The Nexus Teen Academy editorial and clinical team is dedicated to providing informative and accurate content to help families who are struggling with adolescent behavioral health problems. The editorial team works directly with the clinical team to ensure information is accurate and up-to-date.
To do this, our team uses the following editorial guidelines:
We generally only cite government and peer-reviewed studies
Scientific claims and data are backed by qualified sources
Content is updated to ensure we are citing the most up-to-date data and information
Clinically reviewed by Executive Director Hannah Carr-Unquera, LPC
Executive Director Hannah Carr-Unquera, LPC
Hannah graduated from Arizona State University with her Bachelor’s in Psychology and Master’s in Counseling and is a Licensed Professional Counselor in Arizona. She began her work as a therapist 12 years ago in South Phoenix with an intensive outpatient program for teens and their families. She joined Nexus in the residential program as the clinical director, eventually being promoted to the executive director, creating and building the clinical program structure and a strong culture focused on redirecting the trajectory of young lives.
The Nexus Teen Academy Editorial Staff is composed of writers, editors, and clinical reviewers with many years of experience writing about mental health and behavioral health treatment. Our team utilizes peer-reviewed, clinical studies from sources like SAMHSA to ensure we provide the most accurate and current information.
A teen who keeps getting sick with no clear cause. Symptoms that shift from visit to visit. Test results that never match the story. Most of the time, there is a medical explanation that simply has not been found yet. Occasionally, the explanation is psychological. Munchausen syndrome, now known clinically as factitious disorder imposed on self, is one of the rarest and least understood of those explanations.
If you have landed here, you may be worried about a teen who seems to be exaggerating or creating illness, or you may have heard the term and want to understand it. Either way, this is a condition that calls for compassion, not accusation. The Cleveland Clinic notes that factitious disorderis not common and is difficult to count, in part because people who have it often see many different providers.
If your teen is struggling in ways you do not understand, our team atNexus Teen Academy is here to help. Call today to talk it through.
In this article, we will explain what Munchausen syndrome is, how it affects teens, what treatment looks like, and how Nexus Teen Academy supports teens with complex behavioral health needs.
What is Munchausen Syndrome?
Munchausen syndrome is an older name for what the DSM-5 calls factitious disorder imposed on self. A person with this condition deliberately pretends to be ill, exaggerates real symptoms, or actually makes themselves sick or injured, without an obvious outside reward such as money or getting out of school.
That last part matters. Factitious disorder is not the same as malingering, where someone fakes illness for a concrete gain. In factitious disorder, the drive is internal. The person has a deep need to be seen as sick, cared for, or taken seriously, and illness becomes the way they get it.
Behaviors can include:
Reporting symptoms that cannot be verified, such as pain, dizziness, or seizures
Exaggerating a real but minor condition
Tampering with medical tests, such as contaminating a urine sample
Causing real harm, such as taking medication to produce symptoms or interfering with a wound so it does not heal
Having a detailed knowledge of medical terms and conditions
Seeking care from many different doctors or hospitals
Resisting contact between providers or with family members who could give a fuller history
Factitious disorder imposed on self is different from factitious disorder imposed on another, sometimes called Munchausen syndrome by proxy, in which a caregiver creates or fakes illness in someone in their care. This article focuses on teens who present their own illness.
It is also important to separate factitious disorder from conditions that are often confused with it. Teens with somatic symptom disorder or illness anxiety genuinely experience and believe their symptoms. Teens with chronic illnesses that are hard to diagnose are not faking. A diagnosis of factitious disorder should only be made by qualified professionals after a careful medical and psychological evaluation.
How Does Munchausen Syndrome Affect Teens?
Factitious disorder most often begins in early adulthood, but the patterns can start in adolescence, especially in teens who have had a serious illness, spent significant time in hospitals, or experienced trauma, neglect, or emotional deprivation.
For a teen, illness can become a way to meet needs that feel impossible to meet otherwise:
Attention and care. A teen who feels invisible at home or at school may discover that being sick brings adults close.
