Malingering

Intentional falsification with obvious external rewards (financial benefits, housing, medications)

Factitious disorder

• Intentional falsification of symptoms/inducing injury
• External rewards absent; goal is to assume the patient role

Mnemonic

Malingering Always Leaves once their need has been met whereas Factitious disorder Always Comes back for more.

Somatic symptom and related disorders

Excessive illness anxiety/preoccupation with somatic symptoms & treatment seeking; no intention to deceive

• Illness anxiety disorder
  • The key is illness
• Somatic symptom disorder
  • The key is symptom
  • Both panic disorder and somatic symptom disorder feature multiple physical symptoms and high health care use.  In somatic symptom disorder, patients experience physical symptoms persistently (eg, daily, unrelenting fatigue) whereas in panic disorder, physical symptoms are unexpected, episodic, and of short duration, typically lasting <10 minutes.
• Conversion disorder
  • CAN’T (They really feel the symptoms and they can’t stand them)
    • Clinically unexplained
    • Abnormalities
    • Nervous symptoms
    • Trigger (sometimes)

Personality disorders

• Enduring patterns of maladaptive interpersonal behavior that may include deliberate self-harm (borderline)
• Desire to be taken care of (dependent) but do not involve intentional deception