth, avoiding making a decision. This is a conscious suggestion to oneself that everything is “good and wonderful”, although in reality everything can be “bad and terrible”.
Examples of self-deception
The person fell ill and all the means with which he was treated before that do not help him. Every day his condition worsens, he can no longer eat, sleep and go to work normally. But at the same time he continues to inspire himself with the thought: "Everything is fine, everything will pass, we must wait a little longer."
The disease does not appear so that a person does not notice it. And in order to point out very specific problems that need to be addressed immediately.
If we turn to psychosomatics, then, according to experts, most diseases do not arise by chance, are the result of internal conflicts, having solved which, a person can completely get rid of pathology. But if you continue to convince yourself that everything is normal in life, and the disease is only a temporary phenomenon, the result can be disastrous.
If a woman meets a married man, at the same time inspires himself with the idea that in fact he has not loved his wife for a long time, is going to divorce her and you just need to wait a little for the situation to change, this is self-deception. In most cases, the circumstances are not in favor of this woman. A man stays with his wife, and if he divorces, then for some reason he is in no hurry to marry his new darling. Plus, some women stop noticing the shortcomings of such men, seeing in them only a "prince on a white horse." In reality, everything turns out to be not so rosy.
Some parents try to literally "shove" their beloved children into a sports section or music school, dreaming that soon their son (or daughter) will become a great athlete or famous musician. In fact, everything is different. If there are simply no prerequisites for a child to achieve at least some decent results, and the parents continue to indulge themselves with the illusion and hopes for a "bright future", this is self-deception. At the same time, some parents sincerely begin to believe that their child is a genius, instilling this illusion in themselves.
Self-deception is a kind of behavior strategy developed with the help of self-protection from negative experiences.
What is the danger of self-deception
When a person wants to achieve some results in life, he must accumulate a certain resource that will allow him to achieve what he wants. Self-deception in this case will play a "cruel joke" with a person, forcing him to overestimate his capabilities and attribute qualities that he does not possess in reality.
Successful people will never deceive themselves. They realistically assess their capabilities, set themselves quite achievable tasks and gradually begin to solve them. A loser will only dream of incredible results and set goals that cannot be achieved, consoling himself that it takes a little more time and everything will happen by itself. Losers cannot calculate their strength correctly. Self-deception prevents them.
Why people are willing to deceive themselves
There can be many reasons for self-deception. Here are just a few:
- fear of admitting something to oneself, taking responsibility;
- low self-esteem;
- unwillingness or intense fear to experience suffering and pain;
- false beliefs and belief in something that doesn't really exist.
As a result of self-deception, a person can stop developing and move towards a goal. At some point, he actually completely ceases to distinguish between illusion and reality and begins to endlessly lie to himself and to those around him.
