People who feign medical disorders: A look at Factitious Disorder

With a factitious disorders the individual behaves as if he or she has a physical or mental illness when, in fact, he or she has intentionally produced his or her symptoms. Individuals with factitious disorders purposely create or embellish symptoms of an illness in many ways. These individuals may falsify or mimic symptoms of an illness, injure themselves to bring on symptoms, or manipulate laboratory and diagnostic tests (such as purposefully contaminating a urine or blood samples).