I am a counselor in a college counseling service. I've started seeing a young woman who has a problem with lying. She also has a bunch of OCD symptoms. The young woman had first talked of lying in order to mildly impress people - she does often feel poorly about herself. At first, I thought of the lying in those terms. BUT then she reported most often lying to people whose opinions of her do not matter. In other words, the lying seems to serve no purpose, most often. She's gone on to describe a number of OCD signs and symptoms to do with tidiness, ordering things just so, and doing these sorts of things in ritualistic ways. Has anybody ever been told that their pathological lying is part of their OCD?? Did that seem accurate? Was it helpful? I would appreciate the knowledge and perspectives of people here who have struggled with this problem.
Mick