Factitious Disorder
Factitious disorder is a serious mental disorder in which someone deceives others by appearing sick, by purposely getting sick or by self-injury. Factitious disorder also can happen when family members or caregivers falsely present others, such as children, as being ill, injured or impaired.
Cluster Number:
Wiki Number: W081
Diagnosis: Factitious Disorder (Munchausen Syndrome for self) and (Munchausen symptome by proxy for another)
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Symptoms: person wanting a hospital stay pretends or exaggerates an illness even by contaminating samples, absesses,
Progression: Can become periodically or chronic as people age.
Causes: not malicious, but subconsciously wanting the attention they or another sick person got while hospitalized
Medications: SSRIs for mood stabilizers or antipsychotics
Therapies:
Youtube Video: Dirty Dozen on Factitious Disorder and Malingering
Amazon or Library Book: Factitious Disorders
Click the book to link or buy from Amazon.
4 CURRENT ARTICLES
FROM PUBMED
The world-wide medical research
reports chosen for each diagnosis
Clicking each title opens the
PubMed article’s summary-abstract.
- Legendary Case of Factitious Disorder Presenting as 'Sickle Cell Disease' Creates Challenges for All Medical Specialtiesby Olivia Iverson on January 15, 2025
No abstract
- Where Reality and Fantasy Collide-Prolonged Fever to Munchausen Syndrome by Proxyby Raluca Maria Vlad on January 8, 2025
Background: Munchausen syndrome by proxy (MSBP) or factitious disorder imposed on another (FDIA) is a bizarre psychiatric entity, consisting of the fabrication of symptoms and alteration of laboratory tests by a caregiver. It is considered a serious form of child abuse. Alarm signs are frequent medical visits and strange symptoms that are never objectified during hospitalization. Methods: This case sets a bright light on how difficult the diagnosis and management of FDIA is and the severe...
- Munchausen Syndrome Presented as Guillain-Barré Syndrome: A Case Report and Literature Reviewby Luís Paulino Ferreira on January 8, 2025
Munchausen syndrome (MS), a complex form of factitious disorder (FD), presents significant diagnostic and management challenges in emergency and hospital settings. Patients deliberately fabricate or induce symptoms to gain medical attention, often leading to unnecessary interventions, resource misallocation, and iatrogenic harm. This study highlights the diagnostic complexity and the need for multidisciplinary management of Munchausen syndrome through a detailed case report and literature...
- Evitatious Phenomenon: A Case Illustration and Proposed Research Criteriaby Jack R Dale on January 3, 2025
This article introduces the evitatious phenomenon, with a proposed research criteria for behaviors induced by stress-related avoidance in occupational and psychiatric settings. Evitatious Phenomenon is characterized by a conscious desire to avoid stressors, leading to unconscious behaviors that inadvertently result in avoidance. Unlike malingering or factitious disorder, evitatious phenomenon is not marked by intentional deception but rather by an unconscious process, filling a gap in the...