Munchausens syndrome - Introduction

Munchausen's syndrome is a psychological and behavioural condition where someone pretends to be ill, or sometimes induces symptoms of illness in themselves. Munchausen's syndrome is also known as factitious disorder.

Munchausen's syndrome is named after a German aristocrat, Baron Munchausen, who became famous for telling wild, unbelievable tales about his exploits and past.

The cause of Munchausen's syndrome is largely unknown. Most people who have been diagnosed with the condition refuse to accept any sort of psychiatric treatment, meaning little is known about their motives or thought processes.

Types of behaviour

People with Munchausen's syndrome can show different types of behaviour, such as:

• Pretending to have psychological symptoms: for example, claiming to hear voices or claiming to see things that are not really there.
• Pretending to have physical symptoms: for example, claiming to have chest pain or stomach ache.
• Actively seeking to make themselves ill: such as deliberately infecting a wound by rubbing dirt into it.

Some people with Munchausen's syndrome may spend years travelling from hospital to hospital faking a wide range of illnesses. When it is discovered that they are lying, they may suddenly leave hospital and move to another district.

People with Munchausen's syndrome can be very manipulative and, in the most serious cases, a person with the condition may undergo painful and sometimes life-threatening surgery, even though they know it is unnecessary. There have been several cases where people have died due to complications arising from treatment that was not actually necessary.

How common is Munchausen's syndrome?

It is not known exactly how common Munchausen's syndrome is. Some experts believe that Munchausen's syndrome is under-diagnosed because many people with the condition may succeed in deceiving medical staff. But it is also possible that cases of Munchausen's syndrome are over-diagnosed because the same person could travel from hospital to hospital.

A fairly large study that was carried out in a Canadian hospital estimated that, out of 1,300 patients, 10 were faking the symptoms of illness.

Who is affected

There appears to be two distinct groups of people who are affected by Munchausen's syndrome:

• women who are 20 to 40 years of age, who often have a background in healthcare, such as working as a nurse or a medical technician
• unmarried white men who are 30 to 50 years of age

It is unclear why this is the case.

Outlook

The outlook for Munchausen's syndrome is mixed. Some people (usually women) with the condition will experience one or two episodes before admitting that they need medical help. However, others (usually men) will deny that they have a problem and therefore never get the medical help that they need.