Examine individual changes

'{{Refimprove|date=December 2007}} {{Merge|Münchausen syndrome|date=February 2010}} {{DiseaseDisorder infobox | Name = Factitious disorder | ICD10 = {{ICD10|F|68|1|f|60}} | ICD9 = {{ICD9|300.16}} | MeshID = D005162 | }} '''Factitious disorders''' are conditions in which a person acts as if he or she has an illness by deliberately producing, feigning, or exaggerating symptoms. Factitious disorder by proxy is a condition in which a person deliberately produces, feigns, or exaggerates symptoms in a person who is in their care. '''[[Münchausen syndrome]]''' is an outdated term for Factitious disorder. People with this condition may produce symptoms by contaminating [[urine]] samples, taking [[hallucinogen]]s, injecting themselves with bacteria to produce [[infection]]s, and other such similar behaviour. People with this condition might be motivated to perpetrate factitious disorders either as a patient or by proxy as a caregiver to gain any variety of benefits including attention, nurturance, sympathy, and leniency that are unobtainable any other way. The condition is only diagnosed in the absence of any other mental disorders.<ref name="emedicine"/> [[Somatoform disorder]]s are characterised by multiple somatic complaints.<ref>[http://www.wrongdiagnosis.com/s/somatoform_disorders/intro.htm Somatoform Disorders]</ref> == Treatment == {{Citations missing|section|July 2009|date=September 2009}} No true psychiatric medications are prescribed for factitious disorder. However, [[selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors]] (SSRIs) can help manage underlying problems. Medicines used to treat mood disorders such as SSRIs can be used to treat FD, as a mood disorder may be the underlying cause of FD. Some authors (such as Prior and Gordon 1997) also report good responses to antipsychotic drugs such as [[Pimozide]]. Family therapy can also prove to be of assistance. In such therapy, families are helped to better understand patients (the individual in their family with FD) and their need for attention. In this therapeutic setting, the family is urged not to condone or reward the FD individual's behavior. This form of treatment can be unsuccessful if the family is uncooperative or displays signs of denial and/or antisocial disorder. Psychotherapy is another method used to treat the disorder. These sessions should focus on the psychiatrist establishing and maintaining a relationship with the patient. Such a relationship may help to contain symptoms of FD. Monitoring is also a form that may be implicated for the FD patient's own good. Video cameras, etc. are not illegal to use in such monitoring in any country or jurisdiction of the world where people can read Wikipedia, for in many cases, FD (especially proxy) can prove to be very detrimental to an individual's health if they are, in fact, causing true physiological illnesses. Even faked illnesses/injuries can be dangerous and might be monitored for fear that unnecessary surgery may subsequently be performed. == Treatment of Munchausen by proxy == Treatment for FD proxy is not so subtle. Physicians, upon suspecting the disorder, should notify authorities immediately. Authorities will then initiate steps for immediate protection of the proxy (i.e. victim). Criminal charges may be deemed necessary. Many times, help may be sought for the caregiver with Munchausen by proxy as well as the affected target. Careful monitoring of the family for an extended period of time is often a necessary precaution. This is to prevent translocation and to prevent the insinuation of a possible upheaval of the detrimental disorder. == Prognosis == {{Citations missing|section|July 2009|date=September 2009}} Some experience only a few outbreaks of the disorder. However, in most cases, the disorder is chronic, and factitious disorder is a long-term condition that is difficult to treat. There are relatively few positive outcomes for this disorder; in fact, treatment provided a poorer percentage of positive outcomes than did treatment of individuals with obvious psychotic symptoms such as [[schizophrenics]]. In addition, many individuals with factitious disorder do not present for treatment, often insisting their symptoms are genuine. Some degree of recovery, however, is possible. Age seems to help the disorder greatly. There are many possible explanations for this occurrence, although none are currently considered definitive. Some say perhaps it is because the FD individual has mastered the art of feigning sickness over so many years of practice that the disorder can no longer be discerned. Another hypothesis is that many times an FD individual will be put in a home or experience health issues that are not self-induced or feigned. Thus, in this way, the problem with obtaining the 'patient' status is resolved because symptoms arise without any effort on the part of the individual. == See also == * [[somatoform disorder]] * [[victim playing]] ==References== {{reflist}} * {{cite book | last = American Psychiatric Association | first = | authorlink = | coauthors = | title = DSM-IV Somatoform Disorders | pages = 445–450 | publisher = APA | year = 1997 | location = }} * {{cite book | last = Eisendrath | first = Stuart J. | authorlink = | coauthors = | title = Factitious illness: a clarification | pages = 25(2):110–3, 116–7 | publisher = Psychosomatics | year = Feb 1984 | location = | url = http://psy.psychiatryonline.org/cgi/external_ref?access_num=6701283&link_type=MED | pmid = 6701283 }} * {{cite book | last = Feldman | first = Marc D. | authorlink = | coauthors = Charles V. Ford, Toni Reinhold | year = 1993 | title = Patient or Pretender: Inside the Strange World of Factitious Disorders | publisher = John Wiley & Sons Inc | location = | isbn = 0-471-58080-5 }} * {{cite book | last = Feldman | first = Marc D. (editor) | authorlink = | coauthors = Eisendrath, Stuart J. (editor) | title = The Spectrum of Factitious Disorders (Clinical Practice, 40) | publisher = American Psychiatric Publishing; 1st ed edition | month = August | year = 1996 | location = | isbn = 0-88048-909-X | page = 229 }} * {{cite book | last = Feldman | first = Marc D. | authorlink = | title = Playing Sick? Untangling the Web of Munchausen Syndrome, Munchausen by Proxy, Malingering and Factitious Disorder | publisher = Brunner-Routledge | year = 2004 | location = | id = ISBN -415-94934-3 | page = 288 }} ==External links== * [http://www.emedicine.com/med/topic3125.htm eMedicine FD page] * [http://www.munchausen.com Dr. Feldman's factitious disorder page] *[http://www.emedicine.com/med/topic3125.htm eMedicine from WebMD] *[http://andreisz.club.fr/Munchausen_genpres.html Andrei Szoke's Page to FD] *[http://archinte.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/abstract/154/15/1690 Archives of Internal Medicine: Lab diagnosis of FD] {{Mental and behavioural disorders}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Factitious Disorder}} [[Category:Factitious disorders| ]] [[fr:Pathomimie]] [[nl:Nagebootste stoornis]] [[ja:虚偽性障害]] [[pl:Zaburzenia pozorowane]]'