We all lie, it’s true, but some people make it an addiction. Or in a disease. This is the case of mythomania, a psychological disorder in which there is a great danger of lying compulsively to obtain certain benefits. When lying becomes a disease, treatment must be sought, but mythomaniacs hardly recognize their problem. We tell you more in our dictionary of hobbies.
What is mythomania
That you admire a person or a thing in an exaggerated way is also mythomania, but this time we focus on its other meaning, more dangerous since we are talking about lies. And we all know that a single lie is enough to turn the whole truth into a sea of doubts and insecurity.
Mythomania is a psychological disorder that leads the person who suffers from it to lie compulsively. These people distort reality to achieve a very specific benefit, that of the approval and admiration of others. It can be intuited that there is a previous problem of low self-esteem and certain difficulties in managing social skills.
What is the lie for?
- But before going in depth to discover the characteristics of mythomaniacs and the danger they generate, it is worth considering something important about lying. Ethics aside, lying is an adaptive mechanism that brings us certain benefits and that can get us out of more than one situation.
- The lie is used as a protection. That being late for work has no consequences, that your partner does not catch you in an affair, that your boss does not fire you because you have not handed in the work on time or that your teacher does not suspend you because you have not finished the project. As we say, we are going to leave ethics aside, but lying is a habitual act that can give us very good results; or very bad
- But what is a lie? Be careful because we move in fields where dirty play is the winner. Have you ever met a person who assures you that he has never lied to you? And yet you know that everything has been a farce. There are people who do not need to lie to deceive. Because the lie is also a half truth. And the lie is also the omission of information. Lying is also when they don’t tell you the truth.
Characteristics of those addicted to lying
However, the mythomaniacs do not use the lie in the usual way, but they turn it into an addiction. And speaking of addiction, compulsive lying sometimes comes hand in hand with problems such as gambling or alcoholism. But, what characteristics do mythomaniacs present?
A pathological lie
Mythomaniacs lie compulsively. It is a pathological lie, because they feel the need to never tell the truth. In addition, they lie continuously because a small lie forces them to tell others. It is, in short, a vicious circle in which lies are the protagonist.
Life of lie
The circle of lies becomes so extensive that it covers his entire life. It’s as if his whole life was a farce, presenting himself under layers of lies that it’s almost better not to scratch for fear of what you might find.
Social skills
Mythomaniacs are often presented as people with great social skills, very self-confident and absolutely charming. Attention to sentimental relationships because it is one of the most dangerous types of relationship.
Lovely people
Under that presentation, which also includes a commitment to sincerity and honesty, hides all his lies. Depending on the degree of closeness you have with that person, you can discover them or not. If you don’t get to discover it, you will be left with the idea that that person is admirable, adorable and very special.
Your world is not real
Indeed, mythomaniacs are very special, since they can come to believe their own lies. Their world is unreal, everything is a facade, but they are not aware of it at all times.
There is no feeling of guilt
For this reason, they do not feel guilty, nor do they recognize themselves as liars. They believe it, just as they make others believe. Although in the flashes of self-recognition that they have, they suffer large doses of anxiety that they alleviate with a new lie.
They have low self esteem
The goal of the mythomaniac is to obtain admiration and approval, which denotes a serious problem of low self-esteem. They are also narcissistic and insecure people who are dissatisfied with their lives or with their way of being. That is why they have to build another reality.
Exaggeration of reality
There are times when the mythomaniac, more than lying, magnifies reality. He adorns her and exaggerates his qualities to feel more and better than others.
Consequences of mythomania
- “With a lie you can go very far, what you can’t do is go back.” We don’t know who said that phrase but it perfectly sums up the consequences of mythomania.
- If you have ever been lied to about something important, you will know the emotional destruction that can cause. We can approach the consequences of mythomania from the point of view of the victims of those lies, but we cannot lose sight of the consequences on the person who lies compulsively.
- It is the closest relatives and friends who can first detect the disorder. They have known that person forever and they know that his life is not as he tells it. At first they don’t give importance to it and in their social circle they can even come off as the most ingenious of the group, letting small fantasy details go by.
- The mythomaniac couple deserves a special mention, perhaps the person most affected by that person’s disorder. Living in a lie is not forever and the day you realize that everything was a farce, it can become a particular emotional hell from which it will be difficult for you to get out of any other toxic relationship.
- A person who practices pathological lying often becomes a professional liar. It is not easy to discover him, but it can end up happening. The breach of trust after a lie is never recovered, so it can lead to the social isolation of that person, precisely the opposite of what they were looking for in the beginning, which was nothing but admiration and adoration.
Treatment of mythomania
- The most complicated thing in the case of mythomania is not the treatment in question, but that the person who suffers from it is aware that they have a problem and ask for help. Addicted as they are to lying, those lies are also about themselves and the most common thing is that they create the role or roles they represent in life. They usually need a hard blow in the form of the breakup of an important relationship or in the form of complete isolation to make them aware of their disorder.
- And the help necessarily goes through a psychological treatment that is generally cognitive behavioral therapy, the same one that is used to overcome phobias and disorders such as anxiety or depression.
It is also necessary for the mythomaniac to train social skills and, above all, to learn to improve their self-esteem. All people have enough qualities to be loved, appreciated and admired, it is not necessary to decorate the personality with lies. - In the treatment of mythomania, the use of drugs is not ruled out, since the degree of anxiety that these people present is usually high. But in any case, the support of family and loved ones will be essential for your recovery.