A Self-Incriminating Case of Mythomania
Sevda Korkmaz *
Department of Pschiatry, Fırat University, Medicine Faculty, Elazıg, Turkey
Sadullah Sağlam
Department of Neurologia, Adıyaman University, Medicine Faculty, Adıyaman, Turkey
Sema Sağlam
Department of Pschiatry, Adıyaman Mental Hospital, Adıyaman, Turkey
Ebru Fındıklı
Department of Pschiatry, Sütçü İmam University, Medicine Faculty, Kahramanmaraş, Turkey
Murad Atmaca
Department of Pschiatry, Fırat University, Medicine Faculty, Elazıg, Turkey
*Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Abstract
A lie is changing the truth deliberately to reach an objective. This is frequently encountered in childhood period, as much adult individuals could sometimes use innocent lies throughout their lives. This condition that could be encountered often with children, could also be observed among healthy adults in the form of innocent lies. Mythomania, known as lying pathologically, is an individual lying about almost anything in various environments and believing in these lies himself. In literature, there have been case reports on mythomania and pseudologia fantastica. However, none of these studies mentioned a case, where the patient consistently self-incriminated. This article aims to analyze within the context of literature, the clinical findings about a patient suffering from mythomania, that continuously self-incriminates, and being tried for the crime of perpetration.
Keywords: Mythomania, perpetration, pseudologia fantastica