A case report. Factitious disorder with psychological symptoms. Is confrontation useful?

Abstract

Factitious disorder is defined by the intentional production or feigning of physical or psychological symptoms with the objective of assuming the patient role. It is frequently difficult to adequately diagnose this disorder, above all, when the faked symptoms are those of a psychological or a psychiatric disorder. In these cases, there is often high comorbidity with other mental disorders, thus making it difficult to differentiate between real and factitious symptoms. Moreover, the lack of clear objective markers makes assessing the diagnosis even more difficult.

In this article, we have aimed to clarify how a correct diagnosis of factitious disorder with psychological symptoms can be reached, to observe the different therapeutic strategies described in the literature and to analyze the utility of each one of them in a given case report.