4 Ways Psychopaths Uses Pathological Lying To Manipulate You

Have you blindly trusted someone only to realise after a long time that you were manipulated by a psychopath and trapped in a web of lies? If yes, then you have hit the right post. Here is everything you should know about “pathological lying” and psychopaths. 

Do you know that pathological lying and psychopathy are one and the same thing? While lying has been assumed to be universal and typical in humans and not so harmful, pathological lying is the chronic behaviour of compulsive or habitual lying. Pathological lying is usually hidden by certain assumptions – that can be called outright dangerous – and have also been proved by research. 

Lying to your parents about excess consumption of ice-creams, chocolates or lying to your teachers for bunking classes or hiding about your occasional alcohol consumption from your spouse – is definitely not wrong. We all lie to have some extra fun, protect ourselves from the wrath of parents and teachers or to avoid hurting your best friends’ feelings or avoid shame because of your silly mistakes. 

However, psychopaths are habitual liars because they are driven by the mission to manipulate others for pleasure and personal gain. They are quite different from ordinary people because they tend to lie for no apparent reason. And every lie is damaging!

Related: 10 Surefire Signs You’re Dealing With a Psychopath

Knowing their actual intentions behind lying and disturbing aspects of their character will leave you dumbstruck. So, they are pathological liars having personality disorders and fit the definition of psychopaths. Their deception and lying are inseparable from different types of psychopathic behavior. 

Here are different ways in which psychopaths manipulate others using pathological lying:

1. Dominate the targets

Psychopaths treat relationships as games and people as objects. So, they never regret taking advantage of you, even if you are innocent. Nothing can melt their hearts. They always have excuses ready to justify their acts. 

They have mastered the art of lying, which is an essential skill to manipulate and deceive the victim. Lying is like breathing to them. If they want to impress you they will leave no stone unturned to prove themselves as genuine and trustworthy individuals. 

Having an incredible mind-reading skill, psychopaths hardly take time to understand your personality and psychology. And, present themselves in front of you in a manner that is appealing to you. If you have never encountered psychopaths before, it is highly likely that you will fall for their false images and do things exactly the way they want. You end up making the wrong decisions and fall in an impending disaster. 

Once the potential target is trapped in the psychopath’s web of lies, s/he loses the capacity to distinguish between what is true and false. Because psychopaths twist and turn the facts and occasionally speak half-truths. That creates an uber confusion in your mind!

Moreover, psychopaths are always prepared with the necessary resources and backups to support their alcoholism, abuse and other dubious acts. So, even when you’re suspicious about them, you can’t find any evidence against their wrongdoings. Consequently, it is the target or victim who ends up feeling guilty and enter into a stage of chronic self-doubt.

A psychopath will always keep you in an illusion that s/he loves you immensely and that you are always wrong to ensure their control on you. Thus, they keep lying, manipulating and dominating you. 

Related: 10 Tips That Will Help You Avoid Emotional Manipulation

2. Seek pleasure in Lying

Some people seek pleasure from reading, while some from food and some from movies or travelling. But, psychopaths seek pleasure in lying. They tell lies until their hearts are filled with happiness. Shocking. Isn’t it? 

A lot of people tell lies to save themselves from danger or avoid heavy personal or professional loss. Some people lie under extreme pressure to hide shame or a wrong act.  However, psychopaths cannot progress in their lives without lying. Telling lies is innate to them and they keep doing even when they can easily tell the truth to avoid all the problems.  

This pathological lying is explained by “Duper’s Delight” which describes why psychopaths lie even lying is not at all necessary. Psychopaths love the process of lying as they add a lot of details to make it more real. It is like an achievement to them when people believe their fake story. Sick entertainment! Because they have gained desired control over you and can make you dance to their tunes.  

Related: Narcissists and Sex – The Biggest Manipulation and Controlling Tool