This is one of three Pre-mentalistic stances - ways that the mind thinks when the mentalizing function has been overidden or switched off (the most common cause for this is high levels of Affect.

Teleological thinking effectively assumes that difficulties (ie unpleasant mental states) can be "solved by doing"; the person whose thinking has become teleological is focused entirely on the physical ends - the outcomes, not on what getting these might mean.

The Telos in ancient greek is the "final/complete/perfect end."

Examples:

• Anger may be resolved by destruction of property of violence
• Grief or fear by use of substances
• Self-hatred, or the confusion of dissociation, by cutting or other self-injurious behaviour

Equally, the 'doing' may be something that is to be done by another person:

• I may decide that my partner can only really prove their love by doing something such as leaving work now because I am in a crisis.
• I may be convinced that the only proof that my keyworker cares about me would be if they agree to see me this evening - even though this is out of their ordinary working hours.
• I may believe that the only way my mother can show she loves me is for her to give me the £20 I need to go out with my friends - anything else would "prove" that she doesn't really understand or care about my need to avoid losing face with my friends.