How To Fake Ptsd - Something Scary

[Deleted member 5760]

Yup, emmat,

Munchausen is pretty serious. A fictitious example of Munchausen by proxy that a lot of people would probably know is in the movie The 6th Sense -

You know the young girl who is being poisoned by her mother? Her mother is putting the draino or whatever it is in her food to keep her sick. So that she will get the attention and sympathy that comes with caring for a sick child, etc.

 

[rjtransient]

emmat, am I right on these points about 'factitious disorder'?

-It is intentional
-The purpose is to get attention (i.e, sympathy)
-Over time, the "sufferer" can induce somatic symptoms of the disorder
-Over time, it can become harder to distinguish fact from delusion, even for the patient

Whatever the motive, to me, that sounds like lying. Plus or minus delusions; mix and match. (I'm questioning the DSM, not the fact that these people exist!) Lying. Fabricating. Malingering. The difference is that this category is painting the deviant behaviour in medical terms, and the medicalization of deviance is a big, controversial trend in psychiatry and sociology. It's interesting to hear another possible explanation or point of view, though. I have my own biases, but the "psychological disorder" slant emphasizes that even if the behaviour is intentional, the intention isn't coming from a sane, healthy mind.

Back to the search term - I don't know, if we're going to get indexed by Google either way, maybe we should start a sham thread on How To Fake PTSD, For Dummies. Filled with a lot of swearing.

 

[emmat]

Oh yes, it is lying/ delusional behaviour - but often because the person craves attention and believes this is the best/ only way to get it (not just for the sake of scamming extra cash). Often these people have suffered neglect, bullying and abuse (something of which I'm sure most of us can sympathise/ empathise with) and have found that the only way they get attention/care/nurturing is via the health services so they start creating fictious disorders to try to get them. It's a cry for help.

It's not the right way to ask for help, because they don't get the help they need (which is mental health treatment to help them deal with whatever it is that makes them crave the attention given to a sick/disabled person) but I can't get angry at them. They have issues like us (but very different) and they need the right help, they just don't know how to ask for it. I don't like seeing people with one mental disorder beat down on people with a different one. We're all just trying to get by at the end of the day.

All that said... I do get peeved about the stuff people started talking about before - people that do it *just* to get more money after a work based accident with out any mental health issues. That's just not cool. It makes people less accepting of the rest of us.

 

[bluecat]

People want to fake PTSD, huh? They can have mine any time, with all the "benefits", lol.

I tried to find the thread you're talking about and insted found a paper in the General Hospital Psychiatry journal that summarizes guidelines for distinguishing malingerers from true PTSD sufferers. I was surprised, there is a lot that an informed diagnostician can go on, even though, it must be a really tough call. If I was a doctor, I would always err on the side of believing the patient out of fear that I'd let down someone who really needs the help.

There seems to be a lot that outright liers get wrong: their symptoms are stagnant with no positive development over time, they exagerrate and are overly eager to start sharing things that stink of textbook examples, strike false notes, present accounts contradictory to the events as reported by other sources, blame others, seek treatment in the context of litigation and make themselves sound like heros in the events they are describing. They also get the flashbacks wrong, exagerrate one type of symptoms, while denying two others. On the other hand, the article claims, that people who have other psychiatric illness, but claim PTSD or people who had PTSD, but have already recovered, are very hard to figure out.

Doctors and VA's aside, I don't see how you can fake PTSD with someone who has it if you haven't experienced it. Do you think thats really possible?

Here's the article info. It's copyrighted and I accessed it through my institution's subscription, so I can't post it on a public forum. Plus I don't know if that would be such a good thing anyway, given that it could end up the number one hit on google for how to avoid detection if you're faking PTSD, lol. You can access it your own way, if you care to read it, but its really mainly useful for diagnosticians.

Malingering of PTSD: forensic and diagnostic considerations, characteristics of malingerers and clinical presentations General Hospital Psychiatry - Volume 28, Issue 6 (November 2006) - Copyright © 2006 Elsevier

 

[bluecat]

I don't like seeing people with one mental disorder beat down on people with a different one. We're all just trying to get by at the end of the day.
All that said... I do get peeved about the stuff people started talking about before - people that do it *just* to get more money after a work based accident with out any mental health issues. That's just not cool. It makes people less accepting of the rest of us.

Well put Emmat, I couldn't agree more.

 

[BrotatoSalad]

I don't get it. I hide the fact that I have PTSD. It comes with serious consequences with school and work, no one wants you if you have a mental illness, you'll drop out or quit or not show up and they'll lose money, etc, etc. Ridiculous.

 

[cdnleaf]

I get annoyed when discussing this topic - thanks, unfortunately however the diagnosis can be quite $$ lucrative here. As well there are big bucks in the PTSD business from research grants, lecturing, psychologists and counsellors with the latest cure etc. There is nothing in life that could motivate me to live with PTSD. I do have a small blog / resource based with content/links mainly indiginous to where I live, to assist myself and peers. There will never be any ads for enlargements, high school diplomas or the like. I firmly believe in the integrity of this forum and what has been created here. The faking searches and interest, is perhaps a reflection of the high quality of content, membership and genuine nature of this forum. In a sense a compliment from otherwise deranged (undoubtedly in some cases) sources. Regards, Dan.

 

[Lady of Longbourn]

Nice search cloud this thread as started. Its proving its own point.

 

[BloomInWinter]

There will always be posers out there seeking to profit from others' misery.

People searching for 'faking PTSD' may be employers seeking understanding...may be loved ones wondering if it's real. We can do some real good by responding to questions. Fakers will be outted over time as their lives will not reflect what our lives do.

As infuriating as it can be, I do believe the good people out there, and here, will ultimately cause such awful work to come down on the side of good. Even if only through raising awareness of the disease nature and effects.

Every time someone successfully 'fakes' it...well, that does normalize the term at least....and those caught will force employers to learn how to thwart it. Which, the byproduct will also be, they will be educated what it looks like and be more likely to 'see' the real PTSD. None of which seems to happen now.

Best to call it out when we see it. *sigh.

 

[shadowchaser]

Hearing people wanting to fake this makes me sick to my stomach. Yes I know people have other problems and must be even worse off than me if they feel they need to mimic this curse in order to get some attention. But I would give nearly anything just for one day of being normal.

 

[Froggie]

It's maddening as I had to go through 2 psychologists, social workers, 2 evaluations and my family doctor before having the possibility of meeting a psychiatrist. I've met one person who tried to convince us (when I was still working) that his GP diagnosed him with PTSD. He's got a thing about being a victim of everything. So knowing the basic lines of PTSD, I asked him a few questions - end results - his doc just told him he was suffering from a lot of stress ! When he realized I had uncovered his lie, he picked up his things and went to another post. I could never trust that twit. I'm not saying that he isn't suffering from something, but at least assume you have what you have. Some find it glorious to have that sort of diagnosis - I'm guessing with emotions here ... I would like to line them up and tell them ... Hey get a life ! Assume your life !

Like many others here, this gets me pretty mad and it's no wonder that it sometimes takes time to find the right health specialist to give the diagnosis ! Did I have benefits out of my diagnosis ? H*ll no! Not only having to deal with with the symptoms, there was all the collateral damage that comes along with all that.

I'm stopping here, getting madder.

 

[Silent Bob]

That's crazy and definitely scary, why would anyone want to fake PTSD? My wife's life is so up and down I get dizzy, she hate's it and wishes she could just shake it off. I do get mad as my wife had to fight tooth and nail to get any help. She's now on med's and calmer but even now someday's she will just disappear's or cry for hours. So why would you want to fake it, your life would have to be pretty sad I think.