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PATHOLOGICAL LYING AND ITS CHARACTERISTICS

Ambika Agnihotri

Lying refers to the act of purposefully conveying a piece of information that is believed to be false by the speaker. It may be argued that most of the times, the intention is to deceive the listener(s). It is extremely important to differentiate between such an act of lying and the condition of pathological lying. The latter is a phenomenon wherein the lies are compulsive, pervasive and logically disproportionate. They are claimed to not be motivated by external factors or rewards. Through this blog post, I wish to throw some light upon this condition and illustrate its basic features and characteristics.
A German physician, Dr. Delbruck was the first to voice his urge of giving this condition, that seemed to be ‘abnormal’ and ‘out of proportion’, a different category than normal lies. (Dike, Baranoski, & Griffith, 2005). According to Healy and Healy (2010), pathological lying may be defined as an entirely disproportionate falsification that manifests over a long period of time, and may be extremely complicated and pervasive. With numerous definitions of this phenomenon, it is possible to point out characteristics that have been observed over and over again; (1) Repetition or persistence, (2) Impulsive and unplanned, (3) Compulsive character, (4) External rewards not being the primary motivator.
Pathological lying has been seen as stemming from ‘pseudolying’. It can be described as fantasy lying, prevalent in childhood (Dike, Baranoski, & Griffith, 2005). It is used as an escape from reality and is important for self- development and self-protection in children. However, if it persists into adulthood, it turns pathological. Thus, one of the main reasons for the development of pathological lying is ego fixation in childhood.
Looking at the development of the condition from a neurological and biological point of view, research opens more doors to understanding it. Pathological liars have been observed to have a history of malfunction or abnormality associated with the Central Nervous System (Dike, Baranoski, & Griffith, 2005). In addition, the research undertaken by Yang et al. (2005) points out the increased bilateral activation in the prefrontal cortex during the activity of lying. In congruence to this finding, they also found out that liars have an increased volume of prefrontal white matter and reduced grey and/or white matter ratios compared to control groups. This increased amount of white matter pre-disposes the individual with the cognitive capacity to lie. Paus et al. (2001) found out that such individual’s brain weight touches adult brain weight measures between the age of ten to twelve years. 
Don Grubin (2005) points out the aims a pathological liar may lie for- (1) to avoid being punished for wrong deeds, (2) to impress, (3) to deceive, (4) internal pleasure gratification. According to him, the aspect that classifies the condition as abnormal is the extent of power or control the individual has over it. Pathological liars lack control; they cannot help but lie. The lie seems to have more power, thus, the lair seems to have lost control over them. Infact, they might even be unaware of the fact that they are lying! This results in an impairment in reality as consciousness of real events is fogged (Dike, Baranoski, & Griffith, 2005). However, the lie becomes the reality for him/her. This paradox has been referred to as ‘double consciousness’ by Grubin, wherein two versions of reality run parallelly in their mind. Here, the problem occurs when the desired reality takes over actual reality.  

The debate about whether pathological lying is a symptom or a disorder in itself is ongoing. However, it is certain that pathological lying is associated to numerous psychological conditions or disorders, like Gasner’s Syndrome, Delusions, Antisocial Personality Disorder, Confabulation, Borderline Personality Disorder, etc (Dike, Baranoski, & Griffith, 2005). Thus, it is an aspect of psychology that needs more in-depth study and research. It will help understand the phenomenon and its far-reaching effects better.  





References

Dike, C. C., Baranoski, M., & Griffith, E. E. (2005). Pathological lying revisited. Journal of the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law Online, 33(3), 342-349. https://www.researchgate.net

Grubin, D. (2005). Commentary: Getting at the truth about pathological lying. Journal of the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law Online. Retrieved from https://scholar.google.co.in

Healy, W., & Healy, M. T. (2010). Pathological lying, accusation, and swindling. Retrieved from https://scholar.google.co.in

Paus, T., Collins, D. L., Evans, A. C., Leonard, G., Pike, B., & Zijdenbos, A. (2001). Maturation of white matter in the human brain: a review of magnetic resonance studies. Brain research bulletin, 54(3), 255-266. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0361-9230(00)00434-2

Yang, Y., Raine, A., Lencz, T., Bihrle, S., Lacasse, L., & Colletti, P. (2005). Prefrontal white matter in pathological liars. The British Journal of Psychiatry, 187(4), 320-325. https://doi.org/10.1192/bjp.187.4.320




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