Factitious Disorder & Dissociative Disorder

Factitious Disorders: Purposely

faking physical symptoms

Factitious Disorders: May actually induce

physical symptoms or just pretend to have them

Factitious Disorders: No obvious

external gains

Factitious Disorders: Only external gain may be

benefit of “sick role” (e.g., sympathy)

Factitious Disorders: Distinguished from

malingering

Malingering:

physical symptoms are faked for the purpose of achieving a concrete objective (e.g., getting paid time off, avoiding military service)

DSM-5 Factitious Disorders: Falsification of

physical or psychological signs or symptoms

DSM-5 Factitious Disorders: Individual presents

self as ill or injured

DSM-5 Factitious Disorders: Deceptive behavior is

evident in absence of external rewards

DSM-5 Factitious Disorders: Not

otherwise explained

Factitious Disorder Imposed on Another more commonly known as

Munchausen syndrome by proxy

Factitious Disorder Imposed on Another: Inducing

symptoms in another person

Inducing symptoms in another person: Typically

a caregiver induces symptoms in a dependent (e.g. child)

Factitious Disorder Imposed on Another: Purpose =

receive attention or sympathy

Dissociative Disorders: Severe

alterations or detachments from reality

Dissociative Disorders: Affect

identity, memory, or consciousness

Dissociative Disorders: Depersonalization –

distortion in perception of one’s body or experience

Dissociative Disorders: Derealization –

losing a sense of the external world

Types of DSM-5 dissociative disorders:

Depersonalization/derealization disorder

Dissociative amnesia

Dissociative trance disorder

Dissociative identity disorder

Example of Depersonalization

(e.g., feeling like your own body isn’t real)

Example of Derealization

(e.g., sense of living in a dream)