How To Identify a Pathological Liar
Reasons behind pathological lying
What is Pathological Lying?
Pathological lying can be described as someone is telling complex or detailed sort of lies without any definite motive. Because pathological lying is a sign of mental health condition this is why it is different from non-pathological lying. Pathological liars lie for no reason even though the lie is not personally benefitting the individual.
Some of the general aspects of pathological lying are:
- Lying without any reason or benefit
- Lies that are too complex and climatic
- Lies are frequent and continuous
- The lies portray them as heroic or the victim
Sometimes, pathological liars believe their lies as they are not always mindful of their lying. They are also very persuasive and natural in terms of engaging with their audience while speaking. Thus, most of the time they don’t exhibit any obvious signs of lying.
What Causes Pathological Lying?
Some common mental health conditions that are associated with pathological lying:
- Narcissistic Personality Disorder — individuals with NPD usually engage themselves with pretentious and egoistic lies regarding their accomplishments, social status, and so on.
- Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder — individuals with OCD engage in pathological lying in order to form associative relations with others or sometimes to disguise their OCD symptoms.
- Anxiety Disorders — individuals with this disorder engage in pathological lies as they struggle with anxiety and fear of rejection from others, thus, they lie to protect their unstable minds and personalities.
- Antisocial Personality Disorder — individuals with this disorder engage in pathological lying in order to manipulate others or to attain some sort of status.
Some other reasons also might cause pathological lying, for instance, the person had gone through childhood trauma which might influence them to be dependent on the lies to portray a certain type of persona and the individual continue this habit of lying even in adulthood.
Identifying a pathological liar
It might not be easy to identify a pathological liar. As pathological liars lie more conventionally without even the necessity to lie, thus, being skeptical about their lies might not even help us to figure out whether they are lying or not. Hence, the following signs might help you a bit in terms of identifying a pathological liar:
- They usually explain their events and achievements in a way in which their character is portrayed as heroic
- Sometimes they also play the victim card in their stories to gain sympathy from others
- They describe their stories in a comprehensively and detailed way
- Their responses will be a bit obscure and will less likely to provide a definite answer to any question
- They might tell the same story in different versions which occurs while they are forgetful about previous details.
Final takeaways
It might be a bit frustrating to understand and show empathy towards a pathological liar thus, it is very essential to understand the reasons which influence these individuals to lie. It is advisable to encourage them to seek the help they need.
Thank you for reading ❤
This article is intended for educational and awareness purposes only. Please seek professional guidance for more information.
References:
Gupta, S. (2021, October 21). Coping with someone who lies all the time. Verywell Mind. https://www.verywellmind.com/pathological-liar-definition-and-how-to-spot-one-5199521
Kandola, A. (2019, August 7). What to know about pathological liars. Medical News Today. https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/pathological-liars
Santos-Longhurst, A. (2018, August 27). How do I cope with someone being a pathological liar? Healthline. https://www.healthline.com/health/pathological-liar
The Dawn. (2021, June 18). Pathological lying a sign of several health conditions. The Dawn Wellness Centre and Rehab Thailand. https://thedawnrehab.com/blog/pathological-lying-a-sign-of-several-health-conditions/
