Possibly most of us had some conversation with a person who related to us situations that seemed to be not entirely true. Listen to fantastic stories told by the spectator himself, find out about certain achievements related by the dreamer himself and knowing that we are lucky to be friends with a very important character are few of the many bitter experiences that the mythomaniacs. In this Psychology-Online article we delve into this topic of fantastic pseudology, explaining what is mythomania in psychology: meaning, symptoms and treatment.
Index
- Meaning of mythomania: definition
- Mythomania: symptoms and examples
- Causes of mythomania
- Is believing your own lies a disease?
- Treatment of mythomania: how to help a compulsive liar?
Meaning of mythomania: definition.
The mythomania in psychology it is the tendency of some people to alter a reality when describing it or directly to fable. These people are systematically telling lies and, although they do not express themselves, they have a compulsive need to lie.
It must be clear that mythomania (lies) is not a disorder, but is a set of symptoms or syndrome. For example, a narcissistic lies to see himself as the hero or important victim of a story which allows him to adapt, a person with borderline for self-esteem issues, a psychopath uses it as something instrumental to get something from others, Munchausen syndrome to hurt or care for someone or hurt himself. This whole question is variable because it depends on the objective of the lie.
K. Schneider (1920) says that there is a fundamental trait in these personalities, "to appear more than what one is". To give importance, a role is played even at the cost of honor and health.
At first, it is a conscious lie that later comes to be believed. The more the theatrical develops, the more these personalities lack any proper and true emotion; they are false, incapable of any lasting or really deep affective relationship.
Mythomania: symptoms and examples.
Among the symptoms and characteristics that we can observe in people with mythomania are the following:
- People who collect stories that already exist from others and take them as their own.
- Embellish a story that is real by decorating it and adding or omitting some relevant or non-relevant situations from it.
- This addiction to lying can lead to create or completely invent a life that is not yours or it has absolutely nothing to do with yours (jobs, place of residence, nationality, descent, socioeconomic position, property, skills, false merits, feats).
- These people hardly ask for help at least until they find themselves in a situation where they have been discovered and charged.
- They can fable or lie not only in the first contact with someone, but also with the people with whom they You already have a relationship for a long time and that can be very intimate (family, friends, co-workers, partner, neighbours).
Causes of mythomania.
It is very common that in moments of failure our self-esteem or self-perception is altered, ideas of handicap and sometimes nihilistic ideas break into us; Emotions of anger, sadness, anger and shame can also be present concurrently but at the same time something very particular happens, and that is that we desire in an impetuous way get out of that dark gap of failure and we fantasize about a much more pleasant existence and according to our aspirations or desideratums. These fantasies follow a path that ends in a two-way passage: melancholy or pathology.
People with low self-esteem are more vulnerable to mythomania
The low self-esteem preexisting of failures influences and potentiates the inclination to live fantasies beyond mere desire, begins a life where there is no pain, failure, angry emotions, sadness, anger, shame or as vulgarly they know Negative emotions. In this utopia people create an environment of successes, merits, skills, self-love, imperatives of happiness and self-fulfillment that are nothing more than non-existent events that may or may not be elucidated by other people.
People with low self-esteem (an altered perception of themselves), are in contingency of the catastrophe caused by fantastic pseudology.
Lies in these cases can function as coping mechanisms, as in most human beings without an obsession with lying (for example, We lie to our boss or family that we feel good when we are going through a crisis, in order not to hinder the relationship of the moment). Mythomaniacs make an assessment of lying as a necessary tool for adaptation, but that at their core they are the opposite and that is why sometimes it takes a long time to to find out.
Is believing your own lies a disease?
Lies represent a different panorama from reality, and as previously highlighted, they can function as adaptive mechanisms. It is this step to the consciousness of the words expressed that allows discernment; the lies represent a pathology not when you firmly believe they are true, but when Despite knowing that it is a lie, she continues with it.
One may be unaware that one is lying (for example, a person may be unaware that his family does not have the privileges and prestige that they have been told for years. This person ignores that all this is a lie, although he is very sure that this social status belongs to him).
The brain is the only organ in our body where the layers of our evolution can still be observed. layered (the brain is divided into three major structures): the brain stem, the limbic system, and the neocortex. The brain stem (the reptilian brain), in our culture is not paid much attention, we do not take it into account because our more conscious brain thinks it is at in charge of everything, especially in our western culture that we consider that our life is led by our conscious brain and we believe our own lies. In our reptilian brain It contains an enormous wisdom accumulated over thousands of years of phylogenetic evolution, but we don't have to think about it (it takes care of keeping our constant vital, to regulate our heart rate, our metabolism, temperature, wake-sleep cycles), ultimately it is in charge of our life, but it is a wisdom unconscious. This unconscious wisdom also stores the multiple adaptive mechanisms learned during evolution, including lying.
Treatment of mythomania: how to help a compulsive liar?
To treat mythomania you need re-educate the perception of reality of the patient. And this requires both the help of a mental health professional and the commitment of the patient.
An existing disadvantage is that the mythomaniac does not recognize his problem. Therefore, you do not seek professional help or tell lies in order not to attend consultations.
There are treatments based on psychotropic drugs, but they must be provided exclusively by a specialist. These treatments generally depend on the presence of symptoms of other types of psychological disorders.
But we strongly defend that the intervention with psychotherapy It is the best method to help people who have this type of problem.
In the following article you will find information about How to help a compulsive liar.
This article is merely informative, in Psychology-Online we do not have the power to make a diagnosis or recommend a treatment. We invite you to go to a psychologist to treat your particular case.
If you want to read more articles similar to What is mythomania in psychology: meaning, symptoms and treatment, we recommend that you enter our category of Clinical psychology.
Bibliography
K. Schneider. (1920). Psychopathic personalities. Editorial Morata. Madrid.
