We have all told a lie - "white" or not - at least once in our lives, or have been aware of a lie told to us. Lying is a concept that has existed since the beginning of humanity, and is explained in communication in some books, while in others it is given side by side with the concept of "cheating".
If we start by making a definition about lying; We can define a lie as a statement made contrary to the truth for the purpose of deceiving the other person. What actually makes a lie is the awareness of the person who is lying. If the person (regardless of his intention) distorts the truth even though he is aware of it, or makes it different from what it is, claims something that never happened, or ignores what has happened, we can say that this is a lie.
We can say that a lie is different from classical truths. There are also those who handle and interpret it in this way. According to Robert Lafond, lying is making a choice between reality and fiction in the relationship with the other. Lafond objects to the definition of lying as not telling the truth, based on the relativity of reality, and supports the view that lying is an instinctive product before being an intellectual action. Despite all this approach, Laford still considers lies told after puberty as alarm signs that should be considered as denial of reality, emotional suffering, inadequacy or disruption in the development of personality.
One of the most fundamental questions about lying. It is at what age and how people start to lie. A Canadian study on this subject revealed that lying has a positive relationship with intelligence. In this study, 1200 children aged between 2 and 17 were asked not to look at the toys behind them when they left the room. While only one fifth of two-year-old children lie; In four-year-old children, this rate reached 90%. The conclusion we can draw from here is that lying is actually an indicator of a new stage in the mental development process. For parents who are worried about their children lying, being aware that there are many factors that can cause a child to become a pathological liar in adulthood will help reduce their concerns.
Sigmund Fr. eud begins his article titled "The First Child Lie" dated 1913 by saying, "It is natural for children to lie, so they imitate the lies of adults. Lying can occur at the stage of ensuring children's autonomy and accepting themselves as an individual different from their family. Children also realize that their parents can be deceived and that they They see that they are not people who know everything. In addition, the child's upbringing style and the social environment in which he grows up determines how and what kind of lies he will tell. Just as the child can learn that lying is a normal way of communication from a parent who constantly lies, he can also feel free from a critical and punitive parent who never lies. He may acquire the habit of lying to protect himself from punishment.
The conclusion to be drawn from all this is that lying does not appear in adolescence (contrary to popular belief). However, the meaning and function of lies change in adolescence; with adolescence, the lie's constructive qualities as well as destructive ones. qualities also emerge. When it comes to persistent and significant lying during adolescence, there is, as always, one question to ask: Why? Why does the adolescent persistently want to hide a part of his existence? The problem here is that the adolescent sees the part of himself that he hides from others - because he thinks that it will not be accepted by them - as vital for himself and does not want to give it up.
It should not be forgotten that lying also has a biological aspect. It appears that children begin to tell more believable lies around the age of 10. When we look at the development of the brain, there is an increase in the white matter in the area called prefrontal context around the age of ten. Research has shown that people who lie at a pathological level have these areas more developed than others. Such findings also prove a biologically determining aspect of lying behavior.
So, in what situations and why do people lie?
Lying is generally told to escape from the unrest and tension of negative experiences such as criticism, rejection, and punishment. However, it is not uncommon for lies to be told in a manipulative manner. People's following It is seen that he tends to lie in these situations:
*When he wants to feel good temporarily
*When he is worried about receiving criticism
p>
*When you are afraid of being punished
*When you need the approval of another
* When it is thought that the truth will not be accepted or will cause pain to the other person
*When it tries to gain a benefit
When we want to look at the lie from another perspective, we visualize the lie( We see that there is an approach that sees it as a product of imagination. Imagination is always creative, creating mental structures by resorting to memory and thought associations. In other words, imagination forms the basis of both scientific and artistic creativity and provides the formation of many aspects of mental and cultural life. However, the quantity of imagination ability should be given as much importance as its content. Having less or more imagination ability may create a problem in terms of psychological dynamics. Classical psychiatric sources consider the excessive increase in imagination as a symptom as well as its decrease. While decreased imagination occurs in depressed individuals and mentally disabled individuals; It occurs in various psychiatric syndromes as symptoms such as increased imagination, telling imaginary facts, imaginary delusion, mythomania, pathomimia.
I think that the concept of mythomania should be included in the article when talking about lying. Pathological/Compulsive Lying (Mythomania) is a situation where a person lies impulsively. A lie comes to a person's mind before the truth. In mythomania, people often believe the lies they tell.
This pathological lying situation often accompanies a psychological disorder. It is especially seen in bipolar disorder, ADHD, sociopathy and some personality disorders.
The most important criterion that distinguishes mythomania from lying is whether people feel regret later. Mythomaniac people do not feel any guilt or remorse when their lies are revealed. There is a construction and evaluation beyond reality. Applying for help is usually done with the guidance of relatives. or ask People who have not wanted to get help until now begin to seek help when the relationships they value come to an end.
Read: 0
