PREVIOUS STUDIES
The subject of pathological lying was first definitely brought to
the attention of the medical and legal professions by the studies
of Delbruck.[8] The aim of this work was to follow the
development of a symptom but little commented upon up to this
time, a symptom, as he says, found in every healthy person in
slight degree, but in some cases rising to pathological
significance and perhaps dominating the entire picture of
abnormal traits--thus becoming pathognomonic. This symptom he at
the outset calls lying.
[8] ``Die pathologische Luge und die psychisch abnormen
Schwindler. Eine Untersuchung Uber den allmahlichen Uebergang
eines normalen psychologischen Vorgangs in ein pathologisches
Symptom, fur Aerzte und Juristen.'' Pp. 131, Stuttgart, 1891.
Through an elaborate and exhaustive investigation of the lies
told by five patients over a period of years, he came to the
conclusion that the form of falsifying in these cases deserves a
new and separate name. It was not ordinary lying, or delusion,
or false memory, these words express only part of the conception;
hence he coined the new term, pseudologia phantastica, to cover
the species of lying with which he was concerned. Later German
writers have also adopted his terminology.
To emphasize the method by which he arrived at this conclusion
and to gain at the same time some knowledge of the problems he
dealt with, we may review in bare outline his case-studies.
The first patient presented by Delbruck was an Austrian
maid-servant who in her wanderings through Austria and
Switzerland had played at various times the roles of Roumanian
princess, Spaniard of royal lineage, a poor medical student, and
the rich friend of a bishop. Her lying revealed a mixture of
imagination, boastfulness, deception, delusion, and
dissimulation. She romanced wonderfully about her royal birth
and wrote letters purporting to be from a cardinal to herself.
She fled disguised as a man from an educational institution to
Switzerland where her sex was discovered. It appeared that she
was subject to contrary sex feelings and thought of herself as a
man. She was under the observation of Krafft-Ebing at one time.
He considered it at least as a case of paranoia. Others had
determined the girl to be a psychopath who indulged in
simulations and lies. Delbruck denominated it a case of direct
lying with a tendency to phantasies, delusions, and
dissimulations. Delbruck from this case argues that a mixture of
lies and delusions is possible, comparing such a state with
dreaming and with the hypnotic condition in which one follows the
suggestion of the hypnotizer and is still aware of the fact. It
was evident at times that this girl half believed her own
stories, then again that she had forgotten her former lies. In
her, Delbruck considers perverted sex feeling and hysteria
revealed a brain organization abnormal from birth. There was the
instinctive tendency to lie.
The second patient, an epileptic girl, had been many times
imprisoned and also sent to the Charite for examination into her
sanity before Delbruck saw her. Her peculiar method was to
approach strangers, claiming to be a relative coming from another
city to visit. If cordially received she would stay as long as
her welcome lasted, then depart taking with her any of their
possessions her fancy chose. Many prominent physicians examined
her and were unable to decide as to her responsibility; judges
and others said she was a willful deceiver, a refined swindler.
Delbruck, looking deeper, found that she was suffering from
hysteria, having hystero-epileptic seizures with following
delirium, or rather twilight states. Though her delinquencies
seemed to show cunning and skill, a careful investigation
revealed the fact that this was merely aberrant. Generally her
thieving was undertaken in feebleminded fashion; many times she
stole things worthless to herself. Evidences of her pathological
mentality were that she would give orders for groceries, would
buy children's clothes, or send for a physician under an assumed
name. She might not go back for the groceries, but after
ordering them would say she would return with the carriage. The
characteristic fact throughout her career was that she wished to
appear to be some one wealthier, more influential than she was.
Delbruck classifies her as high-grade feebleminded, suffering
from convulsive attacks and peculiar states of consciousness,
with a morbid tendency to lying. She possessed no power to
realize the culpable nature of her acts when she was performing
them.
His third patient as a boy appeared normal both mentally and
physically. In his youth he went through the gymnasium and then
studied theology. He spent money very freely on clothing and
books, but at this period neither stole nor lied. After
finishing his theological studies, he preached in his home town
and was regarded as a young man of great promise. Then came a
change; he began to write strange letters, telling of some
positions offered him, he borrowed money freely from relatives
and friends who were willing to give because they believed in his
coming career. When studied, it was concluded by Delbruck that
this was a case of constitutional psychosis, hysteria, moral
insanity, and psychopathy--all of these forms being interrelated.
Outside of masturbation, begun in early childhood and indulged in
excessively at times, no causal factors were discovered. He
considered that this case offered a good illustration of the
peculiar coexistence of real lies and delusions in the same
individual.
