There was a hit drama, SKY Castle, which was broadcasted early this year. In this drama, the character Cha Seri was introduced as a Harvard University student. All of the neighbors envied her, but in the latter half of the show, it turned out that she lied about her educational background. Cha Seri had pretended to everyone that she was a Harvard student, and the truth shocked everyone. Many people thought this was similar to a real event that occurred later. This event was a big issue and is known as a classic example of Ripley’s Syndrome, but what precisely is this syndrome? -Ed.


  Origin of Ripley’s Syndrome
  In the psychological thriller novel, The Talented Mr. Ripley by Patricia Highsmith, the main character, Tom Ripley, was a poor man. By chance, Tom became a friend of a rich man, Dicky. He was jealous of Dicky and ended up killing Dicky. After the murder, instead of surrendering himself, Tom assumed Dicky’s identity. In order to do so, he had to lie to people and continue to commit crimes over and over. These aren’t simple acts that an ordinary man can do. However, doctors found out that some people acted similarly to Tom in reality, so the term Ripley’s Syndrome appeared.

  Definition of Ripley’s Syndrome
  Ripley’s Syndrome is an antisocial personality disorder where the individual rejects reality and instead believes in an imaginary world while habitually telling lies. This syndrome is not an official word in psychiatry; however, it is a condition that occurs among many mental disorders. People who have Ripley’s Syndrome show a variety of symptoms due to their different illnesses, but these people have one thing in common: they tend to believe in an imaginary world. This causes them to tell lies habitually. Also, they believe that their imaginary world is a reality. Therefore, patients don’t feel worried or anxious, which is what ordinary people commonly feel when they tell a lie. If someone to point out one of their lies, they would instead claim that there was a misunderstanding.

  Ripley’s Syndrome in Real Life
  A large number of people in the world are suspected of having Ripley’s Syndrome. CBT reporters researched some of the most famous cases in Korea. The first, which was called the ‘freshmen-X case’, is a man who pretended to be a freshman at 48 universities for six years. At first, he used fake names, joined clubs and attended school events actively. The problem was that he borrowed money from the club members and just disappeared several times. Later, he used personal information of other first-year students to impersonate them and continue his crimes. In the end, he got caught and stated that he was bullied in middle and high school and had a complex about his academic history. He said that he liked when people took care of him and paid attention to him. In court, he was sentenced to prison for 14 months.
  The second case is about a student who lied that two universities, Harvard and Stanford, had accepted her in 2015. This case is the real event that many people have thought to be similar to the story of Cha Seri in the drama SKY Castle. She was a student of a science high school in the US. She said she was going to enter both schools at the same time and that she would have interviews in Korea and the US. However, it came out that it was all a lie. The letters of acceptance, e-mails from a professor at Harvard, and her school scores were all manipulated. This story ended with her father’s public apology.



  Dangers of Ripley’s Syndrome
  When people who have Ripley’s Syndrome lie, their acquaintances are likely to receive financial, mental, and possibly physical damages. A drastic example is a case of a woman who murdered her friend and friend’s child because of jealousy and the gap between imagination and reality. It is hard for people who have Ripley’s Syndrome to accept that they have a problem. Thus, people don’t admit their problems, and it becomes hard for them to receive early treatment. This is the reason why most individuals who are suffering from Ripley’s Syndrome get treatment after committing a crime. This syndrome ruins the lives of not only the people with the illness but also the people around them.
  If the patient doesn’t get proper treatment, problems will arise repeatedly. In the case of freshmen-X, the man who impersonated the freshmen was sentenced and released. However, he didn’t get adequate treatment and lied to other people again by impersonating a graduate student of a prestigious university. Using this identity, he looked for a job, extorted money from other people, and stole money from a convenience store. Also, he purchased an expensive cell phone by using an ID card that someone had lost.
  Profile squatting, which means to impersonate others on the internet and SNS, is also related to Ripley’s Syndrome and was coined as Cyber Ripley’s Syndrome. The patients also are likely to impersonate others but in cyberspace. To prevent this problem, some legal regulations are needed in cyberspace. However, in South Korea, these regulations do not exist.

  The Causes and Treatments of Ripley’s Syndrome
  Park Han-son, a doctor in the Dept. of Anthropology at Seoul National University, explained about the causes and treatments of Ripley’s Syndrome. He said, “Everyone has desires to live a successful person’s life or to be recognized and praised by others. However, in reality, that is too hard. Therefore, people look for the easy way. Consequently, they deceive others for their own personal gratification. In other words, Ripley’s Syndrome is caused by combining inferiority about oneself and a social atmosphere where people pursue wealth and fame.
  To treat Ripley’s Syndrome, one of the two causes above needs to be addressed. It is difficult though because people need to recognize their own realities, but many people refuse to do that. Also, it is hard to change the social atmosphere that focuses on one’s success. To help patients recover from Ripley’s Syndrome, two methods have been offered. For shaking off the inferiority complex, they must realize on their own that social recognition is meaningless. The other method requires people to shift their focus away from cosmetic values to real values.

  Ripley’s Syndrome isn’t a single symptom. Cosmetic values, like success, the level of education, money, and honor, can have a bad influence on people. However, the problems with these social values aren’t restricted to cases of Ripley’s Syndrome. Many people diminish themselves to fit a standard. People should shift away from superficial social values and appreciate each other’s various abilities, and society needs to give everyone an equal opportunity. To do this, people will need to strive harder to understand people and their different values. Also, each person should focus on their own strengths without worrying about external recognition. It will help people have healthy minds, and it will have a good influence on their lives. These actions will help reduce the victims of cosmetic social values, which will decrease the perpetrators who commit evil crimes in the community.

By Lee So-yoon | sy39@cbnu.ac.kr
By Youn Su-o | sy40@cbnu.ac.kr