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)
US Patients:
World Patients:
Sex Ratio:
Age Onset:
Brain Area:
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.

  • Factitious disorder imposed on self and Munchausen syndrome: An update
    by A Bérar on April 24, 2024

    Factitious disorder imposed on self (FDIS) is a mental disorder characterized by conscious manipulative behavior from patients with no clearly identifiable external objective. It affects subjects with a wide range of characteristics, only some of whom fit the stereotypical profile of the young female working in the health sector. It can take the form of a variety of symptoms or clinical signs, and is likely to involve all specialties. Munchausen syndrome is a particular form of FDIS, more...

  • Self-mutilation: a systematic review
    by Matheus Medeiros Nunes on April 13, 2024

    Self-mutilation lesions can represent a clinical diagnosis challenge for healthcare professionals, as patients do not admit to self-mutilation. This leads to failed diagnoses due to the similarity of this condition to other diseases. Searches on the subject were carried out at the PubMed, Periódicos Capes, Scopus, Science Direct and WoS databases, according to the following inclusion criteria: articles in English, Portuguese or Spanish, published from 2018 to June 2023, encompassing case...

  • Hymenoptera Venom Immunotherapy Meets Factitious Disorder
    by Epameinondas Stratopoulos on April 8, 2024

    Factitious disorder on self is a psychiatric disorder in which individuals fabricate or induce signs or symptoms of a disease. Factitious anaphylaxis, with symptoms suggestive of a life-threatening allergic reaction, is extremely rare. Several cases of factitious disorder reactions during allergen immunotherapy for airborne allergens have been reported. We report the case of a young female patient who presented factitious anaphylaxis during venom immunotherapy to vespid venom extract. Symptoms...

  • Successful Pharmacologic Treatment of Self-Bloodletting with Factitious Chronic Anemia (Lasthenie de Ferjol Syndrome) with High-Dose Serotonergic Medication: A Case Report
    by Stefan Mestermann on March 28, 2024

    Self-induced bloodletting (SBL) is a very rare form of self-injury (SI) seen primarily in adolescents and young adults with personality and eating disorders. It can result in complications like malaise, fatigue, or iron-deficiency anemia (Lasthénie de Ferjol syndrome, LFS), and poses a risk of accidental death or suicide. The condition often goes undetected due to patient concealment. There is no specific treatment established, and pharmacological strategies remain uncertain. We discuss the case...