It was also a lie. Jenny had found a remarkable and desperate way to mobilize an instant support network of sympathetic co-workers. Eventually she enrolled in a breast cancer support group, shaved her head to mimic the effects of chemotherapy, and dieted to lose 50 pounds all to keep the illusion alive. People with factitious disorder feign or actually induce illness in themselves, typically to garner the nurturance of others. Yet more common than you might think.
Experts estimate that one percent of hospitalized patients are faking their ailments.
Clearly factitious disorders are sapping an already-burdened health care system. They also defy the imagination. Patients have bled themselves into anemia and then showed up at a doctor's office stating they haven't a clue about how they became so ill. Others have secretly taken laxatives to induce diarrhea, or mimicked seizures so convincingly that neurologists hospitalized them on the spot. In recent months, newspapers, magazines, and TV news programs have all described cases of factitious disorder, helping both health professionals and the general public to become aware.