Factitious Disorder

Mental illness describes abnormal cognitive or emotional patterns related to how a person thinks, feels, acts, and/or relates to others and his or her surroundings. Factitious disorders are mental disorders in which a person acts as if he or she has a physical or mental illness when, in fact, he or she has consciously created his or her symptoms. (The name factitious comes from the Latin word for "artificial.")

People with factitious disorders deliberately create or exaggerate symptoms of an illness in several ways. They may lie about or fake symptoms, hurt themselves to bring on symptoms, or alter diagnostic tests (such as contaminating a urine sample). People with factitious disorders behave this way because of an inner need to be seen as ill or injured, not to achieve a concrete benefit, such as a financial gain. People with factitious disorders are even willing to undergo painful or risky tests and operations in order to obtain the sympathy and special attention given to people who are truly ill. Factitious disorders are considered mental illnesses because they are associated with severe emotional difficulties

Many people with factitious disorders also suffer from other mental disorders, particularly personality disorders. People with personality disorders have long-standing patterns of thinking and acting that differ from what society considers usual or normal. People with personality disorders generally also have poor coping skills and problems forming healthy relationships.

Factitious disorders are similar to another group of mental disorders called somatoform disorders, which also involve the presence of symptoms that are not due to actual physical illnesses. The main difference between the two groups of disorders is that people with somatoform disorders do not intentionally fake symptoms or mislead others about their symptoms. Similarly, the behavior of people with factitious disorders is not malingering, a term that refers to faking illness for financial gain (such as to collect insurance money), food or shelter, or to avoid criminal prosecution or other responsibilities.

Src: http://www.clevelandclinic.org