His fourth case was that of an artful, deceitful, arrogant,
selfish boy, always clever in excuses, who had stolen from the
age of twelve, often stolen things that he threw away. Though of
Protestant family, he delighted to draw Catholic insignia and
embroider religious characters. He finally entered the
university, always lying and stealing. At the end of three
months he was taken home in debt 2000 marks. He later became a
Catholic. Outside of normal expense he had cost his father
28,000 marks. By the time he was studied he had already taken
opium for four years, having started because of neuralgia. There
had been a severe operation on account of some trouble with the
teeth. It was discovered that there was contrary sexual feeling
in this case also. The patient had a great inclination for doing
woman's handwork. Delbruck again considered the early appearance
of character anomalies and perverted sex feeling to prove a
deep-seated abnormality of nervous constitution. He diagnosed it
as a case of constitutional psychosis; the extent of the
abnormalities showing the individual to be irresponsible.
His last patient was an alcoholic adventurer, early life unknown,
who had an idiotic sister. He had lived long in America and
returned to Germany full of stories of his wonderful achievements
over seas. This case does not concern us except to emphasize the
influence of alcohol in the development of such cases.
This outline is sufficient to show the justification of his
conclusion, namely, that just as in healthy people a mixing of
lies and mistakes may occur, so the same combination may reach a
pathological height, and one can diagnose a mixture of lies with
delusions or false memories.
These studies focus our attention on the following points which
are valuable to emphasize for the purpose of this monograph: the
complexity of details to be examined in the life of any one
patient in whose delinquencies pathological lying is a factor,
the variety of cases in which this factor may occur, hence the
difficulties in the way of determining the extent to which the
patient is responsible for his deeds and whether he belongs in a
reformatory or an insane hospital. From the standpoint of
society Delbruck's work has great use, since it reveals so
plainly the menace that these liars are to their families and to
the community as a whole, their unscrupulousness in financial
dealings, their tendencies to bring false accusations involving
families and friends alike in useless expense and litigation.
German studies on pseudologia phantastica since Delbruck's time
have followed the line of amplification of his views and
clarification of the subject by the addition of new types.
Koppen[9] attempted to differentiate sharply and to analyze more
accurately the conception of the pathological lie. He found it
impossible to make an absolute separation between pathological
lies and normal lies. The lies of the mentally diseased are
seldom pathological. They lie, but their lies do not differ from
those of the mentally sound. We cannot call the results
delusional lies. Among imbeciles we find a peculiar disposition
to lying, especially among those of criminal inclination. Their
lies do not separate themselves either in content or in relation
to the rest of their ideas from the lies of the mentally
diseased. Here follows his positive contribution to the
conception; the pathological lie is active in character, a whole
sequence of experiences is fabricated and the products of fancy
brought forward with a certainty that is astonishing. The
possibility that the untruth may be at any minute demolished does
not abash the liar in the least. Remonstrances against the lies
make no impression. On closer inspection we find that the liar
is no longer free, he has ceased to be master of his own lies,
the lie has won power over him, it has the worth of a real
experience. In the final stage of the evolution of the
pathological lie, it cannot be differentiated from delusion.
Pathological lies have long been credited to hystericals, they
are now known to arise in alcoholics, imbeciles, degenerates.
All pathological liars have a purpose, i.e., to decorate their
own person, to tell something interesting, and an ego motive is
always present. They all lie about something they wish to
possess or be.
[9] ``Ueber die pathologische Lugner,'' Charite-Annalen, 8, 1898.
Pp. 674-719.
Koppen offers three case studies: I. A man who had suffered
from many epileptic seizures came from a family in which there
was insanity. He gave himself many false titles, and from his
childhood pathological lying had been a prominent symptom. As an
example, when he married against his father's will, he at the
wedding read a false dispatch, pretending it to be
congratulations from his family. Koppen suggests that this
individual was incapable of meeting life as it really was and he
therefore wove a mass of phantasies. II. A young man charged
with grave falsifications. He had come from an epileptic family
and himself had slight attacks in childhood. He bore various
pathological stigmata. Koppen considered that the patient
believed his own stories about his rather superior education and
that in general his lies became delusions which influenced his
actions. He diagnosed the case as psychotic; insane in a legal
sense. III. A young man undoubtedly insane brought forward his
pathological lies with such force that Koppen was persuaded that
the patient believed in them.
Bernard Risch[10] has seen many cases of delinquents with more or
less marked psychopathic signs in which pathological lying was
the focal point. He reports five cases at great length, in all
of whom the inclination to fabricate stories, ``der Hang zum
fabulieren,'' is irresistible and apparently not to be repressed
by efforts of the will. Risch's main points, built up from study
of his cases, are worthy of close consideration: 1. Mental
processes similar to those forming the basis of the impulse to
literary creation in normal people lie at the foundation of the
morbid romances and fancies of those afflicted with pseudologia
phantastica. The coercive impulse for self-expression, with an
accompanying feeling of desire and dissatisfaction, plays a
similar part in both. That the making up of tales is an end in
itself for the abnormal swindler, just as it is for the normal
author, seems clear to Risch. 2. The morbid impulse which forces
``zum fabulieren'' is bound up with the desire to play the role
of the person depicted. Fiction and real life are not separated
as in the mind of the normal author. 3. The bent of thought is
egocentric, the morbid liar and swindler can think of nothing but
himself. 4. There is a reduction of the powers of attention in
these cases; only upon supposition that this faculty is disturbed
can we account for the discrepancies in the statements of
patients. One has the impression that their memory for their
delinquencies is not clear. Careful investigation proves that
they do not like to remember them and this dislike has to be
overcome. 5. There is a special weakness in judgment, which for
general purposes is sound. The train of thought is logical, but
in ethical discernment the lack appears. The pathological liar
does not face openly the question of whether his lies can be seen
through.
