Everyday Canvas

Pathological Liars

Prompt: pathological liars
Have you ever met a pathological liar? How do you think a pathological liar talks and could they have any good friendships that last?


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I don't know why any person habitually lies or exaggerates the truth, and with no reason. Unless they are writers and they are trying to come up with a good story.

Yet, I have met such a person. At the time, my thinking was that this person found reality too bland to swallow and she had to fancy it up, but the psycho-data tells me otherwise.

This behavior is often associated with personality disorders: mostly narcissistic personality disorder, borderline personality disorder, or antisocial personality disorder. I didn't look these disorders up just because they'd be over my head and would be too difficult to write about in a blog entry.

Such people hide their achievements, experiences, and even their identity and/or embellish them. They may also create elaborate stories about themselves or others to gain attention or sympathy from their listeners. After you've caught a dent or two in their many different accounts of events, you know you can't believe anything these people say, ever! Such made-up stories lead to broken relationships, loss of friends, and even legal trouble.

One person like that told me her husband threw her down from the roof of their three-story house and she came out unscathed. This person used to do house-cleaning for me. Now, I wonder what stories she would make (or did make) about me. Luckily, she quit before I could fire her.

Possibly, this kind of behavior has underlying psychological or neurological causes. I think such people who can't help themselves not to lie should seek the help of a professional, seriously!





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