This is one of three Pre-mentalistic stances that we can identify when peoples' mentalizing is not active.

• In Pretend mode there are indications that subjectivity (my sense of what it is to be me) is completely separated from physical reality.
• There is a quality of "wordiness" (lots of talk, without a real connection to the realities of the here-and-now world).
• This state of mind tends to be characterised by pervasive self-deception, and the rejection of alternative realities that threaten this pretend mode.

In the case of the substance-user this would apply to the long-winded justifications for "...why my habit is not really a problem..." (in spite of the fact that it has got me a criminal record and lost me my home, etc.)

Monty Python make clear the problems of pretend mode functioning:

How to respond to Pretend Mode

In such situations, carefully-deployed Challenging techniques may be required.

When is Pretend mode OK?

Of course there are some situations in which Pretend mode is an entirely appropriate way of functioning - much of children's development of social-interactive skills and enculturation is achieved through make-believe games that are - as the name suggests - carried out in pretend mode!