Talk:Malingering

Improving this article

Please feel free to add to this list. My intention is draw attention to specific sections or topics that need improvement.

• Symptoms section - Some statements are questionable or lack citations, e.g., "Generally, malingerers complain of psychological disorders such as anxiety." The term 'symptoms' itself is not consistent with the statement elsewhere in the article that "malingering is not a medical disorder".

• DSM-V - I deleted the section titled "DSM-V" [sic] because it cites a source written before DSM-5 was published. The section actually listed information from DSM-IV. A brief discussion of the change from DSM-IV to DSM-5 would be helpful. (I was wrong. I double checked and discovered that DSM-5 has very similar language regarding malingering as appeared in DSM-IV. Still, the citation problem remains, and I would like to see us integrate DSM-5's perspective with other sources, many of which offer a much more comprehensive discussion of malingering and are more empirically grounded.)

• Limitations section - Sorely lacking in citations and includes some questionable statements, e.g., "Because an assessment, formal or informal, of malingering ceases the medical process, it may seem an attractive option for the physician and help them to cope with cognitive dissonance over their failure to effectively diagnose and treat a patient within constraints." Although 10 citations accompany that sentence, many of the citations do not seem to support the assertion.   - Mark D Worthen PsyD (talk) 05:47, 20 September 2017 (UTC)

Eliminate first, then add back accurate, well-supported information

I deleted a couple of sections and other text that was inaccurate, misleading, unsupported, opinion masquerading as fact, or incoherent (diff). Bad content is worse than no content.   - Mark D Worthen PsyD (talk) (I am a man. The traditional male pronouns are fine.) 22:13, 18 June 2019 (UTC)

In my opinion it looks as if you've vandalised the page to make it match your own personal point of view. The page is now grossly misleading thanks to your actions.77.103.105.67 (talk) 11:26, 18 April 2020 (UTC)

First paragraph (lead)

I edited the first paragraph for accuracy (diff). Here are my specific reasons for editing this paragraph.

• I deleted "... for attention or personal gain" because "personal gain" is vague and "for attention" is wrong. When someone fabricates or exaggerates symptoms for attention it is usually due to a factitious disorder or a personality disorder (or both).

• I added "... designed to achieve a desired outcome such as relief from duty or work; mitigating punishment; obtaining desired medications; or receiving unmerited recompense such as disability compensation or personal injury damages award" because, as noted, "personal gain" is vague, and to reflect current definitions and descriptions of malingering in the clinical & forensic psychology and psychiatry scholarly literature.

• From this sentence: "Malingering can also be the misattribution of actual symptoms to another cause, for example to mitigate punishment or get out of military service", I deleted "... to mitigate punishment or get out of military service ..." because it is wrong; it does not accurately explain "misattribution of actual symptoms to another cause". In the text I added, I emphasized the intentional nature of this misattribution (many people misattribute symptoms to an unrelated cause as they seek to understand their current psychological distress—they are not trying to achieve a desired outcome) and provided an example.   - Mark D Worthen PsyD (talk) (I am a man. The traditional male pronouns are fine.) 01:30, 18 November 2019 (UTC)

the 3 modern period examples may benefit from some clarity

The examples give the feigning act, then all 3 of them coincidentally, goes on and give reasons or background for a justification. While it is useful to learn the background of a story, clarity in writing may be beneficial to the readers to understand that "Malingering" does not necessitate any justification. Because I originally was literally expecting the justification, I found conflicting usage else where, then it was through further reading outside of wikipedia to understand that Malingering simply is the act or pretense to a medical condition, it does not hinge on anything else.

98.210.53.222 (talk) 04:35, 25 May 2021 (UTC)TL