Patient or Pretender: Inside the Strange World of Factitious Disorders

by Marc D. Feldman and Charles V. Ford

Book Overview

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.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0471580805
• ISBN13: 9780471580805
• Release Date: October 1993
• Publisher: Wiley
• Length: 228 Pages
• Weight: 1.17 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 6.2" x 9.3"

Customer Reviews

Heart Breaking!

This is a wonderful source of information on factitious disorders.I read this book in approximately two days, it was very difficult to put down. It saddened me to read not only about the victims of factitious orders by proxy, but also those who harm themselves due to this disorder. Dr. Feldman gives a very thorough and caring description of these disorders and how it effects not only the families and friends of those who have this disorder, but also gives a look at why those with factitious disorders harm themselves and/or others.

Excellent reading and very informative

I would recommend this book to anyone that is trying to understand the strange world of Munchausen. Excellent reviews of cases of this syndrome. Easy to understand and read and keeps the reader interested. You will come away with a better understanding of why these people live in the bizarre world of Munchausen syndrome.

A compassionate book about intriguing psychiatric disorders.

Ford and Feldman have written a fascinating exploration of the complexities of factitious disorders, and they display a degree of clinical intuition seldom seen in today's world of high-tech medicine. Rich in anecdotes, this book holds the reader in thrall from the first page. Who could forget Jenny....or Abby...or the Gasoline Injector! Yet make no mistake: the authors do not use tabloid tactics to ensnare the reader. Instead, they teach us a great deal about psychic pain.On behalf of those who feign illness, they reveal some of the reasons behind the desperate bids for attention. They also expose the frightening, criminal aspects of Munchausen's Syndrome by Proxy, a disease often misinterpreted by medical practitioners.This collaboration reminds this reader of the writings of psychiatrist and best-selling author, Dr. M. Scott Peck. Like Peck, the authors have the humility to admit their mistakes, and at times, they share a bit of sly humor with us. They never lose sight of the dignity of their patients, which affirms their connection to us all.A book such as this is a remarkable find, as it is written with both scientific and literary expertise. The empathy of these academicians simply cannot be taught in medical school. You would not want to miss this one.

This book could save some lives. Read it.

I'm a nurse, and I'm here to tell you that a lot of us wouldn't have jobs if it weren't for factitious disorders. Anybody who has worked in a hospital can tell you that this is a huge problem. People regress when they don't get praise and love as children. They will do anything to go to the womblike environment of a hospital. I've known patients who shot themselves, overdosed, carved their skin to shreds-you name it. What's even scarier are the patients who can keep a "con" going for years, reading about medical problems and sometimes killing themselves trying to mimic those problems. It gets worse. I had a teen-aged patient whose mother was giving her "secret injections" while she was on our unit. We had no idea. Mom was there the whole time-wouldn't leave until we ran her off, then she signed the kid out AMA. Fortunately, the girl's friends took her to the ER a few weeks later, and guess what? She was almost dead from arsenic poisoning. How many times does this happen, and how many people get away with it? It's called Munchausen-Syndrome-By-Proxy. I'd been in nursing for years before I first heard about it. I hope that's not the case with today's new nursing graduates. This is the best book I've ever read about MSBP, You don't have to be in the medical field to appreciate it. You never know when you might need this information.

Great book! My friends learned a lot, too!

My mom told me to read this, and I thought,hey, is this going to be some heavy stuff, but I really got into it and I read it twice. It really bothers me to read about how some people hurt their kids and thats hard to understand, but I felt sorry for these people and maybe I'll look out for people like that when I can. My friends read it and said they would give it five stars. I'll do a project at school and let everybody know about this disease. I used to think people were phony when they tried to fake being sick, and I know people who do it to get out of going to school. But I didn't know that people can have major problems that makes them do things (like faking.) We need to know that these people need us to care and help them. We always say to just get a life, but now I feel like they need help to get a life. I like these doctors because they explain things so well and I was sorry when the book was over. I really felt sorry for the guy whose mom didn't want him.