Most of us in our lifetimes have committed the act of “malingering”. As children, we just did not want to go to school for fear in being picked on or perhaps we did not want to take that grueling math test. We made up any excuse to not go to school by feigning a sickness. As an adult, you wanted to take off to guarantee a three- day weekend, concocting and citing to your boss that you felt feverish. Unfortunately, in our society, there have even been some selfish people that will fake an illness, such as Breast Cancer, gain money from funding that sympathetic people have ponied up to benefit their personal obligations.
Malingering must be understood to grasp the difference between it and a more worry- some disorder: Factitious Disorder. Malingering, which is not considered a psychological disorder, is commonly identified, and termed as sufferers that want to gain something financial from the outcome of falsifying an illness. Factitious Disorder is often misdiagnosed and overlooked, is defined as the intentional action of misrepresenting an illness and there is no obvious benefit except for having an inner need to only calling attention to oneself and gaining emotional sympathy.
There are several subdivisions of the Factitious Disorder. They include Psychological Factitious Disorder (PsyFD), Physical Factitious Disorder (PhyFD), Combination Psychological and Physical Factitious Disorder (ComboFD), Munchausen Syndrome, and Ganser Syndrome. The person claiming they have an illness generally wanting empathy and will do anything to embellish symptoms of an illness or disease in several different ways.
In Psychological Factitious Disorder (PsyFD), the individual will assume mentally and emotionally that they are suffering from a menta...
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...under the radar of detection. It can ruin someone’s credibility of one day really being sick, such as the fairytale story of The Boy That Cried Wolf. I hope that more instances will be researched and documented for the future of society. Factitious Disorders waste time and money that are needed for those that are sick, not those that become aroused from the sympathetic gestures that they receive.
Works Cited
Hamilton, James C., and Holly N. Deemer. “Excessive Reassurance-Seeking as Self-Regulatory Perseveration: Implications for Explaining the Relation between Depression and Illness Behavior” Psychological Inquiry Vol. 10, No. 4 (1999): 293-297 JSTOR Web. 12 Nov. 2013.
Samaan, Zainab, Erin Hoh, and Glenda MacQueen. “Factitious Disorder Presenting as Type 1 Diabetes Mellitus” BMJ Case Reports (2009). ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3027606/ Web. 12 Nov. 2013.
There are many symptoms of type one diabetes. They include drinking irritability, excessive urination, extreme weight loss, feeling very hungry or tired, sores that don’t heal and blurry eyesight. The cause of type one diabetes is unknown, although genetic tendency and childhood infections are two possibilities. The pancreas undergoes a change and cells that normally produce insulin are destroyed. This may be a result of the body’s own immune system believing the pancreas is a foreign organ. Also, type one diabetes often appears at times of physical stress and during illness when the body produces extra ...
Type 1 diabetes mellitus also known as juvenile diabetes is a serious condition in which the pancreas produces a small amount or no insulin at all. Insulin is a hormone the body needs to transfer sugar into cells to create energy. This disease is most common in children, but can occur in adults around their late 30’s to early 40’s. Unlike patients with type 2 diabetes, type 1 diabetes patients are not usually overweight.
According WebMD 2014. Diabetes mellitus (or diabetes) is a chronic, lifelong condition that affects your body's ability to use the energy found in food. There are three major types of diabetes. Type 1 diabetes mellitus, type 2 diabetes mellitus and gestational diabetes. It is a hormonal disorder of the pancreas either decrease in insulin level also known as hypoinsulinism or increase in insulin level also known as hyperinsulinism. Lowered amounts, insufficient of, or ineffective use of insulin leads to the disorder of diabetes mellitus. It is common chronic disease requiring lifelong behavioral and lifestyle changes. According to Peakman (2012). The development of type 1 diabetes mellitus is a genetic and an autoimmune process that results in destruction of the beta cells of the pancreas, leading to absolute insulin deficiency. There is usually a pre-diabetic phase where autoimmunity has already developed but with no clinically apparent insulin dependency. Insulin autoantibodies can be detected in genetically predisposed individuals as early as 6-12 months of age. In persons genetically susceptible to type 1 diabetes, a triggering event, possibly a viral infection the leads to production of autoantibodies that kill the beta cells and results in decline and a lack of insulin secretion. According to Wherrett. It is caused by impaired insulin secretion and insulin resistance and has a gradual onset. Those with type 2 diabetes may eventually need insulin treatment. Gestational diabetes mellitus is glucose intolerance during pregnancy in a woman not previously diagnosed with diabetes, this may occur if placental hormones counteract insulin, causing insulin intolerance. Complications in diabetes mellitus includes: Hypoglycemia it is ca...
