Please pray for Nina. She's not hurt or anything, she's just a pathological liar. "What are you for Halloween Raven, Malicious?" you may be thinking. Actually, no. In fact, I am very intrigued. I've come across a few pathological liars in my life and the kind of lies they told often left me wondering why are they telling such lies and from what place are these lies coming from? These lies weren't little white lies either like "I fell asleep" and "Yes, your lace front is believable." It was lies like "I flat-lined from an injury while backpacking in London." or "I've never eaten meat in my life" when you both know damn well they ate your turkey sandwich that you labeled in the fridge. Their lies are typically elaborate and always unnecessary. They may anger many, but for me, it leaves me oh so curious. As a result of this curiosity, I did what many fail to do today. I researched. Here's what you will find under the mask of a pathological liar.
Pathological lying, also known as Mythomania, is the chronic behavior of compulsive or habitual lying. As mentioned, unlike telling the occasional white lie to avoid hurting someone’s feelings or getting in trouble, a pathological liar seems to lie for no apparent reason. Compulsive lying can be a result of a mental condition or head injury. However, others appear to have no mental condition at all. They just lie for sport. Although these two general explanations seem to make sense, there are layers to these habitual liars. To break it down further, I am going to talk about a few pathological liars in detail. Some of them may be very familiar to you.
Nina:
The family is celebrating Nina's cousin on her engagement. As each family member goes around the table to give some nice words and advice, it's Nina's turn. Nina stands up, raises her glass and announces that she is moving to LA for an opportunity she was offered. Everyone, with puzzled faces, awkwardly claps and congratulates Nina. She excuses herself to go to the bathroom so that she could look quickly lookup apartments in LA. If all fails, she can just say the opportunity was revoked. She always has a lie to back up the next. If she has to pull that lie out of the deck, at least she will get sympathy. That's a win-win situation in Nina's book because sympathy is a form of attention. The thing about Nina is that she's a great person with a great life. Her only flaw is that she lies so freaking much just to have the spotlight. This is a result of a deep-rooted insecurity about people surpassing her, leaving her to be the least important person in the room. Her fear is inadequacy and being alone. Unbeknownst to her, her compulsive lying is what will bring her biggest fear into fruition.
Wayne:
Wayne is an amazing story-teller. His lies are colorful, detailed, and they sound very believable. He tends to lie to gain admiration, acceptance, and even sympathy. He's typically the hero in all of his stories. He lifts his shirt to show everyone where he got stabbed when he saved a little girl from getting kidnapped. In reality, his drunk ass fell over a wired fence and landed on broken beer bottles. Wayne's lies stem from extreme guilt and shame. He was a terrible family man and friend. Instead of moving forward as a better person, he tries to erase his past with lies.
Mike:
Mike is a pretty chill guy most of the time. After playing football throughout high school and college, he fell into personal training. Although he's a good trainer, he lies to his clients about the results of other people he's trained. He also sells them supplements that don't work as well as he claims. He even edits his clients before and after pictures to recruit more clientele. He's not just ambitious. His lies pour into his personal life as well. His ex girlfriend left him because he said he was at Wal-Mart and he really was at home paying bills. It may sound like a trivial thing to break-up over, but she was exhausted with the many stupid lies. If he will lie about little things like his location, he will lie about anything in his life. Although he's a chill guy, when he gets angry, he gets ANGRY. If you want to see the devil, call him out on his lies. He wasn't always this way. His sister says all this manifested around the time he began cutting weight and a few concussions he's suffered.
Victoria:
Some are good at singing. Some are good at sports. Victoria is good at lying. That is why she lies, it's simple. Victoria lies because she's good at it and because she can. Victoria doesn't feel remorse for anything she does. As far as emotions, she generally only feels anger and triumph. She is very competitive and likes to be challenged. Her favorite flavor is the taste of victory after someone tells her she cannot have something and outsmarts them to get it. She knows how to appear sympathetic and show remorse by observing others. However, she can care less about how anyone feels. After breaking a kid's finger at school for not letting her see his gel pens, she was sent to therapy. After countless sessions, she was diagnosed with having Antisocial Personality Disorder. Her fondest memory is convincing her therapist that she outgrew it. Now she's an adult who is still habitually lying and looking forward to exploiting her next victim. She graduated from inflicting physical pain on others. She likes to drink whiskey, watch men fall deeply in love with her so that she can make them do whatever she wants until she gets bored. The heartbreak in their eyes as she discards them is exhilarating for her.
In conclusion, Pathological Liars are of all genders, classes, and ages. Some lie with a motive, some lie because they badly crave it, some lie because it's a result of a mental condition they have. They will try to take your spotlight, or they may cost the city thousands of tax dollars from cooking up an elaborately staged hate-crime to get their fix. When it comes to pathological liars, for them, there is a method to their madness. Some need serious help and some just simply need to grow up. Whatever the case may be, you have every right to call it out and protect your peace. Don't feel guilty about handling them accordingly in your life.
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