Why do some people pretend to be ill

Back in 1995, a case of a 22-year-old female was studied by two doctors. At the age of 17, this girl was diagnosed with a case of amenorrhea, a situation where there is an absence of menstrual cycles in women. As the years went by, the number of disorders she was diagnosed with kept increasing. She developed swellings over her body, which started with one abscess on her left breast. The doctors were unable to provide any explanation for these swellings and gained suspicion. They referred her to psychiatric help. Once the patient was not present in her room, the nurse discovered syringes filled with fecal matter under the patient's bed. Turns out she kept injecting herself with her own fecal matter.

Munchausen syndrome is a psychological disorder wherein the individual acts to be ill or intentionally creates symptoms of illnesses in themselves. Their aim is to maintain the 'sick role' so that they are the center of attention and people care for them or take care of them. So, in the case mentioned above, the patient, with the thought of gaining constant medical attention, indulges in acts that got her what she wanted.

The entire syndrome is intricate and challenging to comprehend. A large chunk of the population refuse to refer to psychiatric treatment, and the reason behind this is unclear. Childhood trauma may be a significant reason that contributes to the development of Munchausen's syndrome. Parental neglect, abandonment, etc., come under childhood trauma. The results may end up as the child having unresolved issues that deeply link to their childhood. It has also been noticed that children who have had prolonged medical treatments during their childhood are likely to develop Munchausen's syndrome during adulthood.

Personality disorders are also a factor that contributes to the development of Munchausen's syndrome. Various personality disorders are linked with the syndrome, including antisocial personality disorders, narcissistic personality disorders, and borderline personality disorders. The person may have an unstable sense of their own identity and often find it hard to form meaningful relationships with others.

Those who suffer from the syndrome may persuade doctors in multiple manners. In some instances, they pretend to be in pain when they aren't in pain. Quite often, they exaggerate their symptoms and even go to the point where they fake their symptoms, including psychological symptoms. Patients may also indulge in acts such as poisoning their own bodies with chemicals and infecting themselves with unclean substances, like the case study of the woman mentioned above. They may also interfere with their medical conditions in a way that recovery is not possible.

Diagnosing the syndrome may be rather challenging to medical professionals. Those with the syndrome usually have better than average quality practical skills and can easily manipulate doctors and exploit the same. Doctors also attempt to rule out the possible motivations of their behavior which could be aimed at faking illnesses for financial gain or due to cases where the patients wish to access strong painkillers.

In the treatment for Munchausen syndrome, the primary goal is to modify the person's behavior first and foremost. The second step would be to reduce their overuse or misuse of medical attention. Once this is done, the rest of the treatment plan aims at uncovering any underlying psychological issues.

Much like other factitious disorders, the essential treatment for Munchausen syndrome is psychotherapy. The treatment primarily involves creating a dynamic in the thinking and behavioral patterns of the patient; this includes concepts from the popular cognitive-behavioral therapy. The family therapy technique can also be used to teach family members not to reinforce the behaviors of the individual diagnosed with Munchausen syndrome.