Pathological Lying, Accusation, and Swindling | Page 9

before
Delbruck saw her. Her peculiar method was to approach strangers,
claiming to be a relative coming from another city to visit. If cordially
received she would stay as long as her welcome lasted, then depart
taking with her any of their possessions her fancy chose. Many
prominent physicians examined her and were unable to decide as to her

responsibility; judges and others said she was a willful deceiver, a
refined swindler. Delbruck, looking deeper, found that she was
suffering from hysteria, having hystero-epileptic seizures with
following delirium, or rather twilight states. Though her delinquencies
seemed to show cunning and skill, a careful investigation revealed the
fact that this was merely aberrant. Generally her thieving was
undertaken in feebleminded fashion; many times she stole things
worthless to herself. Evidences of her pathological mentality were that
she would give orders for groceries, would buy children's clothes, or
send for a physician under an assumed name. She might not go back for
the groceries, but after ordering them would say she would return with
the carriage. The characteristic fact throughout her career was that she
wished to appear to be some one wealthier, more influential than she
was. Delbruck classifies her as high-grade feebleminded, suffering
from convulsive attacks and peculiar states of consciousness, with a
morbid tendency to lying. She possessed no power to realize the
culpable nature of her acts when she was performing them.
His third patient as a boy appeared normal both mentally and
physically. In his youth he went through the gymnasium and then
studied theology. He spent money very freely on clothing and books,
but at this period neither stole nor lied. After finishing his theological
studies, he preached in his home town and was regarded as a young
man of great promise. Then came a change; he began to write strange
letters, telling of some positions offered him, he borrowed money
freely from relatives and friends who were willing to give because they
believed in his coming career. When studied, it was concluded by
Delbruck that this was a case of constitutional psychosis, hysteria,
moral insanity, and psychopathy--all of these forms being interrelated.
Outside of masturbation, begun in early childhood and indulged in
excessively at times, no causal factors were discovered. He considered
that this case offered a good illustration of the peculiar coexistence of
real lies and delusions in the same individual.
His fourth case was that of an artful, deceitful, arrogant, selfish boy,
always clever in excuses, who had stolen from the age of twelve, often
stolen things that he threw away. Though of Protestant family, he
delighted to draw Catholic insignia and embroider religious characters.
He finally entered the university, always lying and stealing. At the end

of three months he was taken home in debt 2000 marks. He later
became a Catholic. Outside of normal expense he had cost his father
28,000 marks. By the time he was studied he had already taken opium
for four years, having started because of neuralgia. There had been a
severe operation on account of some trouble with the teeth. It was
discovered that there was contrary sexual feeling in this case also. The
patient had a great inclination for doing woman's handwork. Delbruck
again considered the early appearance of character anomalies and
perverted sex feeling to prove a deep-seated abnormality of nervous
constitution. He diagnosed it as a case of constitutional psychosis; the
extent of the abnormalities showing the individual to be irresponsible.
His last patient was an alcoholic adventurer, early life unknown, who
had an idiotic sister. He had lived long in America and returned to
Germany full of stories of his wonderful achievements over seas. This
case does not concern us except to emphasize the influence of alcohol
in the development of such cases.
This outline is sufficient to show the justification of his conclusion,
namely, that just as in healthy people a mixing of lies and mistakes may
occur, so the same combination may reach a pathological height, and
one can diagnose a mixture of lies with delusions or false memories.
These studies focus our attention on the following points which are
valuable to emphasize for the purpose of this monograph: the
complexity of details to be examined in the life of any one patient in
whose delinquencies pathological lying is a factor, the variety of cases
in which this factor may occur, hence the difficulties in the way of
determining the extent to which the patient is responsible for his deeds
and whether he belongs in a reformatory or an insane hospital. From
the standpoint of society Delbruck's work has great use, since it reveals
so plainly the menace that these liars are to their families and to the
community as a whole, their unscrupulousness in financial dealings,
their tendencies to bring false