Escape. Illness can be a socially acceptable way to avoid overwhelming demands, conflict, or situations that trigger anxiety or trauma.
Identity. Some teens come to see themselves as “the sick one.” It is a role that gives them a sense of place when they feel they have none.
Control. In a life that feels chaotic, controlling what doctors see and do can feel powerful.
The costs are real. Teens with factitious disorder may undergo unnecessary tests, medications, and even surgeries. They miss school, lose friendships, and fall behind developmentally. Family relationships become strained as parents swing between fear for their child’s health and suspicion about the symptoms. Underneath, the teen is usually dealing with significant emotional pain, often including depression, anxiety, a history ofteen trauma, or difficulties with attachment and self-worth.
Because the behavior is hidden by nature, it is rarely identified quickly. Parents often spend years moving between specialists before anyone raises the possibility of a psychological cause.
Treatment Options for Teen Munchausen Syndrome
Treating factitious disorder is challenging, mainly because the teen may deny the behavior or refuse help. There is no medication that treats the condition itself. Progress comes from building trust and addressing the needs that illness has been meeting.
Effective approaches include:
A non-confrontational start. Accusing a teen of lying usually ends the relationship with that provider. Clinicians experienced with factitious disorder instead focus on the teen’s distress and offer help with “stress that may be affecting your health.”
Individual psychotherapy. Cognitive behavioral therapy helps teens identify the thoughts and feelings that drive illness behavior and develop healthier ways to get support. Trauma-focused therapy is often needed when early experiences underlie the behavior.
Treatment of co-occurring conditions. Depression, anxiety, trauma-related disorders, and emerging personality traits are common alongside factitious disorder and need care in their own right. Medication may help with these conditions even though it does not treat factitious disorder directly.
Family therapy. Parents learn how to respond to symptom reports calmly, how to coordinate with a single primary medical provider, and how to meet their teen’s needs for attention and connection in healthier ways.
Medical coordination. One primary provider should oversee care to reduce unnecessary tests and procedures and to keep everyone working from the same information.
For teens whose behavior is causing real physical danger, who have significant co-occurring mental health conditions, or who have not responded to outpatient care, a structured residential program can provide the safety, consistency, and intensive therapy needed to change course.
Teen Behavioral Health Treatment at Nexus Teen Academy
Nexus Teen Academy is a Joint Commission accredited treatment program for teens ages 12 to 17 in Arizona. We work with adolescents facing complex behavioral and mental health challenges, including depression, anxiety, trauma, and the patterns of behavior that grow out of them.
Evidence-Based Treatment
Every teen receives a personalized plan built by an integrated team that includes an adolescent psychiatrist, an individual therapist, and a family therapist. We use proven approaches such as cognitive behavioral therapy, dialectical behavior therapy, acceptance and commitment therapy, and trauma-informed care, and we review progress every week.
Experiential Treatment
Teens who struggle to put feelings into words often find them through doing. Art therapy, psychodrama, sound therapy, and mindfulness practices give your teen other ways to express what hurts and to build a sense of self that does not depend on being sick.
On-Going Support and Outpatient Services
Weekly family therapy and our parent support group keep your family at the center of treatment, and our education supervisors keep your teen moving forward in school. When residential care ends, our outpatient program, NexStep Teen Academy, offers partial hospitalization and intensive outpatient options so your teen’s progress continues.
If you are worried about your teen and unsure where to turn,contact us today. We will listen and help you find the right path.
No. Teens with illness anxiety, once called hypochondria, truly believe they are sick and are frightened by it. Teens with factitious disorder know they are producing or exaggerating symptoms. Both conditions deserve treatment, but the approaches differ.
Illness can bring attention, care, escape from pressure, or a sense of identity and control. These needs are real even when the symptoms are not, and treatment focuses on meeting them in healthier ways.
There is no single test. Diagnosis involves a thorough medical workup to rule out physical illness, a careful review of medical history across providers, and a psychological evaluation by clinicians experienced with the condition.
