it's called mythomania

  i only stretched the truth this much, and it was for your own good.



Compulsive lying, also called Mythomania, is a rather common symptom of mental illness. This disorder presents an acute challenge by its very nature because health care professionals cannot always tell if the patient is telling the truth with regard to symptoms. Compulsive or pathological liars are often so convincing that they consistently beat polygraph tests and convince themselves that their lies are the truth.


 The Difference Between Habitual Lying and Mythomania
 

It is hard to separate these two cases, because some people engage in “white” lies to avoid hurting other’s feelings. The pathological liar, by contrast, cannot help lying, even when the lie cause’s harm. It is this aspect of Mythomania that distinguishes it as a form of illness, rather than a habit. Those who lie regularly and without compunction to achieve desired results may need to consider some form of therapy to change these habits.

there ya go kids, now you know what's wrong with him, and this is apparently caused by,  'The complex issues involved include self esteem, feelings of inadequacy, early life issues including physical or verbal abuse, drug and alcohol addiction and more.'

i took the top two paragraphs as well as the causation statement from the Helping Psychology site, it was authored by Marc Pickren and appeared in Intro to Psychology.

we have heard this for years about this guy,  maybe through static and in the background, but it was there.  we tuned it out or only glanced at it in passing, but it was there, under our noses, hiding in the open.  how we handle it is up to us.

sorta lends credence to the theories about his birth certificate and draft registration card now don't it?