title: The girl who cried wolf: pseudologia phantastica and sexual abuse.
abstract: There has been an explosion of interest recently in sexual abuse and incest, with reported causal links to a wide variety of psychiatric disorders. The integrity of Freud's seduction theory has been challenged by Jeffrey Masson and sexual abuse activists. What is the position of a therapist who finds out that a patient's reports of incest and sexual abuse turn out to be fabrications? These issues are presented and discussed in the context of a brief, illustrative case history. There is also a review of the concept of "pseudologia fantastica", as well as a brief review of a feminist critique of Freudian theory.
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000437:Alcoholism / Q000523:psychology; D002650:Child Abuse, Sexual / Q000523:psychology*; D008192:Deception; D003866:Depressive Disorder / Q000523:psychology; D005196:Family Therapy; D005201:Fantasy; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007179:Incest; D011902:Rape