The mental illness variously known as Munchausen syndrome or factitious disorder is a rare but fascinating malady in which an individual either fakes illnesses for attention, deliberately gives themselves symptoms of an illness, or — in the case of Munchausen syndrome by proxy — makes someone else, usually a child, ill on purpose. On this intriguing but troubling episode 262, Tom and Jenny discuss this mysterious illness and its pathologies, as well as talk about several well-known cases of it.

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