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 19-year-old male pathological liar:

"Darren" (not his real name) is 19 years old and states he has A.D.D (Attention Deficit Disorder). Indeed...[he] has textbook symptoms of A.D.D. However, not once have I seen him take medication.

Darren constantly lies. These lies become more fantastic as the conversation progresses. He also seems to only lie to selected people, namely me because I don't have the heart to tell him he is lying.

Some of the stories Darren has told me and others:

1. I inherited 1.5 million dollars from my recently deceased uncle.
2. I own a wide-screen plasma TV and usually have around 40 computers in my house.
3. My UNI mates restored a car from scratch. It was initially 200 dollars now its worth 200,000 dollars. (He doesn't evem have a driver's license.)
4. I'm going to work for the police in their IT section next year.
5. I earned 800 dollars a day packing boxes and ripping up cabling for a company.
6. I design and build my own computer hardware.

When asked to show proof of these stories he finds some way to not be able to prove it, i.e.: "show us this piece of computer hardware" Darren: "I can't show you the my computer hardware because I sold it for 2000 dollars"

Some of my friends who know [the truth] are starting to accuse Darren of lying. When this happens he simply denies it and continues talking.

Although he means no harm and usually his lies are harmless, I wonder what drives him to lie?

---

OSRIC UNIVERSITY'S MAIN LINKS: HOME | ABOUT US | APPLY | DEPARTMENTS

---

Updated 10-14-2002. Problems? Contact chris@osric.com