Factitious Disorder: Case Report
Summary
Factitious Disorder is a mental disorder in which someone deceives others by pretending to be sick, purposely getting sick, or through self-injury. All of this effort taking place for the sake of attention and sympathy from others. People who suffer from different types of Factitious Disorder may not know or understand the reasons behind their actions, even though they are aware of their actions.
Symptoms
Ways that healthcare providers would be able to tell whether someone has Factitious Disorder or not would be by looking for certain symptoms. Some symptoms would include clever and convincing medical problems, frequent hospitalizations yet inconsistent vague symptoms, conditions that get worse for no apparent reason, eagerness for testing or risky operation, extensive knowledge of medical terms, seeking treatment from many different doctors or hospitals, having few visitors when hospitalized, and/or arguing with hospital staff.
History
The possibility of the existence of Factitious Disorder was first brought up as far back as the 2nd century, by Roman physician Claudius Galen. According to US National Library of Medicine’s website, in a treatise called On Feigned Diseases and the Detection of Them, Claudius had written a list of symptoms that patients had induced in themselves to stimulate illness.
1843: At a later time in history, Hetcor Gavin used the term “Factitious Disorder” for the first time. In a book he mentioned seeing the disorder in soldiers and seamen who pretended to be ill to seek attention and sympathy from others. Gavin also described the disorder present in the practice of medicine, when he mentioned a subgroup of women assuming the “disease” role for unexplainable causes.
1943: Even later on, Karl A. Menninger discussed patients forcing themselves on a surgeon and demanding operations, who were described as “certain neurotic characters.” It was then the question was asked, was it for physical or physiological reasons? He described the poly surgical addiction as a form of self-destruction, oddly enough after the operations were done, the patients were relieved of emotional problems, but only temporarily.
1951: Richard Asher created a name for the disorder, naming it Munchausen’s Syndrome, after Baron Von Munchausen. Baron was German man who traveled, shared stories, and was known for embellishing the truth. In Richard Asher’s paper, he described different patients whose medical histories were composed of falsehoods.
Today, Munchausen Syndrome is known as the most severe case of Factitious Disorder.
Frequency
People suffering from Factitious Disorder make frequent visits to medical facilities and claim that they are suffering from different illnesses or symptoms of illnesses. The disorder is sometimes referred to as hospital addiction. Ultimately, they are making frequent unnecessary visits to medical facilities in order to receive sympathy and attention for their pretended illnesses.
Research
Limited research, from today, say that a cause and a motivation may be from the internet. Through the internet, detection of the disorder is difficult, because of how carried away the deceiver can go. The effect on the victim can also lead them to be emotionally damaged.
Affected Ages
The people typically affected by this are typically between the ages of 20-40 years old. The women who have knowledge of healthcare or men who have few close family relationships are vulnerable to developing Factitious Disorder, according to MedicineNet. The disorder itself is more prone to develop in people who have other disorders, such as borderline or antisocial disorders, or it may even branch from childhood and a family history of neglect or abuse.
Treatment
Once a medical professional finds out that a patient may have Factitious Disorder they will need to modify the person’s behavior and stop the patient’s misuse of medical resources. They will need to ensure the safety of victims, being affected by the disorder. After these goals are accomplished, doctors will need to find out the psychological causes behind the person’s actions and behavior. By accomplishing this they will need to go into psychotherapy, which is a treatment that focuses on changing the thinking and behavior of the patient suffering from Factitious Disorder. Family therapy may also recommended, because family members will not have always known that the patient is affected by it. There is no specific medication for Factitious Disorder, but medication used to treat depression, personality disorder, or anxiety may be used. However the person must be closely monitored to see that they don’t tamper with it or use it in a harmful way.
Statistics
It is difficult to find statistics behind this disorder and not only because most cases go undetected, but because dishonesty is involved. It is estimated 1% admitted to hospitals are believed to have Factitious Disorder. However, misleading statistics may occur because one of the symptoms of Factitious Disorder is for the person to go to many different healthcare facilities at the same time. There are few other reliable estimated statistics for Factitious Disorder.
