Malingering of Psychiatric Disorders: A Review

Malingering is conceptualized in contemporary clinical practice as a condition requiring clinical attention. The malingering of psychiatric disorders is perhaps more prevalent than previously thought and is associated with considerable cost to the society. There is no fool-proof method to identify malingerers and its detection and management raise complex methodological, ethical and legal questions. The current review aims to highlight these issues and; where possible; suggestions to deal with the same. For this purpose an electronic search of MEDLINE and EmBase databases were done. In addition cross-references were hand searched. Research publications dealing with various aspects of malingering of psychiatric disorders were included. The current literature suggests that this condition is difficult to detect. The actual prevalence may be more than current estimates because of various reasons and its detection needs inputs from multiple sources including clinical as well as psychometric methods. There appears to be greater need to give attention to this condition with a view to making clinical care and resources available to those in genuine need for the same (German J Psychiatry 2007; 10: 126-132).