Factitious Disorder Treatment - OmniMedicalSearch.com

Conditions & Diseases: Psychological & Mental Health

Factitious Disorder

Factitious Disorder Treatment

Treating an individual with factitious disorder is a difficult and frustrating process, and mostly focuses on managing the symptoms rather than curing them. The main goal of a treatment approach is to modify the person's behavior and reduce the misuse or overuse of medical resources and the morbidity and mortality risks. In individuals diagnosed with factitious disorder by proxy, the treatment's main goal is to ensure the safety and assure the protection of the victim(s).

The secondary goal is to target and address the underlying psychological issues that causes the disorder through psychotherapy. Although, medication has proven to be ineffective in treating individuals with factitious disorder, some medication can be prescribed to help anxiety or depression symptoms when the patient suffers from anxiety or mood disorders. The purpose of psychotherapy is to address and change the thinking and behavioral patterns that patients with FD engage in. Due to the fact that patients with FD accept to be treated for a short period of time, there is a limited knowledge regarding the efficiency of different psychotherapeutic approaches. However, based on the available information, it was noticed that supportive approaches that focus on the patient's emotional distress and needs are more helpful than the insight-orientated therapies.

Help can be provided to the family of such patients through family therapy which will teach family members how to cope with the disorder and to stop rewarding or reinforcing the behavior exhibited by FD individuals.

The prognosis of factitious disorder varies from a subtype to another. It is suggested that male patients diagnosed with FD are considered to have the worse prognosis, most of them engage in self-mutilation behaviors and suicide attempts. A poor prognosis is associated with severe and chronic forms of FD with predominantly physical signs and symptoms (Munchausen's syndrome), because these patients do not respond to psychotherapy. "The statistics for recurrent episodes and successful suicides range between 30 and 70 percent." (2) The prognosis among women with factitious disorder varies. In some cases, the disorder can improve when the patient accepts treatment, or can resolve itself when the patient turns 40. Although the information regarding the ultimate outcome in most patients with FD is limited, it is believed that some die as a result of abusing medication, medical procedures, and surgeries.

Unfortunately, due to limited knowledge of the mechanisms that trigger the disorder, no effective preventive strategies were developed.

Article by Alina Morrow,
MS Psychology
OmniMedicalSearch.com

Sources:

Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition, Text Revision, Factitious Disorder, May 2003 (1)
Encyclopedia of Mental Disorders, Factitious Disorder, Date unknown (2)
eMedicine, Factitious Disorder, by Todd S Elwyn, JD, MD, Iqbal Ahmed, MBBS, April 2006 (3)
MedicineNet.com, Factitious Disorders, March 2008
Andreasen, Nancy, C., Black, Donald, W., Introductory Textbook of Psychiatry, Factitious Disorders and Malingering, Factitious Disorders, p 227-230. 2006 (4)
Sadock, Benjamin J., Kaplan, Harold I., Virginia A., Kaplan & Sadock's Synopsis of Psychiatry, Factitious Disorder, p 657- 664, 2007 (5)
PsychNet.UK, Disorder Information Sheet, Factitious Disorder &ndash Munchausen Syndrome, July 2003
Cleveland Clinic, An Overview of Factitious Disorder, November 2008