Lying Disorder
Everything You Need to Know About Lying Disorder
A lying disorder is sometimes characterized by people who lie (or are believed to lie) as a part of their jobs – some examples include lawyers, hustlers, con men and car salesmen. These are really over-blown stereotypes, though, and many would say that these people don't lie that much more often than any other people, if it serves their purpose.
A lying disorder applies to people who don't need to lie. They're not trying to protect your feelings, for instance, or to get out of trouble. People who lie chronically do it sometimes for no apparent reason. It's a habit, and sometimes they don't even know they do it. Chronic liars, for instance, are experts at deception, even though they may not gain anything by the lies.
Most psychologists do not believe that lying disorder is a disorder of its own, but rather a piece of a bigger mental puzzle. Lying disorder isn't even recognized in the manual that experts use to diagnose types of mental illnesses. Rather, most think that chronic lying is probably a symptom of a broader disorder, like narcissism, psychopathy or delusional thinking.
Despite those long-held beliefs, studies in the last 100 years of people who lie chronically has caused some experts to make new conclusions. It has been shown that lying may be done because of a serious underlying problem, or it may not. If no other mental problem is found, though, how do they explain a “normal” and successful person who feels he needs to lie?
In so-called “normal” people, these being people without any lying disorders present, some lying is to be expected, and it is generally learned between the ages of five and six. It then continues through the time when these people reach adulthood. Most adults tell “white lies” at least on a weekly basis. Sometimes they are told to avoid hurting someone else's feelings, or to get out of punishment or work.
The lying disorder is different. The person who suffers from this disorder, whether diagnosed with an underlying cause or not, sees lying as their first course of action in coping with everyday life.
There are some key things to look for to evaluate whether a person is a chronic liar. If they change their stories often, to support their lies, this is one sign. The most obvious sign is that they lie with no reason to do so – they don't gain anything or avoid anything by the lie.
Some experts think that people with lying disorders have an inherent problem with the frontal lobe of the brain. This lobe is one of the things that helps to control what we say, before we say it. When these “editors” don't work, chronic lying can develop.
Whether it is ever officially recognized as a problem in and of itself, lying disorder is very disruptive for the people around those who lie chronically.