Tells lies and makes up stories all the time. - Mental Health Message Board

mwicklif · 09-18-2005, 07:02 AM

Hello Everyone:

Can anyone tell me what would make a 40+ year old female lie on a constant basis? Everytime she opens her mouth you can bank on what she is saying is a lie.
She lies about anything. I am at a loss. What mental illness or personality order is this prevalent in?
Her lies are usually those that make her look good. Such as she is a semester away from having her Bachelor of Science degree in Nursing. She also tries to impress those around her be using words that she has no clue what they mean so she uses them completely out of context.
Another thing that she does is constantly attempting to turn people in to the authorities for what she perceives that they have done wrong wjith more added to the stories than actually happens.
This is really causing a lot of strife in our family. What can be don to help this person?

Mary

smc612 · 09-18-2005, 01:25 PM

hi mary i worked with a woman like this for 15 years. the stories she told were unbelievable. every word was a lie to make her look better or someone else look bad. we all new it and after a while just didn't listen to a word she said. she told some really ridiculous tales that she believed completely. it's sad but i don't know what makes people lie like that.

mwicklif · 09-18-2005, 03:15 PM

Hi and thank you for your reply.
The really bad part about it is that her mother seems to be very protective of this overgrown child. She is protective to the point of being supportive of her actions. I told my better half that I thought that his mother was enabling his sister to be this way. The mother knows that she lies like a rug and gets very upset when this daughter is exposed. It really makes me wonder which of these 2 women has the biggest problem in their life.

Mary

GatsbyLuvr1920 · 09-18-2005, 07:31 PM

Mary- In addition to telling lies and fantastic stories in order to make herself look good and impress people, does this woman also
criticize/degrade people to make herself feel better about herself?
believe that she is "special" and that she should be given "special" treatment as a result?
think that she's better than everyone else?
act very grandiosely in addition to the tall tales by attempting to impress people by having flashy cars, jewelry, expensive champagne, etc?
appear unsympathetic to anyone's problems but her own?
seem to be devoid of emotion, other than anger when she doesn't feel that she has been given the "special" treatment she deserves?
think that she is the epitome of "perfection," and everyone else falls short of her greatness, helping to explain the whole thing with the authorities?
If so, this is most likely Narcissistic Personality Disorder. I'm about 95-99% sure that my biological father (all he is to me is a genetic bond...) has it, and as a result, treated my mother and I with mind games and cruelty for twelve years. The only other disorder that this could be would be bipolar mania, but only if, in addition to the grandiose behavior the woman is:
hyperactive
not sleeping
talking very fast
jumping from topic to topic while speaking ("flight of ideas") and not making sense
having violent outbursts, especially if you try to interrupt her ramblings
distracted
more productive and is involved in a dozen projects at once
feels that she can do anything
feels that she's "on-top-of-the-world"
is having delusions such as "The President's in love with me, and we're getting married," or "I invented calculus," even if she's horrible in math.
These are common signs of bipolar mania, and some of the symptoms of NPD do overlap, but the difference between them is that the manic symptoms disappear when treated and isn't the natural behavior of the person, whereas with NPD, the sufferer always has the symptoms, and that's, unfortunately, the way that they act...If you have any more questions, feel free to ask!

-GatsbyLuvr1920-

mwicklif · 09-19-2005, 03:48 AM

Hello

I would say that you pretty much hit the nail on the head. She does not display all of these symptoms but does show a good 90% of them. Another one is that she is very jealous hearted. It seems to upset her when someone does something that she doesnot get to do. An example of this is that I joined a local gym for obvious reasons of course and she has continously ridiculed it with others and has thrown several slurs my way about me going.
Is there any medication for this person that can help?? How is this problem treated?? How does one approach the subject of how she can be helped??
(Without being overly obvious and bringing down her wrath upon them of course)
Another thing that she does is invent health problems to get attention.

Mary