How can you help someone with Walter Mitty Syndrome?
by 
hiddengl0w
ANSWERS: 3
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Do you mean Bill O'Reilly? No.
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Does the person want help? If not, I would ignore it, their fantasyworld serves a purpose and helps them cope. It is no use to challenge people like this. For example, I have a customer who comes in and tells me about his undercover work with the CIA or FBI...I used to argue with him and tell him NO CIA agent would go around blabbing like that...didn't do any good. I thin the best course of action is to listen politely and excuse yourself. There is no point in arguing or trying to "set them straight." If this person wants help, I would encourage them to develop interests/friendships outside his head. Maybe this person is bored or feels trapped in his real life. I went through periods of this type of fantasylife and eventually I got sick of it,then I had to make a conscious effort to STOP the fantasy and concentrate on something else. For me planning REAL things (my garden, my Christmas list, my exercise plans, ANYTHING to get back to reality) helped, but it took a lot of tries to nip the problem in the bud.
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you cant, they have to want to change and that is the difficult part. I went out with someone just like that and even when his lies were exposed he continued, totally in denial. Suppose it depends on whether their lies are just harmless stories or whether they have a knock on effect with others, as was the case with me. The guy I dated had a history of leading women up the garden path with his lies and two timing, the best you can do is to try and burn their bridges and expose them as much as you can, and hope that this will force them to change, but somehow i dont think it will. People like this are very sad and usually insecure. If the stories are just harmless dellusions is probably best to humour them and politely walk away.
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