Do schizophrenics lie?

Do schizophrenics lie? The alteration of reality in people with schizophrenia produces thoughts that generate emotional instability, problems in social relationships and behaviors destructive. In this sense, the question may arise as to whether people diagnosed with a mental illness such as schizophrenia use lies at their convenience.

Is it possible that they tell lies on purpose? How is the relationship with the social and family environment in these cases? These questions serve to address an extremely difficult and complex mental health problem. In this Psychology-Online article, we will answer the question of whether schizophrenics lie and how to detect when they do.

Index

1. How a schizophrenic behaves with his loved ones
2. Are schizophrenics liars?
3. How to tell if a schizophrenic is lying to you

Schizophrenia is a mental health disorder characterized by the presence of a perception distortion of reality, including delusions and hallucinations that seriously affect the life of a person with this diagnosis. In this sense,

Next, we explain how a schizophrenic behaves with his loved ones:

• irrational responses: understands the way of acting of a person in the face of some unforeseen event. In general terms, a schizophrenic could defend himself against something he believes to be unfair by violent behavior, insults, blows, among others.
• Distrust: the perception of reality of people with schizophrenia is altered. This can cause a schizophrenic to feel distrustful of anyone who approaches him. Likewise, ideas may arise referring to someone taking objects, parts of his body, trying to hurt him, among others.

Although this question is very general given that each person has traits that make them unique, in this clinical picture there is a tendency to describe real life events in an implausible way and derisory. However, it should be noted that patients with schizophrenia are convinced that the things that happen are real.

For this very reason, one could say that schizophrenics are liars, but without any intentionto cause harm to third parties. In this article, we tell you why do we lie according to psychology.

The relationship that can be established with a person diagnosed with a mental illness can be complicated due to the complexity of each case and the risks that may come into play in certain situations. In this sense, despite the fact that lying is a quality that could be experienced when meeting these people, we have some resources to detect it.

Next, we will cover how to tell if a schizophrenic is lying to you:

• Check with reality: When there is any doubt about the information that the person is providing us, it is necessary to carry out a reality check. The purpose of this action is not to confront her with the lie, but to understand the events that have happened. If you try to show that what is reported is not real, it could trigger a crisis that is difficult to bear.
• Request information from third parties: the opinion of other people can be enlightening to investigate the arguments presented by a person with diagnosed schizophrenia. On a global level, it is preferable that reactions of anger and/or disappointment be directed at institutions, laws, other people instead of receiving them on their own.
• Ask: sometimes, the person can relate a fact in very different ways. However, the key is to pay attention to every detail of your presentation. If inconsistencies are detected in the speech, there are great possibilities that the lie is present.
• Nonverbal language: This concerns facial expressions, gestures, the type of breathing, among others. If it is detected that the person shows signs of nervousness, uncertainty, body tremors, shortness of breath and/or an averted look, it can denote lies.

In this article you will find more information about How to detect a liar. Due to the complexity of the condition that has been described, it is essential to be in contact with mental health professionals in order to obtain personalized information. In turn, the creation of a support network is also essential to cope with the possible behaviors of a person with diagnosed schizophrenia.

This article is merely informative, at 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 Do schizophrenics lie?, we recommend that you enter our category of Clinical psychology.

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• Selma Sanchez, H. (2008). Neuropsychology of schizophrenia. Neuropsychology Notebooks, 2 (2), 79-134.