More on Pathological Lying

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Human beings are used to several bad habits. Most of these habits start in an early age perhaps in the childhood days. One such habit is the tendency to lie. Most of the cases are attached to child hood incidents. But there are different cases also. The habit may not sound so serious, but the after effects of this habit which can be better called as a disease is not small to neglect as such.

It is quite common that people lie at times to escape from some punishments. This is natural and will not have long lasting results as the effects are limited. But there are cases when people lie in a recursive fashion or they might lie always. This condition is often referred to as compulsive lying.

Compulsive lying starts when people lie for each and everything. They get a feeling that lie can always protect them. Then even in places where truth will help them, they will start lying. Thus they won’t say truth in any case. Thus compulsive liars are born.

Compulsive lying is developed as a disease. The most interesting thing is that compulsive liar himself won’t understand why he is telling lies at times. This will make people lose the trust in him. He will be looked upon with suspicious eyes.

The compulsive liar will find it difficult to get a return back to the case of telling lies. If in the initial stage, he was lying to escape from the punishment, after that he will do it thinking this is the right way. He fails to understand what is right and what is wrong.

Compulsive liars will be hated by all people. None will love to make companies with such people. They will be isolated from the main stream and they won’t get true friends. Their friends will start lying with them because they don’t trust their words and actions.

Compulsive lying can be treated with counselling or similar treatments. But the result is that all this will have only short range influence on the liar. To get lasting results, the best method is hypnosis. The treatment is done with the help of hypnosis CD. People will have serious changes when they listen to this CD.

Hypnosis CD and mp3 will act on the minds of the compulsive liar. They will bring about changes in his mind. When he give his complete concentration and starts to follow the instructions, the tendency slowly fades away. The mind will be relaxed. He can easily analyse what is right and what is wrong. He will understand the importance of truth in life.

All bad habits are the results of man’s ignorance towards the realities of life. When he realizes the importance of life, he will take time to understand the need to get rid of those habits. Thus he will start telling the truth and do only good. With the help of hypnosis your lying ways will soon be history and you will have the courage to face the world with truthfulness and honesty every step of the way.

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What is confabulation (in pathological lying)?

A statement constitutes a lie only if at least one of the interlocutors knows it to be untrue, yet insists or assumes that it is true. If all the parties involved in the exchange know that the statement is false or if none of them know whether it is false or true, then it is fiction or an act of faith.

Lies are about facts or about states of being. Lies that pertain to facts cannot be rendered true by widespread consensus. But with regards to lies about states of being, if the parties agree something to be the truth their agreement can make it true (alter its truth value). This is so because statements about states of being are dependent on social context.
Lies either prompt action or inhibit it. Sometimes, actions taken can convert the lie into a truth (self-fulfilling lie).
There are eight types of lies:

1. Utilitarian: a lie that is intended to accomplish something, a lie that is goal-oriented, a lie whose structure and content are planned to promote or inspire changes conducive to the furtherance of the liar’s aims and aspirations;
2. Smokescreen: a lie whose purpose is to obscure, conceal, or remove true information and thus mislead others (common in espionage or military operations);
3. Compassionate: a lie that is geared towards sparing other people’s feelings, catering to their sensitivities and vulnerabilities, and allowing them to save face and avoid shame and embarrassment. Most white lies are compassionate and empathic;
4. Ceremonial: lies and dissimulations whose function is to establish a pecking order by demonstrating reverence and glossing over facts and behaviors that inconveniently contravene the accepted hierarchy. Manners and etiquette are highly-elaborate forms of ceremonial lying;
5. Compensatory: lies that are used to disguise the oft-humiliating fact that we do not know the truth or can’t remember it. Lies of this type amount to fiction, but with most of the interlocutors being unaware of it;
6. Confabulatory: intricate lies that weave a fabric of alternate reality which is frequently an exaggerated form of the liar’s traits, conduct, and personal history (though it can, of course, be completely unrelated to anything real in the confabulator’s life).
7. Inferential: fallacious conclusions or extrapolations based on true assumptions or statements. Most logical fallacies are inferential lies.
8. Hybrid: lies that contain markers of an occult truth or pathways to true information, allowing its recipients to “read between the lines”. Hybrid lies are common in authoritarian and totalitarian regimes.

