Tell a Lie Day – Understanding Pathological Lying

Tell a Lie Day, We all tell white lies. Sometimes to avoid hurting someone’s feelings or to simply stay out of trouble. When we lie, there is some inherent benefit from it. However, some people suffer from a mental health condition that makes them lie compulsively, without a clear benefit. Known as pathological lying, it is a behavioral disorder that may stem from other underlying conditions. For most of us, Tell a Lie Day marks something fun. But there are several people who live in constant despair because of compulsive lying disorder. Let us understand what this condition is and how to help someone who suffers from it.

What is Pathological Lying?

Pathological Lying is also known as pseudologia fantastica or mythomania. The primary difference between non-pathological lying and pathological lying is that there is no clear motivation for the latter. The person telling the lie has no reason for it and does not have any social or emotional benefit from it. Whether the individual is capable of rationalizing the lies or is aware of their lying is unclear. However, this conduction makes socializing extremely difficult and often causes immense despair to the individual.

Signs of a Pathological Liar

We know the basic differentiator when it comes to compulsive lying. There are some more signs that you can look out for to identify the condition:

1. They often start with smaller lies and go into more elaborate lies when they realize that it is easy to cover up.
2. The lies are very complicated with unnecessary details.
3. There is no motive for telling the lie. They do not get any benefit from it.
4. Even when they narrate real incidents, they tend to exaggerate frequently.
5. You can easily verify their lies. When they make any claims or false accusations, you can easily determine that it is untrue.

Although it is classified as a mental health issue, pathological lying itself is not formally diagnosed. Even when a therapist recognizes the behavior, it is hard to verify because the individual is not honest in their conversations. So, a lot of assistance is required from family and friends to confirm the condition and check for other underlying mental health or behavioral disorders that may cause it.

The Causes of Pathological Lying  

The issue with pathological lying is that there is still very little understanding about whether this is a condition by itself or the symptom of another condition. While it can occur on its own, the exact causes for this are unknown. However, in most cases, it is a feature of other mental health issues such as:

1. Factitious disorder

Also known as Munchausen’s syndrome, this is a condition where a person tends to fake a mental or physical illness. Factitious disorder by proxy is where the individual lies about someone else being ill. Like compulsive lying, the causes for this are speculated, not entirely clear. It could be the result of:

1. Genetic inheritance
2. Childhood neglect or abuse
3. Low self esteem
4. Underlying personality disorder
5. Depression
6. Substance abuse

These causes may also result in compulsive lying as a standalone issue.

2. Personality disorder

Normally, pathological lying is a symptom of:

1. Narcissistic personality disorder
2. Borderline personality disorder
3. Antisocial personality disorder

These conditions make it harder for the individual to regulate emotions. In case of narcissistic personality disorder, compulsive lying may stem from the need for admiration or self importance.

3. Frontotemporal Dementia

Studies have shown that signs of pathological lying are common in individuals with frontotemporal dementia. There are changes that affect the temporal and frontal regions of the brain, causing immense changes in the language and behavior of the individual, such as:

1. Low empathy
2. Poor social behavior
3. Compulsive behavior
4. Changes in food preference
5. Aggression
6. Boredom

Coping and Treatment

Learning more about this mental health condition is the best way to cope with it. If you have someone close to you with this condition, it is important to note that you need a lot of patience in order to deal with it. Building trust with pathological liars is the hardest part. There are some things that you should keep in mind:

1. The individual does not intent to cause any harm
2. Avoid blaming the individual or responding negatively to their lies even after you have caught it.
3. The faster you seek help from a therapist, the better equipped you are to cope with it.

Unfortunately, this is not a formally diagnosed condition. Therefore, treatment is not formal. In case the therapist identifies any underlying issue, they may suggest treatment options. For instance, if it stems from a personality disorder, medication or psychotherapy is suggested.

Therapy for pathological lying is not limited to the individual suffering from the condition. Often family members may also have to undergo therapy. This helps them understand how to manage their response to various situations.

Treatment for this condition is usually a long journey because the patient may lie to the therapist. They even dismiss their therapist when a lie is caught. Most therapists treat pathological lying similarly to any addiction. Group and individual therapy sessions have often been useful in reducing the occurrence of lying.

There are other methods like role playing or behavior modification strategies that have been used to address the issue. However, it is important to note that pathological lying is a very challenging condition to cope with. It takes immense time and effort.

Conclusion

If you are dealing with someone close to you with this condition, try to read as much as you can about it. Above all, you must be patient and understanding towards them. Regular therapy is the best way to manage the condition. As long as you are consistent with therapy and supportive towards the individual suffering from pathological lying, you will be able to see a big change in their behavior over a period of time. This Tell a Lie Day, make sure you create as much awareness regarding this condition as you can.