Factitious disorders

A factitious disorder is one in which an individual willfully produces signs or symptoms of a medical or psychiatric illness to assume the sick role and its associated gratifications.

This should be differentiated from somatoform disorders (which are not willful) and malingering, which is simply lying about signs or symptoms to obtain gains different from those obtained by assuming the sick role (e.g., to avoid the military or for monetary gain).

Provided by ArmMed Media
Revision date: June 11, 2011
Last revised: by Tatiana Kuznetsova, D.M.D.