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A study of confabulation in pathological narcissism:

Confabulations are an important part of life. They serve to heal emotional wounds or to prevent ones from being inflicted in the first place. They prop-up the confabulator's self-esteem, regulate his (or her) sense of self-worth, and buttress his (or her) self-image. They serve as organizing principles in social interactions.
Father's wartime heroism, mother's youthful good looks, one's oft-recounted exploits, erstwhile alleged brilliance, and past purported sexual irresistibility - are typical examples of white, fuzzy, heart-warming lies wrapped around a shriveled kernel of truth.
But the distinction between reality and fantasy is rarely completely lost. Deep inside, the healthy confabulator knows where facts end and wishful thinking takes over. Father acknowledges he was no war hero, though he did his share of fighting. Mother understands she was no ravishing beauty, though she may have been attractive. The confabulator realizes that his recounted exploits are overblown, his brilliance exaggerated, and his sexual irresistibility a myth.
Such distinctions never rise to the surface because everyone - the confabulator and his audience alike - have a common interest to maintain the confabulation. To challenge the integrity of the confabulator or the veracity of his confabulations is to threaten the very fabric of family and society. Human intercourse is built around such entertaining deviations from the truth.

This is where the narcissist differs from others (from "normal" people).
His very self is a piece of fiction concocted to fend off hurt and to nurture the narcissist's grandiosity. He fails in his "reality test" - the ability to distinguish the actual from the imagined. The narcissist fervently believes in his own infallibility, brilliance, omnipotence, heroism, and perfection. He doesn't dare confront the truth and admit it even to himself.
Moreover, he imposes his personal mythology on his nearest and dearest. Spouse, children, colleagues, friends, neighbors - sometimes even perfect strangers - must abide by the narcissist's narrative or face his wrath. The narcissist countenances no disagreement, alternative points of view, or criticism. To him, confabulation IS reality.
The coherence of the narcissist's dysfunctional and precariously-balanced personality depends on the plausibility of his stories and on their acceptance by his Sources of Narcissistic Supply. The narcissist invests an inordinate time in substantiating his tales, collecting "evidence", defending his version of events, and in re-interpreting reality to fit his scenario. As a result, most narcissists are self-delusional, obstinate, opinionated, and argumentative.
The narcissist's lies are not goal-orientated. This is what makes his constant dishonesty both disconcerting and incomprehensible. The narcissist lies at the drop of a hat, needlessly, and almost ceaselessly. He lies in order to avoid the Grandiosity Gap - when the abyss between fact and (narcissistic) fiction becomes too gaping to ignore.
The narcissist lies in order to preserve appearances, uphold fantasies, support the tall (and impossible) tales of his False Self and extract Narcissistic Supply from unsuspecting sources, who are not yet on to him. To the narcissist, confabulation is not merely a way of life - but life itself.
We are all conditioned to let other indulge in pet delusions and get away with white, not too egregious, lies. The narcissist makes use of our socialization. We dare not confront or expose him, despite the outlandishness of his claims, the improbability of his stories, the implausibility of his alleged accomplishments and conquests. We simply turn the other cheek, or meekly avert our eyes, often embarrassed.
Moreover, the narcissist makes clear, from the very beginning, that it is his way or the highway. His aggression - even violent streak - are close to the surface. He may be charming in a first encounter - but even then there are telltale signs of pent-up abuse. His interlocutors sense this impending threat and avoid conflict by acquiescing with the narcissist's fairy tales. Thus he imposes his private universe and virtual reality on his milieu - sometimes with disastrous consequences.

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Compulsive Lying Disorder

Compulsive Liar Disorder

There are some for whom lying is second nature. Such people are said to be suffering from compulsive liar disorder. This article discusses what is compulsive lying disorder, the symptoms and treatment of it.

