White lies often refer to instances where one creates a fabrication to get out of something or to change the scope of a situation in their favor. White lies are lies about small or unimportant issues that are told to avoid hurting another person. Pathological lying is different and more severe than telling little white lies. Those with antisocial personality disorder have a common disregard for the rights of others and are known to tell lies to gain status or manipulate others. However, the two disorders differ in the sense that in factitious disorder the motivations of the liar are external, but for pathological liars, their motivations are internal.Īdditionally, pathological lying has been marked as a key symptom of antisocial personality disorder. Similar to factitious disorder, pathological lying shows a marked tendency of an individual to lie. It is also common for them to falsely present others as being injured, ill, or impaired. Factitious disorder is a mental disorder that causes a person to portray themselves as if they have a physical or psychological illness when in fact they don’t. Is Pathological Lying a Mental Health Condition?Įven though pseudologia fantastica, or pathological lying is not coded in the DSM 5, it has commonly been associated with factitious disorder (also known as Munchausen syndrome). Often they begin to believe their own stories as truths. If their stories are ever doubted by the listener, those with pseudologia fantastica will use elaborations to satisfy their listener, finding new lies to replace the old. People with pseudologia fantastica present fantasies as real occurrences and tell eloquent and interesting fictions to impress others. He noticed that a particular group of patients told extreme, fantastical lies that were obviously untrue to the observer, yet believed by the patients themselves to be within the realm of possibility. The term pseudologia fantastica was coined by a German physician named Anton Delbrueck in 1891 to describe those who tell complex stories where delusions seemed to coexist with lies. Pathological lying is also referred to as pseudologia fantastica and mythomania. While there is inconclusive research on whether psychological lying behavior is a neurological disorder, it has been concluded that it can either be a stand-alone problem or a symptom of other disorders such as obsessive-compulsive disorder or of some personality disorders. While there are a number of reasons people tell lies - to spare someone’s feelings or avoid difficult situations - pathological lying is usually a symptom of a greater problem.
While it’s common to tell an occasional white lie, pathological liars tell more than a random fib - oftentimes lying has become part of that person’s everyday life, and telling a lie feels more natural than telling the truth. A pathological liar exhibits the chronic behavior of habitual or compulsive lying.
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