We now know that pathological lying is spontaneous and unplanned. Impulsivity is often the culprit. We also know that pathological lying is more likely to occur in certain disorders or among individuals who have certain personality traits. Some diagnoses that might include pathological lying includes but is not limited to:. It is important to keep in mind that there are pathological liars who quite frankly just cannot help telling so many lies. It is almost like an automatic impulse for the liar.
Their world is much different from our world. But there are also liars who are gratified bytelling lies, are good at it, and do not regret anything they have ever said. In fact, these liars would meet diagnostic criteria for antisocial personality disorder or sociopathy. These sociopaths also tell truths in ways that give incorrect perspectives. In other words, they tell the truth in a misleading way to cause people to view things in an incorrect fashion.
Such individuals enjoy and get much gratification from keeping you confused and believing their stories. Based on my clinical experience and general research of the profession, I encourage you to keep 6 things in mind as you deal with the pathological liar:. As you can see, trying to understand the liar is as difficult as trying to understand how the world began. Research continues in trying to understand the mind and behavior of the pathological liar.
Defining Pathological Lying Pathological lying is a behavior pattern in which individuals lie chronically or compulsively. Mental Health Disorders Mental health disorders can and do play a role in pathological lying and may be a contributing factor. Narcissistic pathological liars may lie for attention, to make themselves feel better, to feel superior to others or to manipulate others for the purposes of self-gain.
Obsessive Compulsive Disorder: Obsessive compulsive disorder , or OCD, is a mental disorder that features intrusive thoughts and feelings, or obsessions, and a strong urge to perform certain behaviors, or compulsions. In some cases, there are ties between OCD and compulsive lying. Lying can be a true compulsion in a person with OCD experiences, or it can be a negative coping method. Anxiety Disorders: Anxiety can manifest in numerous ways, from acute episodes to more generalized anxiety.
People with anxiety disorders may lie to protect themselves from anxiety triggers or to handle things like a fear of rejection. Antisocial Personality Disorder: Antisocial personality disorder is a serious diagnosis that often involves manipulation and cruelty toward others for the sake of personal amusement. It is often associated with psychopathy. There are numerous other reasons why people may lie with abandon, including: Insecurity: Some people feel very insecure about who they are and might lie in an effort to make themselves feel better or inflate their own sense of self-worth.
And this might connect them to yet another personality disorder. As Eddy says, "The most successful pathological liars are sociopaths, also known as 'antisocial personality disorder' to mental health professionals.
These different hormone levels may play a part in that. As Eddy says, "For most people, cortisol stops them from being overly aggressive and taking unreasonable risks. But for those with antisocial personality disorder, they may have a higher level of testosterone and a lower level of cortisol than the average person This may result in the person lying outrageously, but convincingly. Since lies are often told as a way to seek sympathy, it makes sense why pathological liars might fib about having poor health.
Some pathological liars are "functionally delusional," Carroll says, meaning they actually believe their own lies and can even pass a lie detector test. Carroll says that when someone is changing the script in their head, their eyes tend to flutter for a few seconds as their entire memory changes. And they won't even remember the lie they just told. As mentioned above, it's typical for children and teenagers to lie, as they go through their different stages of development, and test boundaries.
But some children who lie might be doing so due to anxiety or depression. As Carroll says, "Children can be compulsive liars where they will deny mistakes or violations of rules that they obviously did. Actually, compulsive liars may feel powerless to stop themselves from telling lies. While lying—the act of intentionally making an untrue statement—is as old as the human race, the behavior of pathological lying was first documented in medical literature by German psychiatrist Anton Delbrueck in Pathological liars are driven by definite, typically identifiable motives such as bolstering their ego or self-esteem, seeking sympathy, justifying feelings of guilt, or living out a fantasy.
Others may lie simply to alleviate their boredom by creating drama. In , pioneering psychiatrist William Healy, M. They all lie about something they wish to possess or be. Keeping in mind that they typically tell their lies for purposes of self-gratification, here are some common identifying traits of pathological liars. Actively scan device characteristics for identification.
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