Tolulope Abike jagajaga: Pathological liars: What drives them to lie and what can you do about it?

 

While psychopaths and people with antisocial personality disorder can be inclined to excessive lying, most pathological liars are not psychopaths, nor do they necessarily have a personality disorder. Indeed, while psychopaths and people with an antisocial personality are typically

manipulative and self-serving, pathological liars often lie for no apparent purpose. Another key feature of pathological lying, as opposed to being a common-or-garden compulsive liar, is that the lies are often particularly bizarre or far-fetched. 

 “While psychopaths and people with an antisocial personality are typically manipulative and self-serving, pathological liars often lie for no apparent purpose” 

 

HOW SHOULD YOU DEAL WITH A PATHOLOGICAL LIAR?

When it comes to coping with a pathological liar, it’s perhaps worth remembering the likely cause of the person’s tendency to tell so many far-fetched stories. While their behaviour might be irritating and even cause serious harm (especially when it comes to false allegations), if it’s driven by a deep-seated insecurity, then you might be wise to see it as a call for help, and to resist the urge to confront the person too forcefully or without sympathy.

If the pathological liar in your life is someone you care about, perhaps you could help them find more productive ways to address their low self-esteem and anxiety, or even to come to terms with a difficult past, if that’s relevant. Although research into effective treatments is largely lacking (partly because ‘pathological liar’ has yet to be recognised as a formal diagnosis), a sensible step could be to gently encourage the pathological liar you know to seek professional mental health support.