Malingering is the fabrication, feigning, or exaggeration of physical or psychological symptoms designed to achieve a desired outcome, such as personal gain, relief from duty or work, avoiding arrest, receiving medication, or mitigating prison sentencing.
It presents a complex ethical dilemma within domains of society, including healthcare, legal systems, and employment settings.
[6] Malingering is established as separate from similar forms of excessive illness behaviour, such as somatization disorder, wherein symptoms are not deliberately falsified.
[13] In his Elizabethan-era social-climbing manual, George Puttenham recommends a would-be courtier to have "sickness in his sleeve, thereby to shake off other importunities of greater consequence".
Garfinkel concluded that fearing she would be denied access to sexual reassignment surgery, she had avoided every aspect of her case which would have indicated gender dysphoria and hidden the fact that she had taken hormone therapy.
[8] As individuals within institutions grapple with the challenges posed by malingering, a critical examination ethical duties emerges as imperative.
Balancing compassion for those genuinely in need with the responsibility to uphold integrity and fairness, ethical obligations in addressing malingering extend beyond mere detection to encompass considerations of empathy, justice, and the broader implications for trust and societal welfare.
In navigating these ethical dimensions, it becomes essential to foster a nuanced understanding that acknowledges the complexities inherent in distinguishing genuine suffering from deceptive behavior, while also safeguarding against the misuse of resources and the erosion of trust in systems designed to support those in need.
[20][21] Research that focuses on malingering attention deficit hyperactivity disorder are largely centred around university or college students.
[20] Although there is no singular test that definitively discerns malingering,[18] medical professionals are told to watch out for certain behaviours that may indicate deliberate deception.