In mental health, there is a notion known as "cognitive dissonance," which is a term that is related to motivated thinking. Cognitive dissonance refers to the discomfort we experience when our opinions or behaviors conflict with each other. We seek to relieve this feeling of discomfort, and one way we do so is by adjusting our beliefs to meet our actions. For example, if we do something we know is wrong, we may try to explain it by convincing ourselves that it wasn't that terrible or that we had an acceptable explanation for doing it. In some ways, this false pretense could be interpreted as a means of maintaining our mental health or perspective. So, even if it means misleading ourselves, we need to safeguard our mentality.