What Is Pathological Lying? and How To Spot a Pathological Liar?

Human beings lie during their day-to-day lives. That’s not shocking. However, an estimated 8 to 13% of the population take telling lies to an altogether different level. It’s not that they tell lies 24/7, but the nature of their lies makes them interesting. While others tell lies to defend themselves from facing untoward consequences, these people craft lofty lies to present themselves in good light or as victims. Their ultimate aim is to get attention, extra care, or VIP treatment. These people suffer from pathological lying. The official name of this pathology - Pseudologia Fantastica - is more justified. The lies told by pathological liars are indeed fantasized in nature. And this is precisely the reason why their lies are easy to catch.

So to summarise, there are three primary features that pathological liars display-

● These people tell lies, not just in moments of stress. Their lies (or imaginative storytelling, as Psychology Today puts it) are ongoing, and these lies act as a kind of drug for them.
● Secondly, their lies are too dramatized.
● And lastly, the motive of pathological liars is to show themselves in a positive light.

But how do you, as a non-psychologist, identify pathological liars? These people tend to have certain characteristics that will help you identify them as pathological liars. Come, let’s talk about these identifiers.

But before we proceed, let us remind you that pathological lying is a mental illness that needs treatment. The condition is bad, of course, but please don’t ostracise a pathological liar. In this video, we have taken special care not to identify these people in terms of normal versus abnormal.
#HeartsMentality

[tinashifflett]

I knew a kid like that. One day they were telling a story when someone said 'that's not what you told me'. Another kid said he heard a different story. I hope that kid learned his lesson

[WritingFighter]

Guh. No.
Pathological lying has nothing to do with any particular productive motive.

My friend for example seems to socially panic when a conversation or activity isn't about him or told by him. He lies about all kinds of weird stuff, good and bad, just as long as he thinks it wow's people. It's like he panics when he's not the center of attention, and the lies he tells just go into a continual rut if he's not stopped. Someone tells a story, and he jumps on it to tell his own story with some kind of similar outcome or reaction to whatever story the person just told. Even if it's on TV or about something ongoing, often easily disproven with just a hint of logical thought processes.