Extensive polarizable foreign material is present. A diagnosis of inclusion, not exclusion, factitious disorder requires an appropriate index of suspicion and recognition of the clinical features. The disorder is characterized by feigning symptoms of disease or willfully producing symptoms so that repeated and complex medical evaluations are required.
Patients are usually women in the second or third decade of life.
Multiple surgical scars, evidence of self-induced physical signs, work in a medically related field, and an unusual grasp of medical terminology are additional clues. Many patients with factitious disorder have co-existent personality disorders. Hypnosis, supportive counseling, psychotherapy, behavioral therapy, and psychopharmacological agents have been utilized. The prognosis for factitious disorder generally has been considered poor, and full remissions are rare. Munchausen's syndrome and other factitious disorders.