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While some people struggle with living with actual illnesses, others have a thing for making them up. 

Factitious disorder is a serious mental disorder that causes someone to exaggerate or even make up symptoms of illnesses. There are two types. The first one is factitious disorder imposed on self or FDIS, where someone pretends to be sick or exaggerates mild symptoms. Some severe cases even reach the point of actually inflicting harm on themselves so they can purposely get sick. 

The second type is factitious disorder imposed on another where someone presents another person as sick or impaired. This type is typically seen in mothers who intentionally harm their children to receive some attention.

Factitious disorder is hard to identify because patients consciously identify their symptoms, making it difficult to treat. And because of its challenging nature, where patients produce their symptoms consciously, experts have yet to determine what exactly causes a person to exhibit factitious disorders. However, they have some speculations about it. Here are some of them.

The influence of childhood trauma

Childhood experiences are known to mold decision-making in adulthood. Experts claim that, like other mental health disorders, childhood experiences are a great contributor to having a factitious disorder. In a case report, 60% of patients with factitious disorders were found to have been traumatized by a significant childhood illness.

In a study, researchers found that out of 57 members, only three said they had a good childhood. On the other hand, the majority described experiences of various forms of emotional and physical abuse.

Other mental health issues

In addition to traumatizing childhood experiences, there may be a link between factitious disorder and other mental health disorders. Scientists found that factitious disorders are more prevalent in psychiatric patients. They found that behavioral traits of people with personality disorders significantly overlap with those with factitious disorders.