"factitious disorders"

I'm having a hard time researching what I'm trying to figure out, so I thought I'd see if anyone out there can direct me or has any useful info.
Is there a disorder, similar to Münchausen syndrome, where the creation of symptoms is unintentional and only psychological? Because part of the criteria for factitious disorders as a whole is that it's intentional fabrication. (Also it tends to be only physical symptoms.)
In simpler terms, I'm asking if there's any such thing as a psychological disorder where one creates psychological disorders in oneself subconsciously.
Sorry if this is the wrong forum, couldn't find a better place to ask. Thanks!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somatoform_disorder

Hmm... Possibly maybe Hypochondriasis? That's sort of a paranoia that you have an illness, in which you may seem to recognize symptoms in yourself that don't exist or are very minor.. I don't know, though.

I've read about both of those, but they both only apply (or so says what I've read) to physiological symptoms, not psychological ones. I don't know, maybe this thing doesn't exist.
Thanks though!

oooooooh, I see what you're asking for now.

Huh, it's an interesting concept. Almost a paradoxical one.

I know, it's totally paradoxical! That's why I'm so interested. I've never heard of anything like it, but I've often wondered. I may get no answers though :/

Uh - I think all psychological disorders are subconscious. Like by definition. Where is there space in your head for you not to be crazy, if you're crazy?? If you're sane, you're not gonna say you're subconsciously crazy. That's oversimplifying, but...

Eta: you been sniffin too much garlic or what??

I think you misunderstood my original question, but that's okay

In a way, I think people can make their condition worse by believing it's worse. Also, with anxiety, I think you can convince yourself you're so crazy that you may actually produce symptoms to justify it.

Personally, I'm afraid of hallucinations/schizophrenia (sorry, no offense to anyone.) If I am falling asleep and suddenly hear a sound, whether imagined or real, I start panicking over the idea that I'm losing connection with reality. I guess that's just paranoia.

I supposed people can accidentally identify with a certain disorder through misinterpretation and then begin seeking treatment for such. They could believe they have something they don't, especially if they are told so by relatives or a doctor, and begin drawing out symptoms or marking normal behaviors as 'sick.'

But on the reverse side, aren't a bunch of us treated like it's all in our heads? (as in, it's not real, we're doing it to ourselves.)

It is a really interesting concept I would love to read about, especially case reports. LOL

there is but its not one set mental disorder....

example

an abused person who has the repressed memory of being lied to will sometimes become a ....pathological liar.... meaning unconsciously without intention of lying will lie when cornered about things they do wrong.

a person who has learned as a child being sick will gain them the attention they crave will unconsciously appear to have aches and pains ....which falls under having....somatic disorder /anxiety disorder or conversion disorder depending upon the root problem and other symptoms..

just a bit of information ....the diagnostic label Hypochondriasis has been eliminated here in the USA. it does not appear in the DSM 5 due to causes prejudice and no longer accurately explains the problem the mental health field now knows that even though that label required conscious creation of illness most times with this its unconsciously there. So this label has been removed and somatic anxiety disorder and a few others have been added to the DSM to accurately reflect the problems..

so to find the correct term for the problem you are looking for you will need to contact a treatment provider who can diagnose the problems based on all the symptoms not just the creating illness unconsciously on one self.

Interesting thoughts and info everyone. Thanks!

It seems to be relatively common to think one has a psychiatric disorder one does not.

I think part of it is that in the case of some mental illnesses there is a lot of misinformation out there, or misinterpreted information, which makes it easier to think you have the disorder. Also, when certain disorders are being over-diagnosed at any given time in history, it can be easier to be erroneously diagnosed with it, or assume oneself has it.

I see on the bipolar disorder forum, occasionally, newcomers asking if they have bipolar disorder, and/or thinking they do. Even though some of these people clearly do not fit the criteria (i.e. changing mood in a matter of hours, or even minutes instead of fitting the inheritanty episodic nature of the illness) some people are still convinced that this is what they have. A small minority seem to *want* to be diagnosed with it.

But then why would someone 'want' to be diagnosed with a major mental illness (as opposed to suffering from it, which isn't necessarily the case)? I think that it's human nature to look for answers. Why do I feel the way I do, why do I act the way I do. It can be hard to tolerate the unknown, or explanations that are more psychological than 'brain-based' (if one accepts the notion that bipolar, for example, is purely a brain issue).

I think if one has a shaky sense of identity, a mental illness diagnoses can also fill that hole, where a strong grounded sense of who one is is lacking. At the other end of things, there are those people, a minority, looking for 'excuses' for their behavior, which certain diagnoses, on the surface, may provide.

I don't know if this helps to answer your question. But it's something I've seen a lot, so it doesn't seem terribly unusual (though on a forum like this, it may well be more common than in the general population).

