Factitious Disorder

A factitious disorder is a condition in which a person acts as if they have an illness by deliberately producing, feigning, or exaggerating symptoms. Factitious disorder imposed on another is a condition in which a person deliberately produces, feigns, or exaggerates symptoms in a person in their care. Monchausen syndrome, a severe form of factitious disorder ,it is one of the severe disorder.

Symptoms: Clever and convincing medical problems. Frequent hospitalizations. Vague or inconsistent symptoms. Conditions that get worse for no apparent reason. Conditions that don't respond as expected to standard therapies. Eagerness to have frequent testing or risky operations. Extensive knowledge of medical terms and diseases. Seeking treatment from many different doctors or hospitals, which may include using a fake name. Having few visitors when hospitalized. Reluctance to allow health professionals to talk to family or friends or to other health care providers. Arguing with hospital staff. Frequent requests for pain relievers or other medications.

Diagnosis: The DSM criteria for factitious disorder imposed on another (previously called Munchausen syndrome by proxy) include:  Making up physical or psychological signs or symptoms or causing injury or disease in another person with the intention to deceive . Presenting another person to others as sick, injured or having problems functioning . Continuing with the deception, even without receiving any visible benefit or reward . Behavior is not better explained by another mental disorder.

Treatment: The primary treatment for factitious disorders is psychotherapy (a type of counseling). Treatment likely will focus on changing the thinking and behavior of the individual with the disorder. Family therapy may also be helpful in teaching family members not to reward or reinforce the behavior of the person with the disorder.

Epidemology: The diagnosis of FD has controversies regarding the criteria and its empirical content.Patients with FD have an unusually long, rich, and changing historical and clinical profile. So also, FD has high chances of occurrence of medico-legal issues. FD appears to be relatively common in specialty medical settings rather than psychiatric setting ? yet, it often goes unrecognized and undiagnosed. Since FD can be difficult to detect, its prevalence may be underestimated.