He had to tell more and more outrageous lies to cover his tracks and justify having a terminal illness. Initially, his coworkers treated him with sensitivity and concern, but as the weeks wore on, the scrutiny of his colleagues became increasingly pointed. He had lied repeatedly to his colleagues, telling them that he had an incurable disease and was receiving palliative treatment. He was about to lose yet another job, not because he was at risk for being fired, but because his lying behavior had finally boxed him into a corner. He sub-sequently described the lies as "pseu- dologia phantastica." He observed that some of his patients told lies that were so abnormal and out of proportion that they deserved a special category. The German physician, Anton Delbruck, 1 is credited with being the first to describe the concept of PL. Despite its relative obscurity, PL has been recognized and written about in the psychiatric literature for more than a century. In some cases, they might be self-incriminating or damaging, which makes the behavior even more incomprehensible. While ordinary lies are goal-directed and are told to obtain external benefit or to avoid punishment, pathological lies often appear purposeless. PL is characterized by a long history (maybe lifelong) of frequent and repeated lying for which no apparent psychological motive or external benefit can be discerned. There is, as yet, no consensus in the psychiatric community on its definition, although there is general agreement on its core elements. Pathological lying (PL) is a controversial topic.
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