Numerical Statistics
An estimated 1% of those admitted to hospitals have Factitious Disorder, according to ClevelandClinic.
The unnecessary medical tests and waste of resources for those with Factitious Disorders, costs the United States an estimated $40 million per year.
An estimated 5% patient-physician encounters involve Factitious Disorder.
9% of cases of fevers of unknown origin or recurrent infections were factitious or self-induced, according to The National institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.
Citations
"Factitious disorder - Mayo Clinic." 2 May. 2014, http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/factitious-disorder/basics/definition/con-20031319. Accessed 15 May. 2017.
"Factitious disorder Symptoms - Mayo Clinic." 2 May. 2014, http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/factitious-disorder/basics/symptoms/con-20031319. Accessed 15 May. 2017.
"Factitious disease: clinical lessons from case studies at ... - NCBI - NIH." https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1484524/. Accessed 18 May. 2017.
"Munchausen Syndrome (Factitious Disorder) Causes ... - MedicineNet." 14 Dec. 2015, http://www.medicinenet.com/munchausen_syndrome/article.htm. Accessed 17 May. 2017.
"Factitious Disorders Symptoms, Treatment, Causes ... - MedicineNet." http://www.medicinenet.com/factitious_disorders/page3.htm. Accessed 17 May. 2017.
"An Overview of Factitious Disorders | Cleveland Clinic: Health Library." https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/articles/an-overview-of-factitious-disorders. Accessed 16 May. 2017.
"What Are the Symptoms of Factitious Disorders? - MedicineNet." http://www.medicinenet.com/factitious_disorders/page2.htm. Accessed 17 May. 2017.
"Factitious disorder - causes, DSM, effects, therapy, adults, drug ...." http://www.minddisorders.com/Del-Fi/Factitious-disorder.html. Accessed 17 May. 2017.
Factitious Disorder is a mental disorder in which someone deceives others by pretending to be sick, purposely getting sick, or through self-injury. All of this effort taking place for the sake of attention and sympathy from others. People who suffer from different types of Factitious Disorder may not know or understand the reasons behind their actions, even though they are aware of their actions.
Symptoms
Ways that healthcare providers would be able to tell whether someone has Factitious Disorder or not would be by looking for certain symptoms. Some symptoms would include clever and convincing medical problems, frequent hospitalizations yet inconsistent vague symptoms, conditions that get worse for no apparent reason, eagerness for testing or risky operation, extensive knowledge of medical terms, seeking treatment from many different doctors or hospitals, having few visitors when hospitalized, and/or arguing with hospital staff.
History
The possibility of the existence of Factitious Disorder was first brought up as far back as the 2nd century, by Roman physician Claudius Galen. According to US National Library of Medicine’s website, in a treatise called On Feigned Diseases and the Detection of Them, Claudius had written a list of symptoms that patients had induced in themselves to stimulate illness.
1843: At a later time in history, Hetcor Gavin used the term “Factitious Disorder” for the first time. In a book he mentioned seeing the disorder in soldiers and seamen who pretended to be ill to seek attention and sympathy from others. Gavin also described the disorder present in the practice of medicine, when he mentioned a subgroup of women assuming the “disease” role for unexplainable causes.
1943: Even later on, Karl A. Menninger discussed patients forcing themselves on a surgeon and demanding operations, who were described as “certain neurotic characters.” It was then the question was asked, was it for physical or physiological reasons? He described the poly surgical addiction as a form of self-destruction, oddly enough after the operations were done, the patients were relieved of emotional problems, but only temporarily.
1951: Richard Asher created a name for the disorder, naming it Munchausen’s Syndrome, after Baron Von Munchausen. Baron was German man who traveled, shared stories, and was known for embellishing the truth. In Richard Asher’s paper, he described different patients whose medical histories were composed of falsehoods.
