Malingering is the simulation of medical illnesses in order to obtain secondary gains. It is no longer considered a psychiatric illness. Common motivations are financial gain, prescriptions for addictive substances, child custody, and evading or delaying criminal prosecution.

Patients with malingering typically present with medical complaints but avoid diagnostic testing.

Symptoms are widely variable. Patients may feign acute illness, long-standing orthopedic injury, or any number of conditions in efforts to receive the desired outcomes. Abdominal pain, chest pain, diarrhea, bleeding, seizures, arthralgia, and weakness are among the most common reported symptoms in malingering.

Related topics: factitious disorders, medical child abuse