[10] `` `Ueber die phantastische Form des degenerativen Irrseins,
Pseudologia phantastica.'' Allgemeine Zeitschrift fur
Psychiatrie, 65, 1908, H. 4; pp. 576-639.
Then follows a closer analysis of the qualities possessed by
pathological liars: (a) Their range of ideas is wide. (b) Their
range of interests is wider than would be expected from their
grade of education. (c) Their perceptions are better than the
average. (d) They are nimble witted. Their oral and written
style is above normal in fluency. (e) They exhibit faultiness in
the development of conceptions and judgments. Their judgment is
sharp and clear only as far as their own person does not come
into consideration. It is the lack of any self criticism
combined with an abnormal egocentric trend of thought that biases
their judgments concerning themselves. (f) Psychic traumata
arise perhaps through a striking reaction in the emotional realm
towards external occurrences. (g) Nearly all of Risch's cases
were burdened with bad inheritance. He maintains that, above
all, these cases show instability and psychic excitability. The
entire symptom complex arises upon a basis of degeneracy.
Essential similarities run through all of Risch's cases; it is
perhaps valuable here to cite a couple of them. His Case I is
that of a soldier, who after being released from prison at 23
years had begun his military duty and in a short time attempted
suicide. He was then studied for insanity. It was found that he
gave long accounts of his experiences as a chauffeur, rendering
his story with fluent details about hairbreadth escapes and other
adventures. He also told at length of his love affair with a
young girl. These stories were discovered to be false from ``A
to Z''; he did not clearly remember them later. The evolving of
such fabrications was all along one of his chief characteristics.
Examination showed no gross intellectual defect, but there were
certain psychopathic signs which had been displayed from early
childhood: he had little endurance and was unable to stand
criticism. Emotions befitting his stories were correctly
expressed by him; there were no facial evidences of conflict or
discomfort. It was impossible to tell from his physiognomy that
he was engaged in untruths. Mentally he was well oriented and
his thoughts flowed in orderly sequence. Despite rather limited
education he demonstrated very good style in his conversation and
his letters. The train of thought was expressed coherently and
logically, so well that one could speak of him as having literary
ability. Physically he was quite normal. Investigation of
antecedents showed that he was born of an exceedingly nervous
mother (more exact diagnosis not given) and that he had a
feebleminded brother. During his school career he was considered
to have quite fair ability. He learned no trade, and after
stopping school would leave a position upon the slightest
provocation. Before he was 23 he had been legally punished many
times for stealing and had spent, all told, over three years in
prison. Once before he had attempted suicide. After the
thorough study of him at 23 he was placed in an asylum. There he
was occupied at basket weaving and was chiefly notable for
keeping up the characteristics that were peculiar to him before.
He continually lied and, indeed, seemed to get his main pleasure
out of telling fabulous stories to the other patients.
Case IV was a man of 31 years, a decorative painter by trade, who
presented himself at the states attorney's office and stated that
in a fit of jealousy he had shot and killed a man. Taking up the
case it was soon found that this was quite untrue and that the
man was a chronic liar. He seemed much astonished when he was
told that the man he claimed to have killed was still alive.
Further study of this self-accuser showed that he had been
punished by the law every year since he was 16. His offenses
consisted of embezzling, theft, forgery, and swindling. In all
he had served about 6 1/2 years. His lying was so much a part of
his mental life that he seemed to be unable to discriminate
between his real and his fancied crimes. He not only invented
stories, but was much inclined to play some role created by his
fancy. There seemed to be a method in his cheating and swindling
which added to his undoubted pleasure in lying. His peculiar
career was much furthered by the possession of a fluent style and
a good memory through which his creations were built up in most
plausible fashion. He proved to be willingly introspective and
stated that his inclination to lie was a puzzle to him, and that
while he was engaged in prevarications he believed in them. He
always was the hero of his own stories. He further declared that
inner unrest and love of wandering drove him forth even when he
was living under orderly conditions. He considered that his
feeling of restlessness was a weighty motive in the deeds for
which he had been punished. At one time this man had simulated
attacks of epilepsy and attempted in connection with these to
swindle physicians and others. His schooling had been continued
to the gymnasium, ``untertertia,'' then he had taken up his
trade. His intelligence and memory were considered excellent.
He had an insane brother.
Vogt[11] has made a thorough analysis of six cases of
pathological liars, ranging from the very stupid to the
intelligent. I. A girl, who had done poorly in school was unable
to hold a place and became a thief. Her mother was epileptic.
Examination showed intelligence not equal to that of eight years
with moral inferiority on account of this weakness. II. A
feebleminded girl of vacillating, weak judgment. Father insane.
