Pathological liars are pathetic psychopathic affected persons. Many in this world lie for reason and gain. But the pathological liar lies only for internal satisfaction and for nothing else. It will become part and parcel of his life even without knowing it.
The repeated lying of the pathological liar is without any kind of effort whatsoever. The lies mostly present the liar as a hero or a victim. They would casually relate to famous people or to have some extraordinary power, position or wealth. This continues till their whole life becomes an illusion or fabrication.
Pathological lying is mostly compared with compulsive lying. There is the difference of opinion in the psychiatric fraternity about this. Some agree they are equivalent and others say that both are completely different from each other.
This pathological lying starts at a young age and gains momentum in the teenage and continues in adults to create serious consequences all through life. When the lies are exposed to the pathological liar, either they lie more to substantiate the previous ones or get extremely defensive. They never in any circumstances agree or accept that they are lying.
The scientific name of pathological lying is pseudologia fantastica or mythomania and was first described in the medical literature in 1891. It is one of the most complicated and controversial psychopathic studies. It listed as Factor 1 of the PCL or Psychopathic Checklist.
Pathological lying is caused by many factors, but still, the precise cause of it is not ascertained by science. In today’s fast and modern world, millions are affected every year by it. Not to be the one affected or let any of your near and dear ones affected by this disorder continue reading till the end.
SYMPTOMS:
The symptoms of pathological lying are not overt due to its psychological state. Hence it is not easy to identify a particular pattern or design of the symptoms of a pathological liar. And also the symptoms can completely vary from one pathological liar to another. The following are the common symptoms with their relative causes.
- Disguised smiling
- Lack of head movements while lying
- A heightened pitch of the voice
- Reduced rate of speech
- Pauses in between speaking like ‘uh’, ‘hmm’, ‘er’, etc.
- Increased rate of self-adapters like playing with an object in hand, scratching one’s head and any other abnormal body movements while lying
- The lies spoken do not correlate with the bodily movements
- Lies told only with an internal motive, without any external motive of money, sex, power, and many others.
- Lies told with a mindset of being superior unmindful of the consequences whatsoever
- Lies told to decorate their personalities, such as being heroes, exceptionally brave, related to famous people, or having some kind of superpower, position or wealth.
- Pathological liars are more verbally dramatic in narrating lies vividly in a form of the story for others to believe.
- Persistent lying with no personal gain
- They never reveal their true identity in fear of their lying could fail
- They could also use some brief truth to fabricate lies around it
- They lie about being ill to create sympathy
- To cover up substance abuses
- Pathological liars actually believe their lies completely and try to substantiate with more lies
- Lies of pathological could cause embarrassing situations and even bring in legal actions but are never considered as one for creating fraud
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The eyes of the pathological liar flutter for a few seconds when they try to rewrite the memories in their head
- In most of the occasions, they forget their previous lies
- Pathological lies are spontaneous and without any kind of unplanned impulsiveness
- Lies told to be the center of attention
- Lies could be mostly about the recollection of other’s events in life including those of famous people and those in news
- Pathological liars are good manipulators and have a good understanding of their listeners.
- Pathological liars dodge questions during conversations especially the ones asked about their lies.
- There is a uniqueness about each pathological liar and any no two pathological liars are the same
- Unstable relationships
- In and out of many jobs without a streamline of career
CAUSES:
Causes of PF or pseudologia fantastica or mythomania could be due to several factors. In a study, PF was found to be equally caused to both women and men. The exact cause of pathological lying is hard to ascertain but could be one or a combination of the following:
- CNS infection or the central nervous infection
- Head trauma
- Epilepsy
- Anxiety
- Depression
- Coming from a dysfunctional family
- Sexual or physical abuse in childhood
- Impulse control disorders like kleptomania, pathological gambling, and compulsive shopping
- Substance abuse or substance abuse in the family
OCD or obsessive-compulsive disorder:
Studies have found that not everyone with OCD is pathological liars could have OCD disorder.
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Abnormal brain waves:
Electroencephalogram or EEG is a test to detect the abnormalities in brain waves. They also check the electrical activity of the brain. When these give negative results it is due to the abnormal function of the brain’s electrical activity.
ADHD:
Attention – deficit/hyperactivity disorder or ADHD is a form of brain disorder which is characterized by an ongoing pattern of inattention and hyperactivity-impulsivity which interferes with functioning or development of the brain.
Different kind of hormonal levels:
Some theories have found important and interesting hormone levels in pathological liars. They have the opposite ratio of cortisone and testosterone than normal persons. This is common with sociopaths or persons affected by antisocial personality disorders.