Yes, though it takes time and a trusting relationship with the treatment team. Teens who engage in therapy and whose families participate can learn healthier ways to cope and connect.
Avoid confrontation. Share your concerns privately with your teen’s primary doctor, ask for coordinated care through one provider, and seek a psychological evaluation. Approach your teen with concern for their well-being rather than accusations.
Executive Director Hannah Carr-Unquera, LPC and Nexus Teen Academy
Munchausen Syndrome in Teenagers: What to Know
FACT CHECKED
The Nexus Teen Academy editorial and clinical team is dedicated to providing informative and accurate content to help families who are struggling with adolescent behavioral health problems. The editorial team works directly with the clinical team to ensure information is accurate and up-to-date.
To do this, our team uses the following editorial guidelines:
Clinically reviewed by Executive Director Hannah Carr-Unquera, LPC
Executive Director Hannah Carr-Unquera, LPC
Hannah graduated from Arizona State University with her Bachelor’s in Psychology and Master’s in Counseling and is a Licensed Professional Counselor in Arizona. She began her work as a therapist 12 years ago in South Phoenix with an intensive outpatient program for teens and their families. She joined Nexus in the residential program as the clinical director, eventually being promoted to the executive director, creating and building the clinical program structure and a strong culture focused on redirecting the trajectory of young lives.
Published By Nexus Teen Academy
Nexus Teen Academy
The Nexus Teen Academy Editorial Staff is composed of writers, editors, and clinical reviewers with many years of experience writing about mental health and behavioral health treatment. Our team utilizes peer-reviewed, clinical studies from sources like SAMHSA to ensure we provide the most accurate and current information.
Published On November 6, 2026
Table of Contents
A teen who keeps getting sick with no clear cause. Symptoms that shift from visit to visit. Test results that never match the story. Most of the time, there is a medical explanation that simply has not been found yet. Occasionally, the explanation is psychological. Munchausen syndrome, now known clinically as factitious disorder imposed on self, is one of the rarest and least understood of those explanations.
If you have landed here, you may be worried about a teen who seems to be exaggerating or creating illness, or you may have heard the term and want to understand it. Either way, this is a condition that calls for compassion, not accusation. The Cleveland Clinic notes that factitious disorder is not common and is difficult to count, in part because people who have it often see many different providers.
If your teen is struggling in ways you do not understand, our team at Nexus Teen Academy is here to help. Call today to talk it through.
In this article, we will explain what Munchausen syndrome is, how it affects teens, what treatment looks like, and how Nexus Teen Academy supports teens with complex behavioral health needs.
What is Munchausen Syndrome?
Munchausen syndrome is an older name for what the DSM-5 calls factitious disorder imposed on self. A person with this condition deliberately pretends to be ill, exaggerates real symptoms, or actually makes themselves sick or injured, without an obvious outside reward such as money or getting out of school.
That last part matters. Factitious disorder is not the same as malingering, where someone fakes illness for a concrete gain. In factitious disorder, the drive is internal. The person has a deep need to be seen as sick, cared for, or taken seriously, and illness becomes the way they get it.
Behaviors can include:
Factitious disorder imposed on self is different from factitious disorder imposed on another, sometimes called Munchausen syndrome by proxy, in which a caregiver creates or fakes illness in someone in their care. This article focuses on teens who present their own illness.
It is also important to separate factitious disorder from conditions that are often confused with it. Teens with somatic symptom disorder or illness anxiety genuinely experience and believe their symptoms. Teens with chronic illnesses that are hard to diagnose are not faking. A diagnosis of factitious disorder should only be made by qualified professionals after a careful medical and psychological evaluation.
How Does Munchausen Syndrome Affect Teens?
Factitious disorder most often begins in early adulthood, but the patterns can start in adolescence, especially in teens who have had a serious illness, spent significant time in hospitals, or experienced trauma, neglect, or emotional deprivation.
