Pathological Lying: Case Studies
(These case studies were sent to by Osric University by Internet users and by no means reflect the research of Osric University scholars.)
Desc. of 31-year-old female pathological liar:
...Bare in mind that the subject is currently 31 years of
age and has [supposedly] fulfilled a number of time-consuming
activities including living in America, obtaining 2 pilots licences, 2
degrees, an MA and PhD. She claims to have done her Auditing
Qualifications, been in charge of Ministry of Defence Electronic
Security, scored exceptionally highly on an IQ Test and also be
the holder of some mystical magical powers rather like Roald Dahl's
'Matilda'. The subject claims to have telekinetic energy-the power
to move things without touching them, although she concedes that
they are not as 'strong' as they were when she was a child.
The first thing she told me was that she had an incurable illness
which she likened to the AIDS virus, stating that as yet, there was
no name for the disease and that she was the first person in the
country to suffer from it. She then told me that in the past
(but all during adulthood) she had suffered from cancer of the blood,
skin cancer, and...a heart attack.
...She stated that her father had been an alcoholic
and beaten her, and that she had been a prisoner in her own home until
the age of 19, whereupon she escaped and moved to London. She
apparently moved in with a man who she says she met through a wrong
number telephone call. This man (and his father) then, allegedly,
siphoned £10,000 from the subject's savings account and then the fraud
squad became involved but were 'unable' to recover any of the money.
The subject allegedly moved to a new job but had a 'gun' held to her
head by her new boss which had led to her 'heart attack'.
She was caught out recently by my friend (her [the subject's] housemate). My friend
had returned from a weekend away and the subject informed her that
she had had a pizza-party in her absense and that the good-looking
man (who they had both admired from a distance) from across the road
had attended. My friend thought no more of this until she was out
doing her car one evening a few days later and got chatting with
the man concerned. She introduced herself and apologized for not
being at the party in her own home and that had she been aware
that a party was taking place, she would have attended. The man
denied all knowledge of ever being at a party at the house and
said he had never even spoken to the subject.
About a week later, my friend was away from the house again (feeling
doubtful about everything she had been told). When she returned,
the subject said that a friend of hers had been over and that they
had been to an American girl's party (right next door). My friend
was not sure about the truth in this, but happened to bump into the
American girl at a Laundrette. She decided there and then to see if
the subject had been telling the truth and apologised for not coming
to her party. The girl looked at her strangely and denied all knowledge
of any party.
...Yesterday, she informed me that she had received personal compensation
from the September 11th attacks.
I know this cannot be true because she has no connection to anything
that happened there.
I now feel that in the six months I have been in
her company (which is very frequently), she has volunteered information
which I did not ask for, and that is now proving to be very dubious.
...There is obviously a deep-rooted insecurity since she feels
the need to make up these amazing stories. Perhaps she feels that she
will only be liked if she is different. She quite clearly does not want
people to think that she is the same as anyone else and wants people to
look up to her: Her individuality or separateness is manifested through
her claims to special magical/electric powers and her unique and incurable
illness.
I just have a nasty feeling that she is in a habit that cannot be ended
and although I would like to help, I would not know where to start since
I do not know the border between her fact and fiction.
Updated 10-14-2002. Problems? Contact chris
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