Testosterone hormone level high in persons will have a vigorous tendency to take risks with aggressive actions unmindful of the consequences. Cortisone hormones are the opposite of testosterone hormones and control the actions of testosterone hormones. Antisocial personality disorder patients will have a high level of testosterone and low level of cortisone hormones.
But again not all pathological liars are sociopaths, but sociopaths could pathological liars.
Factitious disorders:
This disorder makes people to compulsively lie about medical symptoms and conditions. This is to seek the sympathy of others. And also they want to be continuously taken care of others. Even in the hospital, they complain often about some kind of pain and discomfort. This may lead to serious consequences such as unwanted surgeries or medical treatments.
They actually believe in what they say and to correlate and support their lies could even lie about false facts. When confronted with original facts and figures they are capable enough to re-write their memories to believe a new lie within a fraction of a second or lie on the spot.
The main cause of this is because of their abusive and uncared childhood. Most of them could have grown up in foster homes or in an orphanage. The pathological lies they utter is an internal coping mechanism they have developed over the years.
Bipolar disorder:
Bipolar disorder could be one of the reasons for pathological lying. Even though there is no precise clinical evidence, there are anecdotal accounts suggesting the connection between bipolar disorder and pathological lying.
Some causes which lead to link bipolar disorder with pathological lying include:
- Racing thoughts with rapid speech
- Memory Lapses
- Impulsiveness and impaired judgment
- Grandiosity or infected ego
Anxiety:
Anxiety because of various reasons cause pathological lying. This anxiety cause of pathological lying could differ from childhood to adults.
Children:
It is common around the world for children to not accept mistakes. They try everything known to them to justify their mistakes. They could get anxious and sometimes depressed to cover their mistakes. This may lead to continuous lies. When this becomes severe it could later be the cause of PF. But the good news is that it is curable with children.
Adults:
Adults who are both physically and mentally strong should be able to accept their mistakes and find remedies. But if they still continue to justify these mistakes and feel anxious and depressed to tell lies to cover them up could lead to pathological lying.
The bad news here is, it is difficult to treat the problem in adults. This is because it could lead to narcissism which is totally untreatable. Narcissism affected persons never have the tendency to undergo treatment. This condition continues till their whole life becomes woven by a sea of lies.
Pathological lies to relieve anxiety:
A kid after lying looks bright of the success in justifying the mistake. This only shows the relief of anxiety. Even adults experience this behavior of relieving anxiety by lies. Studies on this aspect have confirmed that most of the pathological liars have anxiety for various reasons. Because of the weak psyche, pathological liars cannot handle the truth or even cannot handle someone presenting the truth. They only get relieved of their anxiety if their lies are believed.
Pathological lies create anxiety:
But the most interesting and disturbing factor is that to keep up the believed lies, they feel anxiety. This causes more lies and becomes an unending cyclic process of lying. This is the time sensations of the associated arousal and reinforcement typical of pathological lying sets in.
Addictive to lies:
Craving to tell lies make lying totally addictive and it is similar to that of gambling. The associated arousal and reinforcement make this happen and always expect for a jackpot or a big bust. The pathological liar gets accustomed to that level of fear and anxiety, that they cannot be able to live without it.
Post-trauma:
Some people after a severe trauma develop mental illnesses like BPD and start lying. This could be their coping mechanisms for escaping from negative feelings or lack of self-worth.
DIAGNOSIS OF PATHOLOGICAL LYING:
Diagnosing pathological lying is an arduous assignment. As per the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, it is listed as a stand-alone disorder. Also, it is mentioned as a symptom of other disorders also. The other mental disorders assumed to be associated with pathological lying are antisocial, narcissistic and histrionic personality disorders. Also, it has been confirmed by these statistics is that pathological lying does not possess characteristics of any other disorders.
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For diagnosing pathological lying there are no specific tests. It is only the expertise of the psychiatrist on the physical observation of the patient. They engage in conversation with the patient to ascertain the underlining cause of pathological lying. For this the psychiatrist does the following physical tests first which include:
- Blood pressure
- Skin conductivity
- Respiration
- Pulse
- Eye movements
- Body language and movements while lying and many more
- Also, a lie detector test is recommended by the psychiatrist
Lie detector test:
This is one test to diagnose pathological lying is primarily done to see the differences of pathological liars with other psychotic disorders. This could ascertain the fact that the pathological liar is lying only because of the effect of PF or of any other causes.
