Pinocchio syndrome

Pinocchio syndrome is known in psychiatry by the name “pathological lying” or also by the name “mythomania.” Some researchers of the human mind indicate that this pathology is characterized by the irremediable compulsion that some people suffer from lying.

When in adulthood we observe people who surround their lives with lies and deception to justify actions or to adjust their self-esteem defects, then we find ourselves facing a serious problem. For the mythomaniac, lying is part of normality.

Not all liars suffer from Pinocchio syndrome

Not all people who lie suffer from this syndrome. Some lie consciously to obtain a benefit, but the pathological liar does not lie with an intention. Their lies are spontaneous and unplanned, and once they enter into this dynamic of farce and deception, they cannot stop.

Those who suffer from Pinocchio syndrome often maintain the lies they tell for years. But it is important to emphasize that the pathological liar knows that he is lying, but he cannot help it. It’s not something he can decide. It is an unconscious, pathological act, something that escapes your control.

However, this situation is so serious that the person who suffers from Pinocchio syndrome ends up believing their own lies. There comes a time when he does not know how to discern what is reality and what is the product of his lies.

The main signs that characterize a mythomaniac

How can we identify a mythomaniac? It can be difficult to differentiate between someone who lies sporadically and voluntarily from someone who suffers from this pathology. However, we have some signs that if we open our eyes wide, they can be of great help to us.

1. The stories he tells are not delusions

When a person lies they make up a story. None of what he says is being true, but rather it is totally distorted with a purpose: to cause astonishment or to present himself to others as a victim.

2. Lies last over time

If you have ever lied, you will recognize that this is done at a certain point. It is not something that is done in any circumstance without having reasons for it. Lies have a purpose, as we mentioned before.

Instead, The mythomaniac person lies uncontrollably, regardless of the context, the environment or if the person you are lying to is a family member or someone unknown. There is no discrimination. Lying is taken as normal.

3. He believes his own lies

The person who suffers from Pinocchio syndrome, unlike the average liar, believes that everything he tells is true. That is, he is not able to discern between what is fantasies in his mind and what is not. This is very important as it causes several conflicts in your relationships with others.

Mythomania is not harmless. It has side effects at different levels. In the social sphere, the mythomaniac usually loses credibility and is labeled as the “storyteller.” At the family level, she is defined as an unrecommended and untrustworthy person. And as for contacts and friends, they tend to distance themselves or the person ends up estranged from the group.

The only treatment for people with this syndrome is psychotherapy, although currently, there is no research in this area that can guarantee a definitive cure for the patient. It is a pathology that should always be under supervision and that can have improvements, although there is no evidence that it can be completely eliminated.

Causes of Pinocchio syndrome

The onset of this syndrome is usually located in adolescence, where social feedback is especially important. That is to say, the environment has great power in the maintenance and development of this psychological ailment.

On the other hand, In 40% of cases of Pinocchio syndrome, some alterations of the central nervous system have been found. Some of them are:

Epilepsy. History of serious trauma or infection. Altered electroencephalograms. Greater proportion of white matter in the frontal lobe of the brain, associated with greater disinhibition and less concern for moral aspects. Right hemitalamic dysfunction.

Therefore, pathological lying can also have a neurological, health or genetic correlate. This is key when treating it as a disorder and not as a bad habit.

Pinocchio syndrome and thermography

A team of scientists from the University of Granada, led by Dr. Emilio Gómez Milan, designed an experiment to find out if a person is lying or telling the truth. In this experiment they used a thermal imaging camera to record the temperature of the experimental subjects’ faces. They concluded that When someone lies, the temperature of the nose drops and the temperature of the forehead rises.

Emilio Gómez points out that these two facial points are the keys to measuring what they called the “Pinocchio Effect.” Gómez assures that: “When we lie, the temperature of the tip of the nose drops between 0.6 and 1.2 °C, while that of the forehead rises between 0.6 and 1.5 °C. “The greater the difference in temperature change between both regions of the face, the more likely it is that that person is lying.”

But what is this change in temperature due to? Emilio Gómez gives us the answer: “To lie you have to think, and that is why the temperature of the forehead increases, but we also get nervous, something that causes the temperature of the nose to drop.”

The lie is available to everyone

That is why it is necessary to distinguish a liar from a mythomaniac and from a person who sometimes lies. Pinocchio syndrome, like many other disorders, requires diagnosis and treatment, not moral judgment.

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