ABSTRACT
Factitious disorder involves the conscious simulation of psychological or physiological symptoms of illness, for the purpose of fulfilling the unconscious desire to be taken care of or to assume the "sick role." Typically patients with factitious disorder simulate conditions that are designed to arouse feelings of empathy in care providers with the intention to engage them in caretaking. However, patients might also simulate conditions that arouse revulsion or rejection and still meet full diagnostic criteria for factitious disorder. In this case report, we present a patient who fabricated an elaborate history of being a sexually sadistic serial killer with homicidal ideation with the intention of obtaining personal attention, nurturance, and empathy from his psychotherapist. However, given the nature of his feigned condition, the patient frightened the very person whom he sought to engage in caretaking.
Subject(s)
Factitious Disorders/psychology , Commitment of Mentally Ill , Factitious Disorders/diagnosis , Homicide , Humans , Male , Middle Aged , Personality Disorders/diagnosis , Personality Inventory , Sadism , Veterans/psychologyABSTRACT
Huntington's disease-like 2 (HDL2) is a rare neuropsychiatric disorder that resembles HD but results from a distinct mutation. The authors present a patient with HDL2, hospitalized for psychiatric management, and they review the neuropsychiatric manifestations of this disorder. Depression, irritability/aggression, and frontal lobe personality changes are common presentations of HDL2 and are comparable to classic HD. Patients with HDL2 may differ from those with HD in having a lower incidence of obsessive-compulsive acts, known suicides, antisocial acts, and changes in sexuality. Clinicians should be aware of the psychiatric presentations of this disorder, when to obtain genetic testing, and how to manage problematic behaviors.