For my research paper I chose the two mental illnesses of hypochondriasis and Munchausen by proxy. I chose these topics because I have an aunt related by marriage who is thought to have hypochondriasis and Munchausen by proxy because like hypochondriasis it can be used as a way to gain attention or sympathy from others. I will start off with hypochondriasis since it is the illness I have the most familiarity with.
through the illness not being identified as an illness, is a social stigma and inadequate
Malingering is to make believe that a person is sick due to a physical or mental illness to avoid unpleasable consequences while denial is an act to oppress reality and deny its existence. In criminal cases, many suspects have tried to perform both of these strategies in order to receive a smaller sentence, but in fact, the person either spends a greater amount in a mental health institution or prison.
The nature of the disorder makes it difficult to treat, since patients are convinced that they suffer from a real and serious medical problem. Indeed, the mere su...
Schildkrout, Barbara. “Unmasking Psychological Symptoms: How Therapists Can Learn To Recognize The Psychological Presentation Of Medical Disorders”. n.p.: Hoboken, N.J. : John Wiley & Sons, c2011., 2011. USMAI Catalog. Web. 12 Nov. 2013.
After finishing this book I realized that this is somewhat true. This is a disease that has been kept a secret, and those that suffer from it keep it a hidden. It is embarrassing and those that suffer from this wish not to be identified. It has become a ritual to the person; they feel if they admit that they suffer from this that they will be labeled as “crazy'; when if fact they are not. One of our family members may have it or friends, we never know, and that’s the amazing thing because we might be able to help them but they are not willing to be open about it.
According the fourth edition diagnostic manual of mental disorders (American Psychiatric Association, 2000), the category psychotic disorders (Psychosis) include Schizophrenia, paranoid (Delusional), disorganized, catatonic, undifferentiated, residual type. Other clinical types include Schizoaffective Disorder, Bipolar Affective Disorder/Manic depression, mania, Psychotic depression, delusional (paranoid) disorders. These are mental disorders in which the thoughts, affective response or ability to recognize reality, and ability to communicate and relate to others are sufficiently impaired to interfere grossly with the capacity to deal with reality; the classical and general characteristics of psychosis are impaired reality testing, hallucinations, delusions, and illusions. Mostly, these are used as defining features of psychosis even if there are other psychotic symptoms that characterise these disorders (L. Bortolotti, 2009).
1) mental illness of such a severe nature that a person cannot distinguish fantasy from
Type 1 diabetes has a genetic onset that often occurs in adolescence (Porth, 2005). It is an autoimmune disease in which the insulin-producing beta cells within the liver are destroyed (Dorman, 1993). This causes a deficiency in insulin secretion, which ultimately leads to high blood glucose levels, also referred to as hyperglycemia (Guthrie & Guthrie, 2004). The mechanism for insulin deficiency leading to hyperglycemia is described in more detail in the following section and in Figure 1.
United States. (2011). Type 1 Diabetes Research: Real Progress and Real Hope for a Cure. Hearing Before the Committee on Homeland Security and Government Affairs, United States Senate, of the One Hundred Eleventh Congress, First Session, June 24, 2009. Washington, DC: Washington: U.S. G.P.O., 2011
Crime can be described combination between both behavior and mental factors. This will prove incredibly crucial in the definition of crime in relation to mental illness. Many of those that commit crimes are not convicted due to their illness so it is important to note, for the purpose of this analysis, that all illegal activity is considered crime, regardless of conviction (Monahan and Steadman 1983).
Halgin, R. P., & Whitbourne, S. K. (2010). Abnormal psychology: clinical perspectives on psychological disorders (6th ed.). Boston: McGraw-Hill Higher Education.