Always lying

[wombat2u2004]

Sounds like she has a decent dose of Attention Seeking Behaviour.

[Catlady711]

I'd have a very hard time being friends with someone who I knew was always lying or exaggerating things.

[Marigold2]

I don't believe she has ever had therapy. I never know what to believe and that is making it hard to stay close to her as much as I want to. I consider her family, so a solution can hopefully be found. I find myself not wanting to spend time with her or hubby or child because of this and it's very painful.

[Pawsitive Thinking]

Have you spoken to her about this and asked why she feels the need to lie so much? Might make her take the first step towards the help she seems to need

[wombat2u2004]

Have you spoken to her about this and asked why she feels the need to lie so much? Might make her take the first step towards the help she seems to need

They just get embarrassed when ya do that.
Best just to go with the flow and put up with it.

[pomtzu]

Sounds like she has a decent dose of Attention Seeking Behaviour.

Exactly what I was thinking..........

[carole]

I think it depends on how much you value your friendship with her, as long as her lies don't cause you any problems, and she is harming no-one perhaps it is best left alone, ask yourself how much it bothers you? and if you can deal with it.
However i too had a friendship with someone like that when i was young, it was devastating, this person caused so many problems with her lies,that i ended the friendship for good, and i certainly would never go there again, just be cautious is my warning to you, good luck.

[Asiel]

Sounds like she has a decent dose of Attention Seeking Behaviour.

I think you hit the nail on the head. Probably has an inferiority complex along with that so the lies makes her feel important.
We have the same situation with one of the neighbours except it's a "he". The whoppers get bigger and bigger each time he relates a story. We just let him talk and get it out of his system , it does make us laugh sometimes. The funniest part is that if his wife is with the rest of us and he starts she just glares at him and tells him to get his story straight and stop lying....lol. And he actually does stop and gets back to normal.
If you value the friendship just ignore the lies, or you could try and trip her up once in a while so she recognizes the fact that you are on to her .

[catnapper]

I used to work with someone like that -- she had to one-up every conversation. I remember when I was talking to her about taking walks with Cameron and how he could go a whole city block by himself.... she SWORE she walked a two-year-old two miles... in the woods... uphills....in ten minutes.... backwards. Backwards? seriously? She was dead serious.

It was all to get attention. She got it all right, but not the kind she craved. It turns out she has a pretty poor sense of self and miserable home life. She professed to have hte greatest husband and children in the world, but hte reality was far FAR from her tales of home life.

[chocolatepuppy]

I had a friend years ago who did that. She was okay when you first got together and the longer she talked, the more she, uh, exaggerated. Everyone knew she did it and no one paid any mind. I believe it was attention seeking.

[Catty1]

This is kind of wordy, but good.

http://www.buzzle.com/articles/compu...-symptoms.html

It makes me think that an 'intervention' sort of thing might work, as the liar would be aware that EVERYONE is on to this. As the article indicates, people can't even stop it after a while, and do need professional help to break the cycle.

This deals more with what the OP mentioned:

http://www.askmehelpdesk.com/other-f...iar-55878.html


The only immediate thing I can think of is paying attention to her when she is speaking about a regular thing, and turning away and ignoring her when she starts the lying. 'tell the truth, you get attention - lie, and you're on your own.'

That's a real toughie. Prayers for her!

ETA: interesting... http://www.dailystrength.org/groups/liars-anonymous

Chronic lying can also be part of Borderline Personality Disorder, which I understand is treatable.

[carole]

I think it is a mistake to say that someone with an inferior complex would be a liar such as this person,i would say that is an incorrect statement, i know someone who has an inferior complex and they are quite the opposite, hate attention of any kind,and certainly not liars.,infact i would say they are too honest for their own good if you know what i mean.

[Cataholic]

There are 24 hours in a day. I could not even begin to think I would befriend, remain friends or even dwell on this type of situation for any length of time. If it were my sibling, maybe.....someone not related to me? No way. Life is just too short.

[wombat2u2004]

I think it is a mistake to say that someone with an inferior complex would be a liar such as this person,i would say that is an incorrect statement, i know someone who has an inferior complex and they are quite the opposite, hate attention of any kind,and certainly not liars.,infact i would say they are too honest for their own good if you know what i mean.

Thing is Carole, an inferior complex manifests in so many different ways.
People on one hand can be very withdrawn and shy and not mix socially with other people, because they realise that they can't perhaps hold a proper discussion with others. They feel as though they can fail in a discussion, whereas they may be intelligent enough to carry out a normal discussion, but their fears prevent them from doing that.

On the other hand, people who feel inferior may also try to take over the reigns in a discussion, to make themselves look good. They expand stories to get attention, they butt in to conversations, and also try to belittle the people they are talking to.
These are all pyschological defence mechanisms at work, making them feel superior, when in fact all they are trying to do is cover up and mask their feelings of inferiority.

Now, I have to go find my security blanket. Hee hee

[Karen]

Chronic lying can also be part of Borderline Personality Disorder, which I understand is treatable.

BPD is difficult to diagnose and very difficult to treat. Yes, it is treatable, but only with a strong commitment from both patient and doctor.