Factitious disorder
disease of mental health where symptoms are deliberately produced, feigned or exaggerated in order to falsely demonstrate the presence of an illness
A factitious disorder is a mental disorder in which a person, without a malingering motive, acts as if they have an illness by deliberately producing, feigning, or exaggerating symptoms, purely to attain (for themselves or for another) a patient's role. People with a factitious disorder may produce symptoms by contaminating urine samples, taking hallucinogens, injecting fecal material to produce abscesses, and similar behaviour. The word factitious derives from the Latin word factītius, meaning "human-made".
Factitious disorder imposed on self (also called Munchausen syndrome) was for some time the umbrella term for all such disorders. Factitious disorder imposed on another (also called Munchausen syndrome by proxy, Munchausen by proxy, or factitious disorder by proxy) is a condition in which a person deliberately produces, feigns, or exaggerates the symptoms of someone in their care. In either case, the perpetrator's motive is to attain (for themselves or for another) a patient's role. Malingering differs fundamentally from factitious disorders in that the malingerer simulates illness intending to obtain a material benefit or avoid an obligation or responsibility.
These should not be confused with somatic symptom disorders or functional neurological disorders; while both are also diagnoses of exclusion, they are characterized by physical complaints that are not produced intentionally.
Etiology
What causes factitious disorder is not well understood; however, there are a handful of possible motives that drive this pattern of behavior.
Individuals may experience a heightened thrill from medical procedures, a desire for attention and care, or feelings of control or accomplishment when deceiving medical professionals.
The public source identifies “Factitious disorder” as disease of mental health where symptoms are deliberately produced, feigned or exaggerated in order to falsely demonstrate the presence of an illness. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Factitious, disorder and disease.
Why this record matters
A short description can identify a subject without explaining its stakes. For “Factitious disorder”, the useful work is to connect “disease of mental health where symptoms are deliberately produced, feigned or exaggerated in order to falsely demonstrate the presence of an illness” to the records capable of establishing context and consequence.
Named sources, stable identifiers and responsible institutions provide the strongest route from overview to verifiable evidence. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 25, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q2686385. The Library of Congress control number is sh93000060. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank.
Overview language is designed for orientation and should not be treated as a substitute for the evidence cited beneath it. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.
- Subject orientation
- Search vocabulary
- Locating named sources
The closest primary source, responsible institution and strongest cited specialist reference.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Factitious disorder”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Factitious disorder primary sources, Factitious disorder archive and Factitious research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Factitious disorder”?
- Which cited source is closest to the event, object or claim?
- Which institution is responsible for the underlying evidence?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Factitious disorder” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.