Contents:
- Medical Video: What is Compulsive or Pathological Lying? // Kati Morton
- Is that mythomania?
- Where did mythomania come from?
- Do all people who like to lie have mythomania?
- How do you distinguish mythomania and ordinary lies?
- How do you deal with mythomania?
Medical Video: What is Compulsive or Pathological Lying? // Kati Morton
You must know at least one person in your life who likes to lie. You might wonder, is there really something wrong with people who like to lie and whether it includes psychological disorders. Well, apparently there is a special term for people who always lie, namely mythomania or psedulogia fantastica. Have you heard this term yet? Come on, get to know more about mythomania below.
Is that mythomania?
Pathological lying, or one of them known as mythomania, is a condition in which a person often lies for a long time (for example, most of his life is full of lies) and continues to be done, even though his intentions are not for profit.
This disorder often occurs in those aged 16 to 22 years, with a balanced sex ratio between men and women.
In people with this condition, lies have become a big part of their lives. In fact, it is not uncommon for people with this condition to believe in their own lies so that they cannot distinguish between what is fictitious and what is real from their lives.
Where did mythomania come from?
Mythomania was first discovered by a German psychiatrist named Anton Delbrueck. In 1891, Anton Delbrueck gave the name pseudologia fantastica to describe a group of patients who often carried out false stories accompanied by imaginary or fantasy elements in their stories.
Do all people who like to lie have mythomania?
No, mythomania is a type of pathological lie. Pathological lies themselves are divided into several types, namely:
- Pseudologica fantastica or mythomania.
- Lying due to habits (the lie is quickly discovered and usually accompanied by neurological disorders such as learning difficulties).
- Lying with impulsive habits such as stealing, gambling, and crazy shopping.
- Fraudsters who like to change their identities, addresses, and professions to disguise themselves as others or to make them look great in the eyes of others.
Of all kinds of pathological lies, mythomania is the type that is considered the most extreme, because this type combines facts and fantasy. Those who experience mythomania often will lie and feel pleasure from the lie itself.
However, even though they seemed to be happy, in their hearts they still felt guilty and knew that it was a bad thing, but they would still pretend and cover up their lies. Even if it's already severe, what was once a lie can be believed to be a fact by the liar himself.
There are several criteria for those who experience mythomania, including:
- The stories they say sound very real and they might tell something based on someone else's true story.
- Their tendency to make stories that are permanent and stable.
- Lies are not done to get a material advantage.
- The stories they make are usually related to important police institutions, the army, and so on. They also have an important role in the institution or in the story. For example as a savior or as a victim who is hurt.
How do you distinguish mythomania and ordinary lies?
When viewed by purpose, this type of lie is different. Based on a study in 2016, general lies can usually be done for several reasons, such as:
- The desire to cover up something about him.
- The desire to make a profit.
- Cover yourself from mistakes made.
- A feeling of lack of confidence that makes him pretend to be someone else so that others like him more.
Meanwhile, the mythomania type lies not related to profit and are compulsive-impulsive. Even they will still lie even though these lies have a negative impact on themselves.
In addition, those who experience mythomania generally do fantasy lies. Usually they will tell lies about something they are imagining and combined with the facts. While common lies are usually only about things about feelings, income, achievement, sexual life, and about age.
How do you deal with mythomania?
Treatment with a psychotherapy approach and the use of certain drugs prescribed by doctors turned out to be quite effective for people with this condition. Therefore, counseling can be very helpful for them. Support them to continue to do counseling and follow doctor's advice.
If you have this condition, remember that to change and improve yourself, you should not lie to doctors and therapists who will help you.
The counseling method that can be done can vary. Can be done individually counseling (especially if they do not want other people outside their therapist to know all their lies, then this technique can be chosen), as well as counseling done with a partner, so that they get support from their partners.