What do you do when you live with someone who lies every now and then? Living with lies is so difficult in itself. To add to it, having to spend most of one's time with someone whom you can't trust because lying seems to have become his/her second nature, is all the more frustrating. Now, did the thought that your partner lies habitually cross your mind? Is he suffering from compulsive liar disorder? How would you tell that unless you know the compulsive liar definition?

About Compulsive Liar Syndrome

I would refrain from giving a single line definition of a compulsive liar as it is very important to have a complete understanding of the complex nature of the disorder. It is a condition in which lying becomes a habit with the individual concerned. Such a person lies with unbelievable ease and seems to find comfort in it. Even if he is provided with hard facts, he would never acknowledge that he is lying. In fact, making him confess to his lies is next to impossible as lying feels right to him. A compulsive liar would feel awkward in telling the truth and would have no scruples of conscience about lying to one and all and about any situation however big or small. In fact, like other addictions (like those of alcohol or drugs), lying becomes an addiction for a compulsive liar and serves as an escape from discomfort. The compulsive lying is not a disorder in itself but is usually a symptom of some larger personality disorder. This makes the treatment more complicated.

Pathological Liar Disorder Vs. Compulsive Liar Disorder

In both types an individual lies with great ease and at all situations. However, the major difference between a pathological liar and a compulsive liar is that while a pathological liar would lie to manipulate people, a compulsive liar lies more out of habit and never with the intention of gaining personal benefits out of the act. In contrast to compulsive liars, pathological liars are cunning and self-centered individuals who would lie to meet their interests.

Symptoms

There are certain typical compulsive liar symptoms that would help in identifying people with such a disorder:

• Behavioral Attributes: As already discussed, these people lie on a regular basis and with great ease. They can lie on any subject and to any person without considering the effect or outcome of the lies.
• Low Self-esteem: This is one of the trademark symptoms of compulsive lying. Compulsive liars lie and try to build a persona that would help them to come out of their inferiority complex.
• Compulsive Attention Seeker: A person suffering from the disorder needs constant attention and he uses his lies to achieve the same end.
• Addictions: Look out for addictions to gambling and alcohol in a person that you think is suffering.
• Incoherent Behavior: Compulsive liars often sound incoherent with their statements as they get confused with their own web of lies. This happens as they don't make false statements with the intent of achieving personal gains. It's just out of habit.
• Other Personality Disorders: People with this lying disorder very commonly have other negative personality traits like narcissistic personality disorder, better known as narcissism. They may also suffer from bipolar disorder in which they oscillate between depression and mania.

Compulsive Liar Test

There isn't a specific test to detect obsessive compulsive lying disorder. Although sometimes polygraph tests are resorted to, they test just the physiological changes that the body undergoes while a person lies. However, the result of these tests can't be relied on. The best liar test is one's own judgment. A good understanding of the syndrome and its symptoms is the best way to detect a compulsive liar.

Treatment Options

Compulsive lying is still a baffling complication for doctors who are trying to find some concrete cure for it. This however, does not mean that there is no treatment for this disorder. The first and foremost requirement for compulsive liar treatment is the individual's will to cooperate. As already discussed, people who suffer from this disorder are incapable of understanding that they are lying. It is near to impossible to make them admit that what they say is not the truth. This is the first hurdle that needs to be overcome for successful treatment of compulsive lying problem.

In most cases, the disorder is the result of some other psychiatric illness. The treatment of this illness results in curing the symptoms. The treatment usually includes medications that deal with some of the symptoms. For the rest, counseling is used. For those with no psychiatric problems underlying their lying disorder, counseling is the only option for compulsive liar therapy. During these sessions a counselor explains the impact of lying on the individual as well as on those around him. He may also use the technique of role-playing to treat the disorder.

Compulsive lying disorder in children is just as common as it is in adults. However, most of the time, it is dismissed as childish behavior. This disorder causes problems not only for the individual but for those around him as well. Compulsive lying disorder treatment is available. But it would be successful if only the individual volunteers to co-operate.

By Debopriya Bose