I have a friend who has a girlfriend that is a nurse and has

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I have a friend who has a girlfriend that is a nurse and has had seizures. She also is constantly saying something is wrong and she lies constantly. She says she has headaches all the time and moans and groans and sleeps alot, but she has been tested for all kinds of stuff including MRI's etc... and all has come back normal. She had seizure after seizure with undetermined causes. They have ceased for a while and she isn't on medicine. I want to know if she can fake it and how. I would like to know if there is a mental disorder of any kind that could cause these kinds of symptoms or a mental condition that would cause her to do these things.

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My opinion would be that if she is a nurse then she is very familiar with all the reactions to a seizure so from watching other people with seizures it can be effectively learned by a heath care professional. I don't know why someone would honestly want to lie about something like this but if she lies about other things then most likely if the doctors have been unable to link anything to seizure activity then she could very well be lying. Hypocondriacs are known for the mental disorder that they feel something is always medically wrong with them when there is no known medical reason for their illnesses they state they are having. There is mental help available for this condition so if you feel that this could be the case I would suggest your local mental help facility to inquuire about therapy for this condition. And hypnosis can also help with people that have this condition as well as they can suffer from panic attacks as well that come from feeling they are sick or that something is medically wrong with them all the time. Your friend knows her more than anyone else and should know if it is likely that this is something being faked or not, it is honestly hard to believe that someone in the health care field would want to lie about this unless they are a hypocondriac and want or need attention for some reason which mental help and couseling can help with the issue they are dealing with that makes them want this type of attention as well.

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Reply to cheryl kauffman's Post: I would like to know if the person can medically somehow with medication or something induce a seizure that would not be harmful or show up in tests like an MRI. She is demanding the attention which explains that no person in their right mind would do this, hence the right mind part. She said she had a brain tumor and then the doc told my friend that she didn't etc... Is there any other mental condition that would make her do something this psychotic. She also almost appears catatonic when she wants or she goes into what appears to be a catatonic state where she has to be fed and she slurs her speech etc...

There are medications that can cause seizure activity if they take too much of it and that would not show up on an MRI only a blood test or urine test to see what is in her system. Other than medication there is not a way for someone to induce a seizure if they are not heavy drinking or taking some kind of drugs or has possible low blood sugar that has not been treated. The most known mental condition for this behavior is hypocondria but anxiety can also cause this type of mental reaction and cause a seizure in some rare cases. If she would lie about a brain tumor then she would lie about almost anything and may have a compulsive disorder that needs treatment as well. If she has these symptoms where she has to be fed and goes into a catatonic state and it is not medically related to seizures then she has learned to be very effective at being convincing to those around her that this is seizure activity. Obsessive/Compulsive disorders can also bring on symptoms such as this if that is the goal. I feel with all that you state this is more mental then medical, if she is lying about other illnesses and demanding attention that is what people who suffer from hypocondria do and I highly suggest that your friend get her the mental help that she needs and if she wants to be believed I would suggest a blood test to determine if she has low blood sugar which has been known to cause seizures in some individuals and also a urine test to see if there are any recreactional drugs or alcohol in her system which has also been related to seizure activity. I feel though with all you state this is a mental condition not a medical one but without seeing the individual when having the active "seizure" it is hard for me to say whether she is faking or not, but her friend knowing the history and her actions should know in her mind whether this is the case.

Edited by calliecat on November 29 2005 at 2:41 PM

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Can a person fake a seizure?

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