What is compulsive lying

Lies, Lies, Lies

Lying is in human nature, being a sociological and psychological phenomenon we developed during our evolution. However, when we lie, we usually use the, so-called, white lies which are meant to serve good purposes. For example, when a person whose feelings we do not want to hurt, puts on some unattractive clothes and asks us for an opinion, most of us would say “oh, you look just fine”, just to make the person happy. However, there are lies which have malignant goals behind them like cheating, manipulation and personal gain. These kinds of lies are mostly present in any part of human existence related to money, where speculations, backstabbing and corruption all seem to be the usual tools of the trade, operated by lying. Yet, there is another case of avoiding truth. Namely, some people, even though they do not have any reason for this, almost never speak the truth. Rather, they lie about their childhood, about what they did last night, about themselves, or, in that respect, about everything they are asked to say. This constant, baseless and pointless lying is called a compulsive lying and a person who almost always lies, for no specific reasons are called a compulsive liar.

Why Do Compulsive Liars Exist?

Many different researches were conducted, trying to explain the origin and the reasons behind the presence of compulsive liars in our, human species. Therefore, many different speculations were given, trying to explain this phenomenon. Consequently, compulsive lying is considered to be connected with the will to create a new story and history of oneself, avoiding all the things from your past you are not satisfied with, creating yourself anew. Liars themselves prefer their version of the story, often believing in it, successfully lying to themselves and the whole world.

A liar is often hard to perceive, even though there is rarely a liar who manages to stay covert throughout his/her life. There are clues which can help us see through lies, like mismatching facts, facial expressions and body language, or plain evidence regarding some things we were lied to about, such as catching a cheater committing adultery.

Can You Cure a Compulsive Liar?

Living near or with this kind of pathological liar is hard, and many people decide to end any relationships with liars since they gain absolutely nothing from these. However, there are psychiatric therapies which may work on a liar's self-esteem or other aspects of his/her personality, “fixing” them. Finally, you might decide to do it yourself, going all out, intercepting and questioning lies all the time, making this person realize that you will not put up with it.