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Malingering and Mental Health Disability Evaluations

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Clinical Guide to Mental Disability Evaluations

Abstract

Mental health professionals often perform disability evaluations at the request of their patients. Although malingering of psychiatric symptoms during a disability evaluation is common, providers may be reluctant to report that their patient is a malingerer, even if they suspect that their patient’s symptoms may be consciously motivated by an external gain. When evaluating the possibility of malingering, evaluators should look for inconsistencies in their patient’s symptom presentation, reported symptoms atypical for a genuine mental disorder, psychological testing indicative of poor effort or feigned symptom presentation, and objective evidence that supports actual impairment. The clinician should also be familiar with common diagnoses that are often mistaken for malingering. This chapter reviews important assessment strategies when evaluating malingering to include both interview and psychological testing indicators of malingering. Common feigned or exaggerated presentations of various psychiatric disorders are highlighted to include malingered psychosis, depression, posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and cognitive disorders.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, UC Davis Medical Center, Sacramento, Stockton Blvd 2230, Sacramento, CA, 95817, USA

    Charles L. Scott

  2. Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, UC Davis Medical Center, UC Davis and Napa State Hospital Clinical Demonstration Unit, Stockton Blvd 2230, Sacramento, CA, 95817, USA

    Barbara McDermott

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  1. Charles L. Scott
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  2. Barbara McDermott
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Correspondence to Charles L. Scott .

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  1. , Department of Psychiatry, Georgetown University School of Medicine, N. Glebe Rd. 2501, Washington, DC, 22207, Vermont, USA

    Liza H. Gold

  2. PRMS, Inc., Risk Management, Wilson Blvd #700 1401, Arlington, 22209, Virginia, USA

    Donna L. Vanderpool

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Scott, C.L., McDermott, B. (2013). Malingering and Mental Health Disability Evaluations. In: Gold, L., Vanderpool, D. (eds) Clinical Guide to Mental Disability Evaluations. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-5447-2_6

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