Search results for "Factitious Disorders"

Factitious Disorders in the Field of Neurology and Psychiatry

1994

Countertransference in Factitious Disorder

1994

In the treatment of patients with factitious disorder it is important to realize that at various levels of their experience these patients are more intimate with death than with life. This requires a particular awareness of resistance mechanisms to countertransference as well as of the importance of clinical procedures, in particular with regard to superego analysis. A requirement for establishing a psychotherapeutic alliance with patients suffering from factitious disorder is a high degree of 'therapeutic eros', hope and trust in one's own capabilities. The emphasis on a 'biophile attitude' does, however, involve the danger that the destructive potential, fantasies of death or killing, but…

Child abuse in a medical setting: Case illustrations of two variants of munchausen sindrome by proxy

2017

Munchausen syndrome is a complex type of abuse, which is often underdiagnosed or misdiagnosed in clinical practice, and has harmful consequences for children. Its relationship with child abuse, of which it is a variety, must be recognized in clinical and forensic practice. The authors report herein two observed cases of different types of Münchausen syndrome by proxy (MSbP). The first, is the most severe form of MSbP, with induced, true illness and related pathological symptoms into victim. The second case is a moderate form, much more complex to detect, in which a perpetrator parent simulates and aggravates the child‘s illness. Adequate training of health professionals and investigators…

Factitious disorders and pathological self-harm in a hospital population: an interdisciplinary challenge.

2002

Factitious disorder, Munchausen's Syndrome, and deliberate self-harm have recently been conceptualized as different facets of self-destructive behavior. A descriptive typological classification has been presented by Willenberg et al., but has not yet been tested with a clinical sample. The instrument distinguishes between direct self-harm (e.g., self-inflicted wounds), self-induced disease (e.g., factitious fever), and indirect self-harm delegated to medical staff (e.g., repeated operations occasioned by feigned symptoms). All patients referred to the psychosomatic-psychotherapeutic liaison-consultation service or to the outpatients' department within 14 months (n = 995) and all patients di…