Are you sure that your partner or close friend is exactly who they seem to be? Mythomaniacs can create the illusion of a successful and eventful life for years, keeping loved ones in the dark about the real state of affairs. Why do they do it? And can they be helped to return to reality?
Everyone lies a little. So, most of us from time to time “correct” reality in our favor – for example, to avoid communicating with an unpleasant person or to make our profile on a dating site more interesting. We may be ashamed of these moments of weakness, but they usually do not prevent us from adequately judging ourselves or communicating with other people. However, in the case of pathological liars, or mythomaniacs, lies become the main content of life.
Brilliant illusion
The first phenomenon of mythomania was described at the beginning of the XNUMXth century by psychiatrist Ernest Dupre. He concluded that pathological liars tend to make up extraordinary stories about themselves in order to “increase their attractiveness in the eyes of others, to attract attention to themselves.” Many of them from childhood show hysterical character traits, the habit of manipulating others and achieving their own through persuasion.
Mythomaniacs often have a highly developed imagination: their speeches sound plausible as long as they do not come into obvious contradiction with reality. Mythomania may be more or less pronounced, it may have different specific causes, but the basis is always the same: the opportunity to have a better, more exciting and exciting life.
Having lied once, the mythomaniac is drawn into a vicious circle, moving further and further away from reality.
For example, such people may imagine themselves as the heirs of an ancient aristocratic family, astronauts, brilliant inventors, or influential businessmen. With the right combination of circumstances, a person who is convinced of his own lies and brilliantly knows how to convince others can keep others believing in his own myth for many years.
Lie to the last
“Most of all, the mythomaniac is afraid that his lies will be revealed. For him, this means a new crisis, the collapse of the brilliant “career” that he worked so hard to create, even if only in his imagination, explains clinical psychologist Michel Lejoyeau. “Therefore, even in a hopeless situation, mythomaniacs continue to insist on the veracity of their story, creating more and more heaps of ridiculous fabrications.”
Having lied once, the mythomaniac is drawn into a vicious circle, moving further and further away from reality. The further he advances in building his ideal world, the more sacrifices this work requires. For the sake of keeping his secret, the mythomaniac can go to theft, fraud, and in the case of a serious pathology, even to murder.
The most dramatic example is the story of Jean-Claude Roman, the hero of the novel The Fiend by Emmanuel Carrère. At the age of 19, Jean-Claude became a medical student. However, in the second year of study, he did not appear for the exams, and lied to his parents and friends that he successfully passed them. From that moment on, the young man began to lead a double life: first he imitated student life, then work at the World Health Organization.
The deception went on for 18 years. During this time, he managed to acquire a wife and children. But in the end, his wife and parents began to suspect him and tried to find out the truth. Cornered, Jean-Claude Roman killed his wife, children, parents and tried to commit suicide.
Unbearable reality
Experts explain that the roots of this insatiable need to invent another life for oneself lie in the rejection of oneself and one’s own life. “Often, a pathological predilection for inventing myths about oneself develops after psychological trauma, primarily sexual ones,” explains Michel Lejoyeaux. “People who have experienced serious trauma may lose the habitual psychological defenses that supported their positive view of themselves and the world. Under such conditions, their personality may begin to crumble.
They seek protection from pain in self-forgetfulness, in escaping into an alien reality created by their fantasy. Research has established that mythomania shares many similarities with multiple personality syndrome. But where the mythomaniac lies, a person with multiple personalities simply switches between different “inhabitants” of his body.
They seem to be living in a dream and are trying with all their might to avoid awakening.
According to Michel Lejoieau, “the mythomaniac has an idea of the truth of his constructions, but this idea is very limited.” Mythomaniacs should not be confused with cynical manipulators who use lies as a tool to achieve their goals. Unlike them, for mythomaniacs lies are an end in themselves. They live in their invented world and enjoy (for the time being) the fact that they have just such a life.
They seem to live in a dream and try with all their might to avoid awakening. This is the main obstacle in the way of those who want to help mythomaniacs. “A person with this disorder does not recognize himself as sick, which is a great difficulty for treatment,” explains the clinical psychologist.
This requires a very long and complex psychotherapeutic process. The main thing is that the client himself is determined to make contact. Otherwise, his successful recovery may become another performance, masterfully played out in front of relatives and friends.