Munchausen syndrome is a serious mental condition in which a person with an overwhelming need for attention fakes illnesses or injuries. Those afflicted with this disorder may fabricate symptoms, insist on having risky procedures or operations completed, or try to skew lab test results in order to receive concern and sympathy from other individuals. Anyone who has ever read Munchausen syndrome stories realizes that those suffering from this condition need psychiatric help.

The condition gets its name from a German baron who received a significant amount of notoriety for telling impossible and elaborate stories about himself that were complete fabrications. Richard Ashlar, a prominent British physician, eventually coined the phrase Munchausen Syndrome. He used it to refer to patients who deliberately exaggerated or lied about their symptoms in order to gain attention and empathy from others.

Symptoms of this mental condition involve producing or faking sicknesses or injuries for the purpose of satisfying deep emotional needs. It is not clear why people with this disorder are unable to fulfill their inner needs in a healthy way. Those suffering from the condition frequently go to extravagant lengths to hide their deception. For this reason, many years often pass before the person, if ever, is diagnosed with a serious psychological problem.

This disorder is not merely inventing health issues for the purpose of achieving a practical benefit. For instance, those who pretend to be sick in order to avoid work, or who fake an injury in order to win a lawsuit are simply being deceptive for a transient purpose, as a means to an end. Those suffering from the aforementioned syndrome typically continue their behavior for many years, and sometimes throughout the course of their life until something brings the deception to the attention of a doctor or family member.

The disorder should also not be confused with hypochondria. The latter is a condition in which individuals truly believe they are going to be diagnosed with an illness or injury. Those with Munchausen syndrome are not sick or injured, they merely want other individuals to think they are, and will frequently take extreme measures to ensure that others believe they are truly afflicted with a health problem.

Stories about patients suffering from this condition are often startling to sound individuals. For instance, one man admitted to rubbing coffee grains into a cut to cause an infection. This was done after he read that used coffee grains may contain infection-causing bacteria. Another person took aspirin on purpose, although she was well aware that she has an allergy to the medicine. These extraordinary measures are frequently taken by those disturbed in this way so that they can "prove" they are really ill.

There is even a type of the syndrome that is completed by proxy. This means that the person purposely injures another individual, or attempts to make him or her ill. The goal of this behavior is typically to gain attention as the long-suffering caretaker. Parents afflicted with the disorder often target their own children as victims.

Even though well-adjusted people often find Munchausen syndrome stories disturbing, the condition is treatable. If the appropriate psychiatric care is pursued, recovery for such individuals is often possible. Those who think that someone they know, or themselves, are suffering from the syndrome should pursue medical help at once.