Lying has been found to be a common feature amongst social creatures like us humans. The fact that lies would always be considered to be harmful would also not be the case. In certain cases, lying has been found to be beneficial. For example, a person may lie to cover up their social embarrassment. Other people could be found to lie a tad more, but that does not in any way signify that they would be suffering from an underlying mental health condition.
In the case of pathological lying, it could be considered to be a whole new ball game. In the case of pathological liars, it would most definitely be a symptom of an underlying mental health condition like a person suffering from a personality disorder.
That being said, this article would be discussing in great length the concept of pathological lying and what tends to make pathological liars. Furthermore, this article will also explain how to recognise these kinds of liars so that you will be able to better cope with these people.
Characteristics of Pathological Liars
To get to the main point, we will just be looking at the four main types of behaviours if you are trying to determine if a person can be considered to be a pathological liar or not.
1. Excessive Lying
The main reason why pathological liars are singled out as opposed to the other liars is because they tend to lie more than other people. In fact, some of them have been known to make such fantastic stories that you would actually end up believing them. What’s more, they would also add more credibility to their original lies. However, the lies they tend to tell can be easily disproved since they are so outlandish in nature.
2. Lying Without Having Any Good Reason for It
Some people have been known to tell small or white lies so that they would be able to avoid unpleasant consequences. This could be making up an excuse for being late to work rather than outright admitting that they overslept. However, as would be the case with pathological liars, they would not have any one set motive. They would tell stories that would have no direct benefit for them. What’s more, if the truth were actually to come out, it might in turn harm and discredit their image.
3. Long-term Problem
Pathological lying is a condition that has most definitely not developed overnight. It would often begin during adolescence or teenage years and has been known to indefinitely continue, encompassing various aspects of life. In fact, it would actually be dishonesty that people would remember most accurately about them.
4. The Lying Cannot Be Considered to Be a Symptom of Any Other Mental Disorder
It might be quite possible that a pathological liar would be suffering from other kinds of mental health conditions like anxiety or depression. However, that cannot be attributed to their cause of lying. This is because pathological lying would be defined as a main condition and not a symptom of any other mental health conditions.
How To Cope With Pathological Liars
Coping with an individual who has a habit of pathological lying could indeed be considered to be a challenging situation. As such, forming a relationship and then maintaining it could require immense patience and time on your part.
However, the most important thing to remember would be that a pathological liar would not intend to benefit from the lies they are telling or even cause harm to other people.
Simply put, pathological lying would simply become a compulsion – the person feels that they won’t be able to breathe if they don’t tell a lie. The sad part is that the pathological liar would fail to recognise that their lies would lead to negative results and consequences.
As such, you would need to be the bigger person and keep an open mind when it comes to dealing with pathological liars. It means blaming them for the lies they are saying or angrily responding by bursting out.
Furthermore, it might also prove helpful to remember that pathological lying would most likely be the sign of an underlying mental health condition. In that case, speaking to the person to find out if they would have any other symptoms could help in narrowing down the problem. It would also then become easier to seek help from a therapist or a specialised doctor.
Diagnosis
Even though pathological lying has not yet formally been diagnosed, a therapist would still be able to recognise the symptoms and signs as being of another underlying health condition, like a factitious disorder or a personality disorder.
The difficult bit is that these kinds of disorders have also been known to have overlapping symptoms, including compulsive or pathological lying. It would be quite likely that people suffering from these conditions would also be exhibiting other signs.
On the other hand, it would also be likely that pathological lying could be considered to be an independent symptom. For instance, some people may simply engage in the act of pathological lying without suffering from any pre-existing mental health condition.
It is for this reason that it then becomes challenging for therapists to accurately determine whether someone would be pathologically lying as there would be no biological or psychological tests that have been specifically designed for this purpose.
Treatment For Pathological Lying
As has already been mentioned before, pathological lying is not considered to be a recognised condition. This means that no formal treatments exist for it. So, if a doctor were to suspect any underlying condition that might be causing the lying, then they might suggest a treatment for that particular condition. For instance, treatments designed for personality disorders would usually tend to involve medication or psychotherapy.
In the case of pathological lying, since it’s also considered to be harmful to other people, the therapist might also suggest a person close to the pathological liar seek treatment as well. The therapist will be working closely with them to better manage their responses to the main problem.
Bottom Line
Pathological lying would not entail any benefit for any of the parties involved; much rather it would lead to harm. Hence, it’s important to bear in mind that with lying becoming a compulsive habit and with it not being a recognised condition, no formal treatments would exist for it.
The best option would be to seek counselling from a therapist who would be able to help you better understand your problem and work towards solving it.