Her lies were marked by their fantastic nature. III. Lively,
fanciful, unstable, hysterical girl. Poor record at school. IV.
Hysterical liar with peculiarities united with splendid mental
ability. V. Unusually intelligent, 15 years old, illegitimate
child; normal mother who later had five sound children; father
drunkard. Her lies were neither of suggested nor dreamy type,
they were skillfully dramatized means to an end in her fight for
social position. In the psychiatric examination she was found
mentally normal. VI. Girl thoroughly intelligent, good at
figures and puzzles, with no signs of degeneracy.
[11] ``Jugendliche Lugnerinnen.'' Zeitschrift fur Erforschung d.
jugend. Schwachsinns., Bd. 3. H. 5. 1910; p. 465.
Vogt characterized the pathological lie as active, more
elaborately constructed, more inclusive, and leaving the ground
of reality more readily than ordinary lies. Such lies he does
not always find egocentric. To the pathological liar his own
creation is reality, so he walks securely, is open and amiable.
All these cases are gifted with lively imaginations and inclined
to autosuggestion. Vogt calls the pathological lie a wish
psychosis. This statement opens the way to an interesting and
valuable interpretation of the psychological significance of this
phenomenon of the mental life. He finds many more girls than
boys among his cases; boys lie from need of defense and
protection, girls more from autosuggestion. This type of lie is
of greater interest to social than to clinical psychology. He
emphasizes the point that very refined and complicated lies
appear in healthy young people in the stress of difficult
situations. Obstinate and stubborn lying of itself is no disease
among children; examination must reveal that the lie has a morbid
cause.
The resemblance of pathological lying to poetic creation was
first suggested by Delbruck[12] in a reference to Keller's ``Der
grune Heinrich,'' a German novel in which the lies of a boy of
seven years, lies of a creative type of the nature of retroactive
hallucinations, are described. Hinrichsen[13] discusses at
length the resemblance of pseudologia phantastica to poetic
creation in Goethe, Grillparzer, Hoffman, and others.
[12] loc. cit.
[13] ``Zur Kasuistik und Psychologie der Pseudologia
phantastica.'' Arch. fur Kriminal Anthrop. umd Kriminalistik,
1906.
In an inaugural dissertation Anna Stemmermann[14] presents
exhaustively a series of cases. These cases were studied over a
long period catamnestically. Commenting upon one case she says:
It is worthy of note in this history that the patient in a
hypnoidal condition, with headache and flushed face, crochets in
a senseless way and thinks she is weaving a wreath for her
mother's grave, her mother being still alive. We often meet with
actions like this. Characteristic is the report of spontaneous,
fearful headache, without the patient's putting this in relation
to her peculiar behavior. We lay more stress upon this condition
than has been done previously in the literature. We believe that
this symptom is wanting in no classic case of pseudologia
phantastica. Often in this condition of narrowed consciousness,
the daydreams are spun and have such a power of convincing that
they later make the basis for pathological lies and swindling.
In this hypnoidal state a strongly heightened suggestibility
exists and trivial external causes give daydreams their
direction. The general trend of fancy reveals naturally the
inclinations and ideals of the affected individual. Stemmermann
also maintained that the pathological lie is a wish psychosis.
Even outside of the hypnoidal state, these cases are more
suggestible than the general run of people.
[14] ``Beitrage und Kasuistik der Pseudologia phantastica.'' Geo.
Reimer, Berlin, 1906, pp. 102.
Of Stemmermann's own cases, ten in number, only four at most were
normally endowed, the remainder were either stupid or slightly
imbecile. This agrees with the experience of previous writers.
Study of her cases showed that there was report of previous
mendacity, four had been liars from childhood. She found in them
the combination of the general habit of lying underneath the more
accentuated form of pseudologia phantastica. One case had
perverted sex feeling, one was a prostitute at sixteen years.
In her dissertation some points for the differentiation of the
pathological lie have been added to those offered by Delbruck,
Risch, Koppen, and Vogt. The pathological liar lies, not
according to a plan, but the impulse seizes him suddenly. This
propensity grows stronger. Under strict supervision it comes to
only an abortive attack, similar to what happens in cases of
dipsomania, or of tendency to rove in which the repressed
outbreak expresses itself in tormenting psychical and physical
unrest. While the normal liar and swindler is forced to be on
his guard lest he divulge something of the actual state of
affairs, and is therefore either taciturn or presents an evil and
watchful appearance, or, if a novice at his trade, is hesitating
in his replies, the pathological liar has a cheerful, open, free,
enthusiastic, charming appearance, because he believes in his
stories and wishes their reality. The inconsequential way in
which such persons go to work is to be explained by the fact that
consciousness of the real situation is partly clouded in their
minds. In any special act it is impossible to say whether the
consciousness of the lie, fancy, or delusion preponderates.
Inability to remember delinquencies Stemmermann regards also as
added proof of pathological lying.
