Pathological Lying Symptoms

Understanding pathological lying symptoms will help you identify if someone you know is suffering from this type of lying disorder. Pathological liars are addicted to lying. They will lie even when there is no personal gain, and this is why the symptoms of a pathological liar are not always clear.

There is a difference between pathological and compulsive liars.

To identify if someone is a pathological liar, you will need to know a little about his/her history as well as current psychological stability. These are two of the biggest indicators of a potential lying problem.

Knowing the history of a pathological liar will help you see patterns in his/her lying. Some people will only lie about the present, but others make up a completely new life for themselves. For example, if you know your friend from grade school, you probably know a lot about his or her childhood. If this friend tells people that he/she had a disadvantaged home life but you know for a fact he/she didn't, you can begin to suspect he/she is a pathological liar.

Psychological stability is the other factor in determining if someone is a pathological liar. Many people habitually lie due to a mental illness such as bipolar disorder, borderline personality disorder or depression. Many mental illness sufferers have misconceptions about what is reality. Their distorted perceptions make it difficult for them to understand what is false and true. Not to say that all individuals who suffer from mental illness lie unknowingly, many lie so they don't suffer repercussions from care givers and psychiatric care providers.

Pathological lying is not a psychological disorder, and it has no documented list of symptoms. However, pathological liars share the following common behaviors, situations and illnesses.

A mental illness such as personality disorder, depression or bipolar disorder is a common pathological lying symptom.

Individuals who want to have center stage wherever they are may have to make up stories to capture people's interest. These types of people crave an audience and get a high off it, and this leads them to lie more.

Almost everyone over exaggerates stories sometimes, but a pathological liar does it most of the time. If you find yourself with your jaw falling every time he/she tells you a story, it's probably because it's not true.

When you approach the pathological liar about something said, he/she is insulted and denies the lie.

A pathological liar may never admit that life is difficult. Instead, he/she will either only discuss the happy times or make up stories to replace unfortunate events.

Someone who is always suffering from a different illness or always a victim of something either has bad luck or is a pathological liar. Just as some pathological liars will lie about the good in their life, some will make up bad things that happen to them for the attention.

People with low self-esteem are more likely to demonstrate pathological lying symptoms because they are trying to make themselves feel better about how they look, their accomplishments and what they have in life.

Pathological liars are good at lying, but it will usually only get them so far. After a while, many people will begin to see through them and realize that they are not as trustworthy as they seemed. Until you get to this point of realization when dealing with a liar, listen warily and double check before acting on anything he/she says..

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