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Which mental illnesses would include this?
I know somebody who has some serious mental issues. I'm trying to figure out what mental illness it could be since he's probably not properly diagnosed.
Basically, he's a pathological liar who also suffers on and off from depression. Now, I don't just mean lying. He makes up entire scenarios, degrees, accents, everything. One could call it multiple personalities, except he's deliberately making them all up. He likes for people to think well of him, so just makes up whatever seems to be suitable in the situation--even claiming to be from another country and using a different accent for a job interview. At the same time, he doesn't think "normally" and there are times when his social understanding or just his thinking are totally bizarre.
Any suggestions of mental illness descriptions to explore?
It's not just attention, though. His thinking and understanding are truly "off" at times. He has done illegal things as part of his "pretending". He has even treated one of his own children as though they weren't his because his thinking is "off".
I'm not asking for a specific "diagnosis", just different mental illnesses that such characteristics may include. He was at one point diagnosed as a schizophrenic, which could be the "weird" thinking, but I don't think schizophrenia covers the constant deceit and trying to come off as normal (his words at one point). He thinks he will be seen as normal or likeable if he portrays himself differently.
I should maybe add that this man is in his 50s and has been this way since at least his teens. He has been on meds that helped--but then went off of them because he was convinced he didn't need them anymore. I'm not talking some 20yo who's trying to impress people, but a man who has one failed relationship after another due to the deceit and abnormal thinking. He convinced one psychiatrist that he has multiple personalities, but he's smart enough to be able to pretend to have all of these different things.
5 Answers
- 1 decade agoFavourite answer
Pseudologia fantastica.
That's what it sounds like to me.
Source(s): Pseudologia fantastica - Wikipedia - 1 decade ago
Might be social issues instead of mental issues. Sounds like he is a pathological liar that wants to have respect and admiration from his peers.
