Munchausen syndrome

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Mun·chau·sen syndrome

 (mŭn′chou′zən, mŭnch′hou′-)
n.
A psychiatric disorder characterized by the repeated fabrication of disease signs and symptoms for the purpose of gaining medical attention.

[After Baron Karl Friedrich Hieronymus von Münchhausen (because the fabricated diseases recalled his fictionalized accounts of his life).]
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Mun′chausen syn`drome


n.
a factitious disorder in which otherwise healthy individuals seek to hospitalize themselves with feigned or self-induced pathology in order to receive medical treatment.
[1950–55; named after Baron von Münchhausen, whose fictionalized accounts of his own experiences suggest symptoms of the disorder]
Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary, © 2010 K Dictionaries Ltd. Copyright 2005, 1997, 1991 by Random House, Inc. All rights reserved.
ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:
Noun1.Munchausen syndrome - syndrome consisting of feigning acute and dramatic illness for which no clinical evidence is ever found
syndrome - a pattern of symptoms indicative of some disease
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References in periodicals archive
Dermatitis artefacta is a form of factitious disorder, in which the patient deliberately damages the skin but denies doing it.
(10) The Clinical Manual of Psychosomatic Medicine (2012) classifies psychosomatic symptoms as somatoform and related disorders', including somatisation disorder, undifferentiated somatoform disorder, undifferentiated somatoform disorder, hypochondriasis, conversion disorder, body dysmorphic disorder, pain disorder, factitious disorder, and malingering.
Gastroesophageal reflux disease, gastroparesis, mechanical obstruction, anaphylaxis, Munchausen syndrome by proxy (factitious disorder by proxy), intracranial masses, peptic ulcer disease, cyclic vomiting, and diabetic ketoacidosis also may be diagnostic considerations.
A factitious disorder (FD) is a diagnostic entity in which patients intentionally act physically or mentally ill without obvious benefits and without being consciously aware of a clear underlying motive.
Although pseudologia fantastica is not coded in the DSM 5, it has historically been associated with factitious disorder. Factitious disorder imposed on self (frequently referred to as Munchausen syndrome) is defined as the falsification of physical or psychological signs or symptoms and the presentation of self as ill, impaired, or injured in the absence of obvious external rewards [8].
Exfoliative cheilitisda factitious disorder? Int J Oral Maxillofac Surg 1986; 15:313-7.
INTRODUCTION: Munchausen's syndrome is classified as a factitious disorder in the latest version of Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5).
Factitious disorder (FD) is defined as a condition in which a person voluntarily produces symptoms or illness and acts as if they are ill without an external gain (1).
Criddle (2010) and Kucuker, Demir, and Oral (2010) both suggested that MSbP can be a comorbidity of sorts, a condition that begins in an adult as Adult Factitious Disorder, or Munchausen Syndrome, and progresses to MSbP when children are introduced.
Less comprehensive histories, such as those obtained during crisis or brief clinical services, may make it more difficult to distinguish between malingering and factitious disorder (Yates et al., 1996).
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