She speaks of another class of prattlers, chattering people that
might be confounded with pathological liars from the stories they
tell in full detail. But they have no system which they develop,
often change their subject and do not paint in a lifelike way
because they do not believe their own stories or live in them in
a self-centered manner.
Of the 17 cases Stemmermann studied from the literature
(Delbruck, Hinrichsen, Jorger, Redlich, Koelle, Henneberg ,
Wellenbergh) 10 were periodic. Of her own 10 cases, 6 were
periodic. Sex abnormalities were present in 5 out of the 17 in
the literature. Among possible causes of pathological lying she
places any factor which narrows consciousness and increases
suggestion and weakness, such as pregnancy, overexertion, chronic
alcoholism, monotonous living, long, close work, head injuries.
Concerning prognosis she finds little detailed in the literature.
The general opinion is that such cases arising from a background
of degeneracy are incurable. One of her cases was free from
attacks for two periods of three years each, and had been
blameless in an honorable position as editor for seven years at
the time of the publication of her monograph. She suggests that
the profession he has chosen may be particularly suited to the
talents of the pathological liar. She also ventures to state
that where pathological lying is merely an accompaniment of
puberty it may disappear.
The fact that so many of the cases cited by Stemmermann were
clearly abnormal and found places in insane asylums makes much
citation of them by us, in turn, hardly worth while. However, a
short summary of a couple of her more normal cases will show the
problems and conditions as she found them. I. Annie J., 19 years
old, father a tailor, had been employed in several places as a
servant. Aside from the fact that it was stated she always had
an inclination to lie, nothing more was known about her early
life. She complained of headaches and fainting attacks, and
mourned over the death of her fiance. She said he had gone to
Berlin to learn tailoring and had died there of inflammation of
the lungs. He left her 650 marks which her mother got hold of.
On investigation it was found that this man was still alive and
never had been engaged to her. She then accused her mother of
taking 50 marks from her and said that a man, purporting to be
her real father, came from another town and told her she had been
brought up by foster parents. Through the quarreling which arose
from these various stories Annie was taken before the police
physician and pronounced mentally unsound. Then she told of
another engagement with the brother of her departed fiance, who
had discovered her real mother. The latter was going to leave
her 30,000 marks. He had formed a plot with the foster mother to
put Annie out of the way and to divide the money. He followed
her on the street and threw a drugged cloth over her head. She
fainted and was carried home. She said she brought action for
attempt to murder. (Whether this fiance and the rich mother were
real persons is not known.) Later in the same year, Annie being
again at large, a new father, der Graf von Woldau, appeared and
bought her beautiful clothes costing 100 marks. He wanted to
take her away, but quickly disappeared and was not seen again.
When Annie told this story she was employed by a woman who
attempted to get traces of the count, but failed. Later this
employer missed a sum of money equivalent to that spent for the
clothes. Annie's responsibility by this time was still more
questioned and she was sent to an insane asylum. There she was
found normally oriented, orderly, industrious, but suffered from
periodical headaches. When questioned in the asylum concerning
her tales she hesitated and would say, ``Now I believe them and
now I don't.'' It is remarkable in this case that her different
employers believed all her fabrications and took the girl's part
against the supposed offenders. For a year she engaged in a sort
of orgy of pathological lying and then this phase of her career
stopped. After a few months in the asylum she returned home and
later married. The last report from her mother was that she was
nervous and easily excited, but showed no further signs of
insanity.
II. This was a boy, Johann P., who was studied mentally first
when he was 16 years old. A thoroughly good history was
forthcoming. He was brought for examination on account of his
extreme changeableness, his failure in several occupations, his
tendencies to swindling and his extreme lying. As a young child
his mother had to correct him much for prevarications. Soon
after he was 9, when both his parents were already dead, he
forged a school certificate and was felt to be a bad influence in
the home of his guardian. About that time he also stole money
from pockets on a number of occasions. In school he was regarded
as an undesirable pupil on account of his underhanded behavior,
and one teacher who had observed him for long wrote that he
showed marked inclination towards lying. At the time he was 15,
he was somewhat retarded in school life, but was told he had to
decide upon an occupation. After a stormy period he announced he
would become a gardener. After doing well for a month or so at
his first place he began to tell compromising stories about the
wife of his employer. He gave himself out to be the son of a
general who was going to inherit a large sum of money. On the
strength of this he managed to get hold of expensive articles he
desired. A short time afterward he wrote to his guardian he was
fitted for higher pursuits than that of gardening. Soon
afterward he ran away to a large town. He now wrote that the
word freedom sounded like the sweetest music in his ears. He
acknowledged that he had started on a career of criminality, but
decided to do better. At this time he attempted to make his way
by offering his compositions at a newspaper office where they
were declined either because his productions were immature or his
authorship was doubted. One editor loaned him some money, but he
got much more by representing himself to be a collaborator of
this editor. He soon failed to make his way and attempted other
things, including entrance into the merchant marine. He finally
turned up again at his guardian's house, and when his box was
opened it was found to contain a very curious lot of material
such as money accounts, business cards, letter heads, catalogues.
