 My name is Sam Dutney. I am the author of Malignant Self-Lover, Narcissism Revisited. Patients afflicted with a fictitious disorder, colloquially known as Mintschausen syndrome, seek to attract the attention of medical personnel by feigning, or by self-inflicting, serious illness, or even injury. Mintschausen by proxy syndrome, another type of disease, is also known as fictitious illness or disorder by proxy, fictitious illness imposed by another, or in the United Kingdom, FII, fabricated or induced illness by carers. Anyhow, Mintschausen by proxy syndrome involves the patient inducing illness in, or causing injury to, a dependent, usually a child, or an old parent. This is done in order to gain in her capacity as a caretaker the attention, praise and sympathy of medical care providers. Both syndromes, the Mintschausen syndrome and the Mintschausen by proxy syndrome, are forms of shared psychosis, foliadeux, or foliapresieux. It is a form of crazy-making, with hospital staff as unwilling and unwitting participants in the drama. Superficially, this overwhelming need for consideration by figures of authority, by role models such as doctors and nurses, this need for attention, resembles the narcissist's relentless and compulsive pursuit of narcissistic supply. Narcissistic supply to remind you consists of attention, adulation, admiration, or being feared and noted. Still, there are important differences between classical narcissism and Mintschausen by proxy. To start with, the narcissist, especially the somatic narcissist, worships his body and cherishes his health. If anything, narcissists tend to be hypochondriacs. They are loath to self-harm and self-mutilate. They are reluctant to fake laboratories and consume potentially deleterious substances to medications. Unlike the Mintschausen patient, they are not likely to harm themselves. They are also unlikely to seriously damage their sources of supply, in other words, their own children, as long as they are compliant and adulating. As opposed to narcissists, people with both Mintschausen syndromes desire acceptance, love, caring. They seek relationships and nurturing, not merely attention. Theirs is an emotional need that amounts to much more than the mere regulation of their sense of self-worth, as is the case with narcissists. People with Mintschausen syndrome have no full-fledged false self, only a clinging, insecure, traumatized, deceitful, and needy true self. Mintschausen syndrome may be called morbid, can be diagnosed with personality disorders. And patients are pathological liars, some of them are schizoid, paranoid, hypervigilant, and aggressive, especially when they are controlled, but this doesn't make them narcissists. While narcissists are indiscriminate and promiscuous when it comes to their sources of narcissistic supply, anyone would do. Patients with Mintschausen syndrome derive emotional nurturing and sustenance, mainly from healthcare practitioners.