There are a variety of symptoms related to Munchausen Syndrome cases. Though the exact cause may never be determined, there are certain life situations that make a person more likely to suffer this condition. Treatment is not very effective for a number of reasons, and the course of the condition has often been quite complicated.

With this disorder, the sufferer may fake illness or may actually make themselves sick by different methods. They may undergo unnecessary surgeries. Sometimes the illness is inflicted on another, such as a child or other person under their care. There is even a manifestation in which the sufferer befriends a person online who has a serious illness and pretends to suffer from the same thing.

The exact cause of this attention-seeking condition may never be determined, but there are certain indicators. These include such things as childhood abuse, either sexual, physical, or emotional. A serious illness in their childhood, either of their own or of a close relative, as well as experiencing a death are also indicators. Certain mental or emotional illness can also be precursors to the condition.

Many times the person with this condition will be have been in a health related field, or at least had that desire. They may even attempt to "rescue" a person after first making them sick. They even sometimes receive an award for being a hero, when in fact they caused the condition from which they appeared to save the person.

There are symptoms that may indicate a person is not truly ill, but suffering from this illness. One red-flag is if their symptoms are textbook classic, but don't really respond to treatment. Many are also willing and eager to undergo intrusive and painful tests and procedures, no matter how painful. Another indicator that things may not be as they seem is if there is a scanty or inconsistent medical history and the patient refuses to allow relatives to be consulted for further information.

The financial toll of this condition goes as high as hundreds of thousands due to unnecessary testing and treatments, even surgery. It can be a dangerous condition for the sufferer. They may develop an illness and complications for unnecessary medications, surgery, or invasive treatments. Not only is the health care system burdened with caring for when others need the care, their families suffer worry and expense in caring for them.

Due to the many manifestations of this condition, it can be quite complicated to treat. It is chronic, but sufferers avoid seeking a cure, making treatment even more difficult. Confronting them about their fake illnesses rarely helps. There needs to be a degree of sympathetic identification of their condition, as well as a psychiatric element of their treatment protocol.

The prognosis for those suffering from Munchausen Syndrome cases is not very optimistic. There is a high incidence of suicide associated with this illness, estimated to be as high as 70% of sufferers. Males are more likely to suffer the worst outcome. Since there is often discord with the medical profession, there is a high incidence of changing doctors and hospitals and repeating the same symptoms.