It was at this time that he was placed for observation in an
asylum and it was soon found that his alleged compositions were
plagiarized. He claimed to suffer from headaches. Outside of
that he was in fine physical condition. He frequently wrote
sketches in proof of his ability. A general statement was
finally made that he showed slight traces of hysteria, was a
sufferer from headaches, and showed periodic tendencies to
wandering and lying. No special defect in the ethical
discriminations was present. He had good insight into his own
tendencies. He was finally released to his guardian, and
Stemmermann offered the prognosis that Johann might well develop
into a typical pathological swindler. He came of a family of
five brothers and sisters, one of whom was incarcerated for a
year on account of stealing. One sister was noted for her
tendency to prevarication. Several of them were remarkably
unstable, at least early in life. All of them are said to have
learned very unwillingly in school. One brother of the father
was exceedingly nervous.
Jorger[15] presents a case of a boy of poor parents who was from
childhood possessed of the idea of becoming a teacher. He was
always a solitary child, endowed with great religious fervor. In
spite of poverty he obtained an education, studied the classics,
and did excellent work. He developed early religious
eccentricities, became unsound on money matters, boasted of his
father's millions, spent freely as a benefactor, bought expensive
books. Then developed an outspoken tendency to swindling.
Finally he was adjudged insane and committed to an asylum.
Commenting on this case, Jorger points out the marks of
abnormality from childhood, such as solitariness and religious
intensity. He was above normal in intellectual ability, but
lacking in moral development. He did not love parents, brothers,
sisters, or teachers; he was very egotistical. Jorger defines
this as a case of constitutional psychosis. When older,
pseudologia phantastica controlled him; it was like hypnotic
influence, his dreams of wealth were like paranoia. His hypnotic
condition grew to such an extent that there was an interruption
of consciousness with following amnesia.
[15]``Beitrage zur Kenntnisse der Pseudologin phantastica.''
Viertel-jahrschrift fur gerichtliche Medicin und offentliches
Sanitatswesen, 1904 Bd. XXVII; pp. 189-242.
Henneberg[16] cites another case of a highly educated young man
who told wonderful stories in childhood and later obtained money
under false pretenses with elaborate deception. From an
eccentric grandmother, and a mother who was very excitable and
suffered from hysteria, he inherited a nervous system which was
not calculated to bear the strain which his own overzealous
efforts in pursuing his studies and his spiritual exaltation put
upon it, hence the mental and moral breakdown. This is a very
interesting case because it does not fit into the usual group of
pathological liars.
[16] ``Zur kasuistischen und klin. Beurteilung der Pseudologia
phantastica.'' Charite-Annalen, XXV, XXVI.
Wendt[17] enlarges the field in which we may look for such cases.
He finds pseudologia phantastica a symptom, not only of hysteria,
alcoholism, paranoia, but also of sex repression, and
neurasthenia. He takes a more philosophical view of the subject
than previous authors. He understands by pseudologia phantastica
not merely the bare habit of telling fantastic lies, and what
they bring forth, but rather the yielding up of consciousness of
reality in the presence of the morbidly fantastic wish in its
widest consequences. Since the wish in order to exist is not
permitted to lose entirely the conscious presentation of what it
hopes for, so memory and recognition of reality emerge
disconnected in consciousness, and a condition described as
double consciousness arises. In this state of mind two forms of
life run side by side, the actual and the desired, finally the
latter becomes preponderant and decisive. Such a psychic make-up
must lead unconditionally and necessarily to swindling and law
breaking. A degenerative alteration furnishes the basis from
which a wish or wish-complex arises, increasing in force until it
becomes autosuggestion, hence it is pathological. Then follow
the practical consequences, and we have developed, on the one
side, pathological lying, and, on the other, swindling, i.e.,
criminality. Purely symptomatically pseudologia phantastica is
characterized by the groundlessness of the fabrications, the
heightened suggestibility of the patient, and in its wake arises
double consciousness and inadequate powers of reproduction of
reality.
[17] ``Ein Beitrag zur Kasuistik der Pseudologia phantastica.''
Allgemeine Zeitschrift fur Psychiatrie, LXVIII, Heft 4; pp.
482-500.
Wendt gives at length the history of a precocious boy, the son of
an official of medical rank, who had lived always with older
people. He lied from early childhood. He was a chronic sufferer
from severe headaches. Between the ages of 15 and 17 this boy
showed evidences of literary talent, but was poor in mathematics.
From a tender age he had an overmastering desire to become great;
he said he wished to become a jurist because only jurists get the
high offices. He entered a South German university, rented a
fine apartment, stated he was accustomed to a Schloss, his father
was a high state official. He later called himself Graf
Friedrich Gersdorf auf Blankenhain. The young man's deceits grew
rapidly, he obtained much money falsely, traveled first class
with a body servant. He passed to other universities, was always
quiet and industrious. After many adventures he fell into the
hands of the law and was adjudged insane. Most interesting was
the fact that he discussed intelligently his career. ``My
capacity for considering my thoughts as something really carried
out in life is unfortunately too great to permit my having full
conception of the boundary between appearance and reality.''
