Simulated illness: the factitious disorders and malingering.

摘要

Consciously simulated illnesses fall into two diagnostic categories: factitious disorders and malingering, differentiated by both motivation for behavior and consciousness of that motivation. Factitious disorder behaviors are motivated by an unconscious need to assume the sick role, while malingering behaviors are driven consciously to achieve external secondary gains. Thus, factitious disorders are psychiatric disorders in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual-IV text revision (DSM -IV TR), whereas malingering is listed as a condition not attributable to a mental illness. Diagnosis of factitious disorder depends first on detection of the conscious production of symptoms and then on delineation of the motivation behind the deception.