For a teen, illness can become a way to meet needs that feel impossible to meet otherwise:
The costs are real. Teens with factitious disorder may undergo unnecessary tests, medications, and even surgeries. They miss school, lose friendships, and fall behind developmentally. Family relationships become strained as parents swing between fear for their child’s health and suspicion about the symptoms. Underneath, the teen is usually dealing with significant emotional pain, often including depression, anxiety, a history of teen trauma, or difficulties with attachment and self-worth.
Because the behavior is hidden by nature, it is rarely identified quickly. Parents often spend years moving between specialists before anyone raises the possibility of a psychological cause.
Treatment Options for Teen Munchausen Syndrome
Treating factitious disorder is challenging, mainly because the teen may deny the behavior or refuse help. There is no medication that treats the condition itself. Progress comes from building trust and addressing the needs that illness has been meeting.
Effective approaches include:
A non-confrontational start. Accusing a teen of lying usually ends the relationship with that provider. Clinicians experienced with factitious disorder instead focus on the teen’s distress and offer help with “stress that may be affecting your health.”
Individual psychotherapy. Cognitive behavioral therapy helps teens identify the thoughts and feelings that drive illness behavior and develop healthier ways to get support. Trauma-focused therapy is often needed when early experiences underlie the behavior.
Treatment of co-occurring conditions. Depression, anxiety, trauma-related disorders, and emerging personality traits are common alongside factitious disorder and need care in their own right. Medication may help with these conditions even though it does not treat factitious disorder directly.
Family therapy. Parents learn how to respond to symptom reports calmly, how to coordinate with a single primary medical provider, and how to meet their teen’s needs for attention and connection in healthier ways.
Medical coordination. One primary provider should oversee care to reduce unnecessary tests and procedures and to keep everyone working from the same information.
For teens whose behavior is causing real physical danger, who have significant co-occurring mental health conditions, or who have not responded to outpatient care, a structured residential program can provide the safety, consistency, and intensive therapy needed to change course.
Teen Behavioral Health Treatment at Nexus Teen Academy
Nexus Teen Academy is a Joint Commission accredited treatment program for teens ages 12 to 17 in Arizona. We work with adolescents facing complex behavioral and mental health challenges, including depression, anxiety, trauma, and the patterns of behavior that grow out of them.
Evidence-Based Treatment
Every teen receives a personalized plan built by an integrated team that includes an adolescent psychiatrist, an individual therapist, and a family therapist. We use proven approaches such as cognitive behavioral therapy, dialectical behavior therapy, acceptance and commitment therapy, and trauma-informed care, and we review progress every week.
Experiential Treatment
Teens who struggle to put feelings into words often find them through doing. Art therapy, psychodrama, sound therapy, and mindfulness practices give your teen other ways to express what hurts and to build a sense of self that does not depend on being sick.
On-Going Support and Outpatient Services
Weekly family therapy and our parent support group keep your family at the center of treatment, and our education supervisors keep your teen moving forward in school. When residential care ends, our outpatient program, NexStep Teen Academy, offers partial hospitalization and intensive outpatient options so your teen’s progress continues.
If you are worried about your teen and unsure where to turn, contact us today. We will listen and help you find the right path.
Teen Munchausen Syndrome FAQs
No. Teens with illness anxiety, once called hypochondria, truly believe they are sick and are frightened by it. Teens with factitious disorder know they are producing or exaggerating symptoms. Both conditions deserve treatment, but the approaches differ.
Illness can bring attention, care, escape from pressure, or a sense of identity and control. These needs are real even when the symptoms are not, and treatment focuses on meeting them in healthier ways.
There is no single test. Diagnosis involves a thorough medical workup to rule out physical illness, a careful review of medical history across providers, and a psychological evaluation by clinicians experienced with the condition.
Yes, though it takes time and a trusting relationship with the treatment team. Teens who engage in therapy and whose families participate can learn healthier ways to cope and connect.
Avoid confrontation. Share your concerns privately with your teen’s primary doctor, ask for coordinated care through one provider, and seek a psychological evaluation. Approach your teen with concern for their well-being rather than accusations.