The family history of the above case included swindling,
hysteria, and epilepsy. His fabricating tendency first reached
its height at 14 years, thus showing the influence of puberty.
Wendt regarded the etiological factors as family degeneracy, a
wish-complex which in activity amounted to autosuggestion, double
consciousness, and a periodical preponderance of the wished for
personality.
Bresler[18] in proposing two reforms in the German
``Strafgesetzbuch'' undertook a discussion of pathological
accusations, as material using cases reported by several authors.
He attempted a classification as follows: 1. Deliberately false
accusations based upon the pathological disposition or impulse to
lie; the content of the accusation being fabricated. 2. False
accusation upon a basis of pathologically disturbed perceptions
or reasoning. Content of the accusation is here illusion,
hallucination, or delusion. 3. Accusations correct in content,
but pathologically motivated.
[18] ``Die pathologische Anschuldigung.''
Juristisch-psychiatrische Grenzfragen, Band V, Heft 8, pp. 42.
The first group nearly always is the action of hystericals, and
many are centered on sex affairs. Bresler's cited cases of this
class seem merely to impress the idea of revenge, or of
protection from deserved punishment. A very complicated case was
that of a girl who had been rejected in marriage after the
discovery by her lover that she had attacks of major hysteria.
She entered into a conspiracy with her mother to destroy him.
She first maliciously cut grape vines and accused him and his
brother of doing it. Then she slandered his whole family. A
year later, suddenly appearing wounded, she accused his uncle of
trying to kill her and obtained a verdict against him. Then she
attempted the same with another uncle who, however, maintained an
alibi. After this her role changed, for her mother summoned
people to see her daughter lying with a wreath around her head,
brought by an angel, with a scroll on which was inscribed
``Corona Martyri.'' The church now took her part and she toured
the country as a sort of saint. Later she returned to her former
tactics, she set fire to a house, cut off a cow's udder, and
accused her former lover of these deeds. Now for the first time
it went badly with her. She was finally imprisoned for life on
account of attempts to poison people.
In Bresler's second group he places the false accusations of
alcoholics, paranoiacs, querulants (whom he calls a sub-class of
paranoiacs) and sufferers from head injuries. Besides these, he
here classes the false accusations of children.
The third class is so rare that it receives almost no discussion.
Longard[19] reports an interesting case of a chronic liar and
swindler, a man who on account of the peculiarities of his
swindling was placed under custody for study. Upon detention he
went into convulsions and later seemed entirely distracted. He
was then 24 years old. Investigation of his case showed that his
abnormalities dated from early life and were probably due to the
fact that in childhood he had a bad fall from a height. When he
was 23 he had served six months on account of swindling. At that
time he had been going about in the Rhine country dressed as a
monk, begging things of little worth, such as crucifixes,
candles, medals, etc. His pious behavior and orderliness gave
him a good reception. He sometimes took money or begged it in
order to read masses for poor souls. In one village he said he
had come to reconnoiter for a site to build a hospital. Some
cloister brothers in one place took him for a swindler and
decided he was overwrought religiously, and that he really
thought he was what he wished to become. He was studied at
length in prison where he had one attack of maniacal behavior and
tried to hang himself. The physician there thought him a
simulator. He was excused from his military service because of
stomach trouble. At that time mental abnormalities were not
noticed. After this he again acted the part of a monk, wandering
through France and Germany, living in monasteries, and being
helped along by different organizations, Protestant as well as
Catholic. He was arrested in Cologne when discovered to be a
fraud. He lay four days in jail apparently unconscious and then
appeared stupefied and staggered about. When questioned he
responded, ``I am born again.'' He spoke mostly in Biblical
terms and was fluent with pious speeches. He was found quite
sound physically. He ate a great deal and was known to take
bread away from other prisoners at night. He was sentenced for
15 months for swindling. He himself related that in youth he had
seen many monks and had become possessed of the idea of being
one. He was a sex pervert.
[19] ``Ein forensisch interessanter Fall. Pseudologia
phantastica.'' Allg. Zeitschrift f. Psych. LV, p. 88.
The author considered this not a pure case of simulation; the
patient was an abnormal being, none of his keepers thought him
normal. His entire appearance, his excited way of speaking, his
gestures and play of features were all striking to a high degree.
His method of going about begging was unreasonable; he gained so
little by it. His tendency to untruthfulness stood out
everywhere. He imitated the pious as he chattered without aim.
The man had lived himself into the role of a cloister brother so
completely that he was not clearly conscious of the deceit. The
author thinks the case presents some paranoiac features with a
pathological tendency towards lying. Thus this pathological liar
presents the phenomenon of a mixture of lies and delusions.
