Synopses & Reviews
Recounts the case histories of factitious disorder patients who make themselves ill as a way of gaining emotional fulfillment and recognition. They take playing sick to pathological extremes, profoundly affecting their lives as well as the lives of those who support them. In these pages, readers will find a group of cases so bizarre that they challenge the imagination and, at times, medical knowledge.
Table of Contents
Terminal by Choice.
The Longing for Nurturance.
A Personal Vampire.
Tailspin: The Development of Factitious Illnesses.
Taller Tales Were Never Spoken.
Manipulating Mercury: Fake Fevers.
Sensational Symptoms.
If I Should Lie Before I Wake.
False Accusations.
Pain for Gain: The Motives Behind the Acts.
Playing the Madman.
The Deadliest Game of All: When Factitious Disorders Become Child Abuse.
Victims of the Great Pretenders.
The Legal and Ethical Boiling Pot.
Discovery, Confrontation, Treatment.
Index.