The Mystery of the Compulsive Liar

I've been the curious observer for some months now of a woman who is a compulsive liar. I'm absolutely certain she knows I've got her number as far as the lying is concerned. Yet like all compulsive liars, she appears to be incapable of preventing more fiction from tumbling through her lips.

Today she was at it again. And she really tried hard to make it convincing. She enlisted the aid of someone she normally doesn't have to deal with too much on a daily basis. That really piqued my interest. New blood, thought the liar. Desperation, thought the people who are used to her.

I decided to share a few nuggets of wisdom about the art of lying:

"A pathological liar is usually defined as someone who lies incessantly to get their way and does so with little concern for others. Pathological lying is often viewed as a coping mechanism developed in early childhood and it is often associated with some other type of mental health disorder.

A compulsive liar is defined as someone who lies out of habit. Lying is their normal and reflexive way of responding to questions. Compulsive liars bend the truth about everything, large and small. For a compulsive liar, telling the truth is very awkward and uncomfortable while lying feels right. Compulsive lying is usually thought to develop in early childhood, due to being placed in an environment where lying was necessary." - The Truth About Deception

The roots of lying often begin in an alcoholic household. Adult Children of Alcoholics "lie when it would be just as easy to tell the truth. Lying is basic to the family system affected by alcohol. It masquerades in part as an overt denial of unpleasant realities, cover-ups, broken promises and inconsistencies. Lying as the norm in your house became part of what you knew and what could be useful to you. At times, it made life much more comfortable. If you lied about getting your work done, you could get away with being lazy for a while. It seemed to make life simpler for everybody." - Adult Child Characteristics

"The name of the game is denial. The 'elephant in the living room' syndrome is the perceptual lynchpin of all children of alcoholics. Mom calls the office to say that Dad is seriously ill; meanwhile, he’s just hungover. Excuses were given to friends, teachers, children, and anyone else involved in the family’s life as to why something could or could not happen, why they could or could not go somewhere, or why they had black eyes or broken ribs or were in the hospital and at some point, the child begins to believe it.

He learns he can avert unpleasantness, deny painful realities, and generally make life easier if he lies. He learns that the broken promises are really just lies, that the excuses are really just lies, that his happy family life is no more than a myth, and that there are some real benefits to be derived from lying. It is easier to lie and avoid the embarrassment of taking your friends home to a drunken father on the living room floor. He learns to lie to meet his needs." - This is a War-ADDICTION

"There has been recent data from a study published in the British Journal of Psychiatry. The team from the University of Southern California studied 49 people and found those known to be pathological liars had up to 26% more white matter than others with antisocial personality disorder who were not liars and healthy volunteers. In general, white matter transmits information and grey matter processes it. Having more white matter in the prefrontal cortex may aid lying." - Richard Petty MD

"The Top 10 Compulsive Behaviour Symptoms

The following ten behaviors are probably the most common of what could be categorized with "Obsessive-Compulsive" disorders.

1 - 'Checking' behaviors
2 - Needing to buy something each time you go shopping
3 - Gambling for recreation, but continually losing and going into debt
4 - Susbstance abuse/addiction
5 - All work and no play
6 - Compulsive relationship behavior/ you 'must' be with another person/ stalking
7 - Compulsive lying
8 - Compulsive eating
9 - Sexual compulsions
10 - Compulsive exercising"
- Coachville