From the Zurich clinic of Forel several cases of pathological
swindling have been reported at length.[20] It must be confessed
that the success of much of the misrepresentation cited in these
case histories seems to be as largely due to the naivete of the
country folk as to the efforts of the swindlers themselves. Two
of the cases were clearly insane and were detained for long
periods in asylums after their study in the clinic. But even so,
it is to be noted that one of these when absenting himself from
institutional care succeeded in going on with his swindling
operations. The third case was regarded as that of an
aberrational individual with special tendency towards lying and
swindling, but the opinion rendered did not end in the man being
held as insane. He was simply regarded as a delinquent, and
after serving his sentence he went his old way. These cases are
interesting to one who would learn the extent to which swindling
among a simple minded population can be carried on.
[20] ``Gerichtlich-psychiatrische Gutachten aus d. Klinik von
Prof. Forel in Zurich; f. Aerzte u. Juristen, herausgegeb. von
Dr. Th. Koelle.'' Stuttgart, Encke, 1902.
From French sources we have not been able to collect such a
wealth of material as we found in German literature. One study
by Belletrud and Mercier[21] compares favorably in elaborate
working out of details with the work of German authors. A
Corsican boy, from childhood moody, fond of adventure, inclined
to deception, had attempted suicide several times before he was
twenty years old. He was married at that time and went to
France, where he was employed in several towns. His life
following this included an immense amount of lying and swindling.
He had a mania for buying costly antique furniture and jewelry
which he obtained on credit. He frequently disappeared from
localities where he was wanted on criminal charges, and changed
his name. He wandered through Italy, Tunis, and South America.
Returning to France he was taken into custody and mental troubles
were noted. He showed delirium of persecution and was removed to
a hospital for the insane. Experts studied him for a year before
they could decide whether he was insane or merely simulating
insanity. Finally they thought he was not simulating. A few
months later he escaped, went to Belgium, Italy, Corsica.
Turning up at a town in France under an assumed name, he was
arrested again and elaborately examined. At this time he had
frequent attacks of unconsciousness and frothing at the mouth.
At times he was melancholy. Summarizing the case, the authors
say that the psychic peculiarities of the patient were
congenital, and included habitual instability of character with
defective development of the ethical sentiments, and tendency to
deceit and swindling. Epilepsy here is, of course, the central
cause of mental and moral deterioration.
[21] ``Un cas de mythomanie; escroquerie et simulation chez un
epileptique.'' L'Encephale, June 1910, p. 677.
From a pedagogical point of view Rouma[22] tells of the marvelous
stories of a five-year-old boy in the Froebel school at
Charleroi. His stories were generally suggested by something
told by the teacher or other pupils. He referred their anecdotes
to himself or other members of his family and greatly enlarged
upon them. He also made elaborate childish drawings and gave
long accounts of what they meant. Going into the question of
heredity Rouma found this boy's mother very nervous; the father
was a good man. She had worked steadily at the machine before
his birth. Two of their children died with convulsions; of the
two living, one was well behaved, but weakly. Rouma's case had
stigmata of degeneracy in ears, palate, and jaw. Tested by the
Binet system, he did three out of five of the tests for five
years satisfactorily. He was easily fatigued, refused at times
to respond, said he had been forbidden to reply, said he would be
whipped if he did. In school he was always poor at manual work,
wanted to be moving about, to go out of classes on errands, was
always calling notice to himself in a good or bad way. He paid
very little attention to his lessons, played alone or with
younger children, leading them often into mischief. It was found
that he got much of his material for stories from his older
brother who told him of robbers and accidents. From his good
father he got the form of his tales, because the father was wont
to tell him stories with a moral.
[22] ``Un cas de mythomanie.'' Arch. de Psych. 1908, pp.
259-282.
In summary, Rouma stated that this child possessed senses acute
beyond the average, and was of very unstable temperament,
refusing regular work, not submitting to rules, rebelling at
abstractions. There were evidences of degeneracy on the mother's
side.
Remedies in education for such children are: Suppress food for
imagination, such as came from the stories of father and brother.
Direct perceptions to accurate work. Systematize education of
attention, exercise the senses, use manual work, such as modeling
and gardening. Give lessons in observation in the class room and
on promenades.
Meunier[23] tells of three girls in a well known Parisian school
who indulged in wonderful tales. The first, in the intermediate
grade, told stories of the illness of her father to account for
her not having her lessons. The second, 11 years old, said that
her mother was dying; she came bringing this news to the teachers
at two different periods of her school life. She was a calm,
thoughtful, analytical child with no reason for lying. Family
history negative. The third, 13 years old, told of an imaginary
uncle who was going to collect funds for needy children; she kept
up the deceit for two months. She was an anemic, nervous,
hysterical child with a nervous mother. Meunier calls these
cases of systematized deliriums. The development of such
delirium annihilates, so to speak, the entire personality of the
subject, and his entire mental life is invaded by abnormal extra
and introspection--the delirium commands and systematizes all
acquired impressions. There is a veritable splitting of the
personality in which the new ``ego'' is developed at the expense
of the normal ``ego'' that now only appears at intervals.
[23] ``Remarks on Three Cases of Morbid Lying.'' Journal of
Mental Pathology, 1904, pp. 140-142.