Factitious deafblindness: an imperceptible variant of factitious disorder.
We describe two women who, over a period of years, feigned the loss of both vision and hearing. Their principal motive appeared to be pursuit of the sick role, though each acquired disability payments as well. A face-saving intervention sharply reduced the alleged hearing deficits in one case; the other patient precipitously left treatment. A broad range of permutations of factitious disorder has been reported, but these appear to be the first published cases of factitious deafblindness.
Miner
I D
ID
League for the Hard of Hearing, New York, New York, USA.
Feldman
M D
MD
D000328:Adult; D001766:Blindness / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology* / Q000534:rehabilitation; D003638:Deafness / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology* / Q000534:rehabilitation; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D005162:Factitious Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology* / Q000534:rehabilitation; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D009042:Motivation; D010348:Patient Care Team; D010352:Patient Dropouts / Q000523:psychology; D010552:Personality Assessment; D012803:Sick Role