PF & BPD:
The following differences are seen between the pathological liar and a BPD patient, or borderline personality patient. Borderline personality patients desperately strive hard to cope with their abandonment feeling, mistreatments meted out to them, and rejections. They lie in the form of hollow threats in various forms including suicide and false accusations of abandonment. But as far as pathological liars are concerned they never have the feeling of rejection or abandonment and never make any kind of threats or accusations whatsoever. They are more of self-assured persons, only with which they lie successfully.
PF & Histrionic personality disorders:
Pathological liars are more verbally sound and have an attractive way of expressing their lies in contrast to the narcissists. They think they are perfect and criticize others for their faults and totally unempathetic for others. Pathological liars never show this kind of anti-social behaviors.
But some pathological lying could have some characteristics of narcissistic personality disorder or NPD. Both have an exaggerated sense of self-importance.
PF & other psychopathic disorders:
During a lie detector test, a pathological liar exhibit arousal, stress, and guilt from their lying or deception. This is in total contrast to other psychopathic patients for whom these signs are totally alien.
TREATMENT
It is true that the treatment of pathological lying is a difficult task. But in this scientific world, there is hope for treatment for any illnesses, as like for pathological lying. The first and foremost necessity is to make the patient understand is the underlying cause of the issue. Also, the cause and symptoms vary from patient to patient. Hence the treatments will also be in accordance with the patient’s unique cause and symptoms.
Realization by the patient of pathological lying:
It is pertinent to make the patient realize that, what he is doing is wrong and is being affected by it. The ill effects of pathological lying for the patient and to the near and dear one should be clearly explained in a way that is possible. Only on the self-realization of the truth of pathological lying and its effects, the treatment to pathological lying is possible.
After a proper diagnose, the type of mental illness which is the root cause of the pathological lying is identified. Once this is done, a proper treatment plan is formed by the psychiatrist for minimizing all the symptoms including the craving to lie compulsively.
Common treatments for pathological lying:
Psychotherapy:
Psychotherapy includes various therapies for a broad variety of mental illnesses and emotional difficulties. Psychotherapy with proper medication could treat patients to a great level in reducing the symptoms and in many cases lead a normal life. Of all the psychotherapies CBT is directly useful to pathological lying. The other therapies could be useful for treating the underlying mental problem of the patient. Some of the psychotherapies include:
- CBT- Cognitive Behavioral Therapy
- IPT- Interpersonal therapy
- Dialectical behavioral therapy
- Psychodynamic therapy
- Psychoanalysis
- Supportive therapy
CBT:
Cognitive behavioral therapy is a talking therapy that helps manage mental problems by changing the way of thinking and behaving accordingly. It helps the patient to disintegrate the negative thoughts which have entrapped the patient in a vicious cycle. CBT focuses only on the current issues of the patient ignoring the past ones totally.
CBT involves one hour sessions with the therapist once a week. This may continue for 5 to 20 sessions depending on the improvement of the patient. It is highly recommended as it focuses on improving the state of the patient’s mind through practical ways on a daily basis. And if continued even after the CBT sessions, there is every possibility of not repeating the pathological lies again in life.
Counseling sessions:
Pathological lying could affect the whole life. Hence even after the therapies, regular counseling with therapists or with experts or family members could reduce its relapse.
Mental health medications:
In this modern scientific world, new medicines are invented regularly as per the researches and could be widely used with proper advice from the doctors.
Brain stimulation therapies:
In some rare cases where the cause of pathological lying is considered to be the result of any brain disorders, this therapy is used. The brain is stimulated by medications or other clinical ways to improve it for stopping the pathological lies.
PREVENTION
Pathological lying is a mental condition involving the mind and brain, preventing it could lead to a peaceful life. If not, there will be adverse effects not only on the patient but also to the near and dear ones. Hence to prevent it on the first sign of symptoms is very crucial for happy living.
Presentational steps to pathological lying:
- Avoiding deceit in any form
- Thinking practically
- Accepting the presence of pathological lying illness
- To be aware of the consequences of the lies
- To seek help from family and friends
- To speak all the issues faced truly to the psychiatrist
- Attending counseling sessions
- Taking proper medications
- Meditations and other mind relaxing activities to be done regularly
- Be relaxed and without worrying about the happenings of the past
- Stop thinking any kind of extraordinary, unpractical, unreal superpowers or situations
Living truthful and not deceiving self or others for any kind of cause including simple to substances abuse could make life meaningful and healthy without pathological lying.
https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/topics/attention-deficit-hyperactivity-disorder-adhd/index.shtml
https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/cognitive-behavioural-therapy-cbt/
https://www.psychiatry.org/patients-families/psychotherapy