I like that quite a lot, and absolutely agree (that's why recovery can be so terrifying, with my ED for example).
I wasn't talking about thinking you have a mental illness when you don't (though I see that a lot too, like you said especially with bipolar disorder), but actually inducing one for..x, fill in the blank reason. I think I made kind of a shot in the dark creating this thread, but thanks for everyone's input.

>>However, it is possible that a bona fide illness, which might be disregarded, may coexist in these patients. We report a case of MS mimicking psychiatric disease with concomitant genuine acute physical illness.<<

Munchausen syndrome mimicking psychiatric disea... [BMJ Case Rep. 2010] - PubMed - NCBI

Is that the physiological illness, you are looking for?

The "body"/unconscious isn't ill, it is the only thing that can cure the body when it is ill, it is where the white corpuscle soldiers come from to fight the infection, etc. Psychological defenses are healthy, keep the host alive; they may seem maladaptive to our conscious minds or not fit in socially but the body is always doing the best it can in the circumstances. That is why I feel it is wonderful to think about one's "illness" and what one's individual mind/body has chosen for one and see how it fits one's life, personality, circumstances, so well. We're able to untangle whatever in therapy only because it makes "sense".

My primary care doctor and I were musing a couple days ago; I had my knees x-rayed and they have arthritis but my legs are strong because I am so overweight, they have to be strong to support my heavy body. But I was saying how I'll have to watch out that I don't get physically sick and bed ridden or I'd never get up again, the muscles in my legs would atrophy faster than my weight would be lost and my legs would not be able to get that strong again.

The body, including the "mind"/unconscious is wonderful. In my opinion, people who don't like their body are cutting off their noses to spite their face.

That's interesting, I didn't know that's what you meant. How do you 'induce' this? Maybe it's a kind of chicken and egg thing, but how do 'make' yourself feel a certain way (i.e. depressed)? Do you feel like you create circumstances around you that you think or know will make you feel a certain way or behave in a certain way? My feeling is that you can't create feelings/thoughts, etc. out of thin air, they come from somewhere, someplace, however unconscious, that is 'real' if that makes sense. I don't know if you're willing to explain more, not sure if I get it, but thanks for posting this and I hope you find what you're looking for.

I def agree with the misinterpretation..once engaged we can easily drift down that road

Does a hypocondreact have only physical syptoms brought on by themselve. They think they hurting so the body starts hurting. I am just fishing here! I can't spell either LOL!

You know, I don't really know. Okay, take this example: After watching the movie The Aviator (about Howard Hughes and his OCD), I coincidentally? developed OCD, especially after researching it. It wasn't very serious and I was able to stop it. A few years later, I read someone's autobiographical account of their OCD, and, what do you know, my OCD came back. But this time it was like at a debilitating level. I was treated (very successfully) for that, but I always doubted the legitimacy of my symptoms, because it seemed that I had created them. Same goes for my ED. I don't remember how or why, but I read an entire blog (like years' worth of material) that some girl had kept about her eating disorder. Well guess what happened. BOOM anorexia. (3 years later, 2 of which consisted almost entirely of treatment centers, that one's still a struggle). So did I choose to induce OCD symptoms in myself? Did I choose to initiate an eating disorder? And, most importantly, does that make either one of them less real or valid? (My opinion: OCD, yes it does. ED, no, I seriously have a very tenacious ED)
So I don't know. I really don't know if any of this matters. I don't know what I'm doing, if I'm doing anything. Maybe it was just coincidental timing (I had some little blips on the ED front years earlier, but nothing major. Hey I just realized that's a theme here. OCD and ED. Weird.)
But yeah. I appreciate your thoughtfulness on this topic. Sorry I'm so rambly and scrambled. It's a hard concept, thinking you may have stooped so low as to actually see a mental illness and think, "yeah, that might work for me, I'll try it on for size" and then require lots of treatment to get out of the hole that it created. I don't know. I feel like I'm going to be seriously looked down on for posting this.

I'm not sure how you'd feel about Borderline Personality Disorder then...that isn't classified as a mental illness and yet it's a medical disorder which can cause a highly disturbed sense of self. People who don't have a strong sense of self aren't all 'flakes.'

I think we've had a misunderstanding. There's nothing flaky about identity issues or ways in which people try to create identities. One of the points I was trying to make is that it makes perfect sense to identify with a mental illness (whichever of the very many that may be), whether you meet the criteria or not, if you do not have a strong sense of self. This, however, does not mean that everyone who suffers from a lack of a strong sense of self does this.

BPD is classified as a mental illness. Personality Disorders are mental illnesses.

I hope I addressed the concern.

Ok thanks for clarifying.

I did of course have a longer reply but it was causing me to ruminate and I think if you've explained your point that is sufficient reason not to digress from the point of this thread further.

I do have BPD btw

As do I do you find the BPD board of any use? There's a social group if you haven't already checked it out too.