Here are some of the diseases which are most frequently feigned:
=Nervous Diseases=, as headache, vertigo, paralysis of limbs, vomiting,
sciatica, or incontinence or suppression of urine, spitting of blood;
others, again, simulate hysteria, epilepsy, or insanity.
On the other hand, the malingerer may actually produce injuries on his
person either to excite commiseration or to escape from work. Thus, the
beggar produces ulcers on his legs by binding a penny-piece tightly on
for some days; the hospital patient, in order to escape discharge,
produces factitious skin diseases by the application of irritants or
caustics.
It is much more difficult to decide whether certain symptoms are due to
a real disease which is present, or whether they are merely
exaggerations of slight symptoms or simulations of past ones. The miner,
after an injury to his back, recovers very slowly, if at all. He is
suffering from 'traumatic neurasthenia'--a condition only too often
simulated, and a disease very difficult to diagnose accurately. The
miner takes advantage of our ignorance, and continues to draw his
compensation. A workman during his work receives a fracture; instead of
being able to resume work in six weeks, he asserts that the pain and
stiffness prevent him, and this disability may persist for months.
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