Factitious disorders refer to a collection of disorders that are, essentially, made up by patients as a means of gaining attention, sympathy, nurturance, and other forms of approval through the portrayal or creation of illness or injury in themselves.
Many who suffer from this disorder go to extreme means to create illness such as tainting medical samples, using or misusing medications or illegal drugs, or self-injection of bacteria and other noxious or poisonous substances. The most severe and well-known form of this is Munchausen Disorder (where people create physical illness in themselves though various means as a way of gaining attention). This disorder also has a “proxy” form where a caregiver creates illness or injury in others.