Hostname: page-component-848d4c4894-p2v8j Total loading time: 0.001 Render date: 2024-05-17T01:53:35.543Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Voluntary false confessions in a Munchausen patient: a new variant of the syndrome?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  13 June 2014

Riadh T Abed
Riadh T Abed*
Affiliation:
Rotherham District General Hospital, Moorgate Road, Rotherham S60 2UD, England
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

A case of Munchausen syndrome associated with habitual voluntary false confessions is described. It is suggested that voluntary false confessions may be an overlooked feature ofMunchausen syndrome. Furthermore, it is suggested that this case raises the possibility that a yet unidentified variant of Munchausen syndrome may exist which substitutes prison for hospital.

Keywords

Munchausen syndromeFactitious illnessVoluntary false confessions
Type
Brief Reports
Information
Irish Journal of Psychological Medicine , Volume 12 , Issue 1 , March 1995 , pp. 24 - 26
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1995

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

1.Asher, R. Munchausen's syndrome. Lancet 1951;1: 339–41.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
2.American Psychiatric Association: Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders, 3rd Rev Ed. Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Association. 1987.Google Scholar
3.World Health Organization: The ICD-10 classification of mental and behavioural disorders: clinical descriptions and diagnostic guidelines. World Healm Organization: Geneva, 1992.Google Scholar
4.Feldman, MD, Ford, C, Reinhold, T. Patient or pretender: inside the strange world of factitious disorders. John Wiley: New York, 1994.Google ScholarPubMed
5.Enoch, D, Trethowen, W. Uncommon psychiatric syndromes. ButterworthHeinemann: Oxford, 1991.Google Scholar
6.Gudjonsson, GH. The psychology of false confessions. Medico-legal Journal 1989; 57:93–110.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
7.Gudjonsson, G H . One hundred alleged false confession cases: some normative data. Br J Clin Psychology 1990; 29: 249–50.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
8.Mullen, P. Deception, self-deception, and dissociation. In: Gunn, J, Taylor, PJ, editors. Forensic psychiatry, clinical, legal and ethical issues. Oxford: ButterworlhHeinemann; 407–34: 1993.Google Scholar
9.Gudjonsson, GH . Interrogation and false confessions: vulnerability factors. Br J Hosp Med 1992; 47(8): 597–9.Google ScholarPubMed
10.Gudjonsson, GH . The psychology of interrogations, confessions and testimony. Chichester: John Wiley, 1992.Google Scholar
11.Gudjonsson, GH, MacKieth, JAC. Retracted confessions: legal, psychological and psychiatric aspects. Medicine, Science and the Law 1988; 28: 187–792.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
12.Borchard, EM. Convicting the innocent: sixty five actual errors of criminal justice. Golden City: Doubleday, 1932.Google Scholar
13.Brandon, R, Davies, C. Wrongful imprisonment. London: George Allen 8 Unwin, 1973.Google Scholar
14.Badau, HA, Radelet, MC. Miscarriages of justice in potentially capital cases. Stanford Law Review 1987; 40: 21–179.CrossRefGoogle Scholar