Posted by Susan Richman on January 13 2010 at 17:30:57:
In Reply to: child who lies posted by Michelle on January 05 2010 at 22:24:52:
My heart goes out to you in this troubling situation. Do you have a religious leader who might counsel you? Or are you also seeing the counselor your son is seeing? I don´t have experience with this situation myself, but I just did a search on ´compulsive lying´ and there is a LOT of information online on this very difficult syndrome, considered a form of mental illness. I´m sure, indeed, that giving your son ´advice´ not to lie is not at all effective-- as you´ve found. This site looks very comprehensive and helpful-- I hope you find some good information that can give you a sense of direction in dealing with this very difficult challenge:
http://www.truthaboutdeception.com/confront_a_liar/public/compulsive_lying.html
This site has a ´quiz´ you can take to see if a person is really at the ´level´ of being a compulsive liar, and much very helpful material.
I´m sure you´ve hoped that homeschooling would help this situation, and in some ways hopefully it has-- but there are probably some special things you also need to know about this syndrome and what psychologists have found out about this syndrome and ways that seem to have helped people overcome this tendency or compulsion.
I wish you much courage-- and much success. I´m sure you are doing the best you know how. And I think just posting here shows that you are also ready to take initiative to find out even more and gain new perspective.
My best wishes,
Susan Richman, Editor, PA Homeschoolers