Abstract
A phenomenon of particular interest to forensic mental health workers, the courts, and police is that of pathological lying or pseudologia fantastica (PF). Unfortunately, PF is an understudied, poorly understood entity. The current diagnostic system captures intentional deception around physical or psychological problems but does not allow for diagnosis around prominent, purposeless deception within other realms (e.g., false accusations). In addition to reviewing the literature around PF, we also report the case of a 22-year-old female who made frequent, dramatic false accusations against others for no apparent reason, and who possessed an unusual ability to convince others to collaborate in her lying. Her lies eventually resulted in a number of people being criminally charged, including a friend being imprisoned for over a year for staging an elaborate abduction, the burning of an apartment building, and the investigation of a small child for arson. Implications and suggestions for future research are discussed.
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