1. Munchausen syndrome

2. What is it?
Munchausen syndrome is a psychiatric factitious disorder wherein those affected feign disease, illness, or psychological trauma to draw attention, sympathy, or reassurance to themselves.
True Munchausen syndrome fits within the subclass of factitious disorder with predominantly physical signs and symptoms, but they also have a history of recurrent hospitalization, travelling, and dramatic, untrue, and extremely improbable tales of their past experiences.
Officially, Munchausen syndrome has been renamed "Factitious Disorder", with specificity either as "Imposed on Self" or "Imposed on Another”.

4. Munchausen versus hypochondria
Munchausen syndrome should not be confused with hypochondria as patients with Munchausen syndrome do not really believe they are sick, they only want to be sick and thus fabricate the symptoms of an illness.
It is also not the same as pretending to be sick for personal benefit such as being excused from work or school.

5. Risk factors for developing Munchausen syndrome:
childhood trauma
growing up with parents/caretakers who were emotionally unavailable due to illness or emotional problems
a serious illness as a child
failed aspirations to work in the medical field
personality disorders
a low self-esteem.
Those who have worked in healthcare

6. Patients may have multiple scars on abdomen due to repeated "emergency" operations.

7. Therapeutic e prognosis
may center on the underlying psychiatric disorder: a mood disorder, an anxiety disorder, or borderline personality disorder. The patient's prognosis depends upon the category under which the underlying disorder falls; depression and anxiety, for example, generally respond well to medication and/or cognitive behavioral therapy, whereas borderline personality disorder, like all personality disorders, is presumed to be pervasive and more stable over time, thus offers the worst or best prognosis.
Munchausen syndrome has several complications as these patients will go to great lengths to fake their illness. Severe health problems, serious injuries, loss of limbs or organs, and even death are possible complications.

9. bibliography
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