Today, Munchausen Syndrome is known as the most severe case of Factitious Disorder.
Frequency
People suffering from Factitious Disorder make frequent visits to medical facilities and claim that they are suffering from different illnesses or symptoms of illnesses. The disorder is sometimes referred to as hospital addiction. Ultimately, they are making frequent unnecessary visits to medical facilities in order to receive sympathy and attention for their pretended illnesses.
Research
Limited research, from today, say that a cause and a motivation may be from the internet. Through the internet, detection of the disorder is difficult, because of how carried away the deceiver can go. The effect on the victim can also lead them to be emotionally damaged.
Affected Ages
The people typically affected by this are typically between the ages of 20-40 years old. The women who have knowledge of healthcare or men who have few close family relationships are vulnerable to developing Factitious Disorder, according to MedicineNet. The disorder itself is more prone to develop in people who have other disorders, such as borderline or antisocial disorders, or it may even branch from childhood and a family history of neglect or abuse.
Treatment
Once a medical professional finds out that a patient may have Factitious Disorder they will need to modify the person’s behavior and stop the patient’s misuse of medical resources. They will need to ensure the safety of victims, being affected by the disorder. After these goals are accomplished, doctors will need to find out the psychological causes behind the person’s actions and behavior. By accomplishing this they will need to go into psychotherapy, which is a treatment that focuses on changing the thinking and behavior of the patient suffering from Factitious Disorder. Family therapy may also recommended, because family members will not have always known that the patient is affected by it. There is no specific medication for Factitious Disorder, but medication used to treat depression, personality disorder, or anxiety may be used. However the person must be closely monitored to see that they don’t tamper with it or use it in a harmful way.
Statistics
It is difficult to find statistics behind this disorder and not only because most cases go undetected, but because dishonesty is involved. It is estimated 1% admitted to hospitals are believed to have Factitious Disorder. However, misleading statistics may occur because one of the symptoms of Factitious Disorder is for the person to go to many different healthcare facilities at the same time. There are few other reliable estimated statistics for Factitious Disorder.
Numerical Statistics
An estimated 1% of those admitted to hospitals have Factitious Disorder, according to ClevelandClinic.
The unnecessary medical tests and waste of resources for those with Factitious Disorders, costs the United States an estimated $40 million per year.
An estimated 5% patient-physician encounters involve Factitious Disorder.
9% of cases of fevers of unknown origin or recurrent infections were factitious or self-induced, according to The National institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.
Citations
"Factitious disorder - Mayo Clinic." 2 May. 2014, http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/factitious-disorder/basics/definition/con-20031319. Accessed 15 May. 2017.
"Factitious disorder Symptoms - Mayo Clinic." 2 May. 2014, http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/factitious-disorder/basics/symptoms/con-20031319. Accessed 15 May. 2017.
"Factitious disease: clinical lessons from case studies at ... - NCBI - NIH." https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1484524/. Accessed 18 May. 2017.
"Munchausen Syndrome (Factitious Disorder) Causes ... - MedicineNet." 14 Dec. 2015, http://www.medicinenet.com/munchausen_syndrome/article.htm. Accessed 17 May. 2017.
"Factitious Disorders Symptoms, Treatment, Causes ... - MedicineNet." http://www.medicinenet.com/factitious_disorders/page3.htm. Accessed 17 May. 2017.
"An Overview of Factitious Disorders | Cleveland Clinic: Health Library." https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/articles/an-overview-of-factitious-disorders. Accessed 16 May. 2017.
"What Are the Symptoms of Factitious Disorders? - MedicineNet." http://www.medicinenet.com/factitious_disorders/page2.htm. Accessed 17 May. 2017.
"Factitious disorder - causes, DSM, effects, therapy, adults, drug ...." http://www.minddisorders.com/Del-Fi/Factitious-disorder.html. Accessed 17 May. 2017.