Dealing with a Compulsive or Situational Liar?

A chronic (compulsive, pathological) liar is someone who lies about things for no apparent reason. They will lie about small, irrelevant details as well as important matters. For chronic liars, lying is a habit and everything is fair game.

Unfortunately, there is not much to be gained by confronting a compulsive liar (see, coping with a compulsive liar). They will just keep lying and an already strained relationship will most likely take a turn for the worse.

On the other hand, no one is above lying altogether. In fact, most people are situational liars. Certain aspects of our romantic relationships and common situations tend to bring out the worst in our behavior (see, when people lie).

And it can be difficult to effectively deal with a spouse, or boyfriend or girlfriend, who only lies on occasion.

Unfortunately, many of the things people do when confronting a liar only make matters worse....