Malingering
Definition
The central theme to all definitions of malingering is that the term applies to persons who deliberately pretend to have an illness or disability in order to receive financial or other gain, or to avoid punishment or responsibility.
Description
Personal gain is always the motivation for malingering. Some external reward is sought and is the rationale for feigning an illness. For example, the criminal who does not want to pay for his/her crime, the soldier who does not want to fight, or the person who wishes to be paid for a nonexistent disability all may be tempted to feign an illness.
Malingering can take many forms. However, as specifically related to mental illness, the tendency is to fake more common disorders such as
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