What Is Abnormal Illness Behaviour With Predominantly Conscious Motivation?
Illness behavior may be defined as referring to the ways in which individuals react to aspects of their own performance which they assess in terms of `illness and health`. The main syndromes in this cluster are lazy and Munchausen’s syndrome. Both these circumstances are particularly odd and should be diagnosed with the most care. The evidence to the occurrence of such a situation is not simply the inconsistency between complaints and physical findings, but the propensity of the patient to give a ‘perfect story’. It should be borne in mind that it is really rare for patients to present a text book description of a syndrome except they wish the doctor to arrive at an exact diagnosis. In some cases, this may be connected with a wish for access to narcotics, or simply to gain exception from some unlikable duty or situation. In some instances, while the patient is conscious of the fact that he is simulating illness, he is not aware of the true motivation for hospitalization and surgical tr
