Whiplash and Other Useful Illnesses
BMJ 2003; 326 doi: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.326.7398.1092 (Published 15 May 2003) Cite this as: BMJ 2003;326:1092
- Michael Fitzpatrick, general practitioner (fitz@easynet.co.uk)
- Hackney, London
Andrew Malleson
McGill-Queen's University Press, £26.95, pp 544 ISBN 0 7735 2333 2
www.mqup.ca
Rating: 
Andrew Malleson observes that “victimhood can bring much gratification.” As he indicates, the high social status currently accorded to the victim is an important factor in the rise of “dissimulating disorders,” in which patients present chronic physical symptoms for which no organic cause can be found.
American psychiatry recognises three categories of these disorders: malingering, factitious disorders, and somatoform disorders. Malingering is where symptoms are intentionally produced with …
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