2nd February 2024

Clinical presentation

• Overgeneralisation and exaggeration of symptoms
• Bizarre, inappropriate and inconsistent presentations
• No functional impairment outside of the diagnostic setting
• Excess claims, sick leaves
• Poor explanation between symptoms and facts
• No treatment found beneficial

Overall, both Malingering and Factitious disorders are abnormal healthcare-seeking behavioural conditions. The common feature is deception. Although it may be encountered in the clinical setting, malingering is not a diagnosis. To establish malingering is challenging. Symptoms from malingering are premeditated, and the motivation behind it is well calculated.

In malingering disorder, there is some external benefit, which is like a secondary gain. This distinguishes malingering from factitious disorder (a disorder in which a patient consciously creates physical or psychological symptoms to assume a sick role, the primary gain). Malingerers generally do not accept treatment, show poor compliance with management and stop complaining about the presumed illness only after obtaining what he or she wants.

There is no medication or intervention to cure malingerers.