Factitious syndromes

Factitious syndromes: Introduction

Factitious disorders refer to any medical condition whereby a person feigns symptoms or otherwise fakes their illness in order to get some benefit. In factitious disorders, the person seeks attention or wants to be in the role of the patient. In cases where symptoms are feigned to get an economic benefit (e.g. insurance fraud, getting paid time off work, etc.), the disorder is more correctly called malingering. Somatoform disorders or psychosomatic symptoms are also different from factitious syndromes, because in these cases the person is not aware that their mind is causing the symptoms and is not conciously doing so with intent. Also different is hypochondriasis because the person does not want to be ill. One well-known name for factitious disorders is Munchhausen's syndrome, and particularly well-publicized is the very rare Munchhausen's syndrome by proxy where a mother intentionally makes her child sick in order to get attention.

Symptoms of Factitious syndromes

• Malingering
• Widespread pain
• more symptoms...»

Home Diagnostic Testing

Home medical testing related to Factitious syndromes:

• Child Behavior: Home Testing
  • ADHD -- Home Test Kits
  • Concentration -- Home Testing
• Mental Health (Adults): Home Testing
  • Adult ADHD -- Home Testing
  • Concentration -- Home Tests
• Mental Health: Home Testing:
  • Home Emotional Stress Tests
  • ADHD -- Home Testing
  • Concentration -- Home Test Kits
• Brain & Neurological Disorders: Related Home Testing:
  • ADHD -- Home Tests
  • Drug Screening Kits
• more tests...»

Factitious syndromes: Complications

Read more about complications of Factitious syndromes.

Wrongly Diagnosed with Factitious syndromes?

• Misdiagnosis of Factitious syndromes

Factitious syndromes: Self Assessment Tools

• Stress -- Self Assessment Tools
• Depression -- Self Assessment Tools
• Weight Management -- Self Assessment Tools
• Mental Health -- Self Assessment Tools
• more tools...»

Factitious syndromes: Medical Mistakes

• Concentration -- Health Mistakes
• ADHD -- Health Mistakes
• ADHD (Adults) -- Health Mistakes
• Depression -- Health Mistakes
• Bipolar -- Health Mistakes
• Sleep Disorders -- Health Mistakes
• more mistakes...»

Factitious syndromes: Undiagnosed Conditions

Commonly undiagnosed diseases in related medical categories:

• Brain & Neurological Disorders: Undiagnosed:
  • Adult ADHD -- Undiagnosed - Often remains undiagnosed through to adulthood.
  • ADHD -- Undiagnosed
  • Alzheimer Disease -- Undiagnosed
  • Migraine -- Undiagnosed
  • Concentration Disorders -- Undiagnosed
  • Stroke -- Undiagnosed
  • Bipolar Disorder -- Undiagnosed
  • Schizophrenia -- Undiagnosed
  • Epilepsy -- Undiagnosed
• more undiagnosed conditions...»

Misdiagnosis and Factitious syndromes

Undiagnosed stroke leads to misdiagnosed aphasia: BBC News UK reported on a man who had been institutionalized and treated for mental illness because he suffered from sudden inability to speak. This was...read more »

Dementia may be a drug interaction: A common scenario in aged care is for a patient to show mental decline to dementia. Whereas this can, of course, occur due to various medical conditions, such as a stroke or Alzheimer's...read more »

ADHD under-diagnosed in adults: Although the over-diagnoses of ADHD in children is a well-known controversy, the reverse side related to adults. Some adults can remain undiagnosed, and indeed the condition...read more »

Bipolar disorder misdiagosed as various conditions by primary physicians: Bipolar disorder (manic-depressive disorder) often fails to be diagnosed correctly by primary care physicians. Many patients with bipolar seek help...read more »

Eating disorders under-diagnosed in men: The typical patient with an eating disorder is female. The result is that men with eating disorders often fail to be diagnosed or have a delayed diagnosis. See misdiagnosis of...read more »

Depression undiagnosed in teenagers: Serious bouts of depression can be undiagnosed in teenagers. The "normal" moodiness of teenagers can cause severe medical depression to be overlooked. See misdiagnosis of...read more »

Undiagnosed anxiety disorders related to depression: Patients with depression (see symptoms of depression) may also have undiagnosed anxiety disorders (see symptoms of anxiety disorders). Failure to diagnose these...read more »

Read more about Misdiagnosis and Factitious syndromes

Factitious syndromes: Research Doctors & Specialists

Research related physicians and medical specialists:

• Mental Health Specialists:
  • Psychiatry (Mental Health)
  • Addiction Psychiatry
  • Geriatric Psychiatry (Seniors Mental Health)
  • Pediatric / Adolescent Psychiatry (Child/Teen Mental Health)
  • Pediatric Developmental Behavioral Health (Child Behavior Specialist)
  • Psychosomatic Medicine
  • Forensic Psychiatry
• more specialists...»

Other doctor, physician and specialist research services:

• Rate Your Doctor Online
• Research Your Doctor Online
• Review Patient Surveys About Your Doctor
• Research local specialists including ratings, affiliations, and sanctions.

Hospitals & Clinics: Factitious syndromes

Research quality ratings and patient safety measures for medical facilities in specialties related to Factitious syndromes:

• Mental Health -- Hospital Quality Ratings
• more hospital ratings...»

Hospital & Clinic quality ratings » »

Choosing the Best Hospital: More general information, not necessarily in relation to Factitious syndromes, on hospital performance and surgical care quality:

• 50 Best Hospitals Report
• Outstanding Patient Experinece Award Winning Hospitals
• Women's Health Best Hospitals
• Patient Safety
• Hospital Quality and Clinical Excellence Study (2009)

Factitious syndromes: Rare Types

Rare types of diseases and disorders in related medical categories:

• Brain & Neurological Disorders: Rare Types:
  • Adult ADHD -- Rare Types
  • ADHD -- Rare Types
  • Alzheimer Disease -- Rare Types
  • Migraine -- Rare Types
  • Concentration Disorders -- Rare Types
  • Stroke -- Rare Types
  • Bipolar Disorder -- Rare Types
  • Schizophrenia -- Rare Types
  • Epilepsy -- Rare Types
• more rare diseases...»

Videos for Factitious syndromes

Patient Surveys for Factitious syndromes

• Patient Profile Survey
  Take Survey  View Results

Statistics for Factitious syndromes

• Medical statistics for Factitious syndromes
• Death and Mortality statistics for Factitious syndromes
• Society statistics for Factitious syndromes

Types of Factitious syndromes

• Munchhausen syndrome
• Munchhausen syndrome by proxy
• Factitious insulin
• Factitious diabetic pill ingestion
• Thyrotoxicosis factitia
• more types...»

See full list of 6 Types of Factitious syndromes

Stories from Users Related to Factitious syndromes

Related forums and medical stories:

• Mental Conditions (146)
  • Caterpillar Phobia
  • Am I Anorexic?
  • Antisocial personality disorder?
  • I've been depressed for some time now but...
  • I don't know what this could be
  • More user stories

User Interactive Forums

Read about other experiences, ask a question about Factitious syndromes, or answer someone else's question, on our message boards:

• I can not get a diagnosis. Please help.
• Tell us your medical story.
• Share your misdiagnosis story.
• What is the best treatment for this?
• See all the forums.

Definitions of Factitious syndromes:

A factitious disorder characterized by habitual presentation for hospital treatment of an apparent acute illness, the patient giving a plausible and dramatic history, all of which is false. - (Source - Diseases Database)