Skip to content
Surprising Science

Mental Illness as Self-Deception

“People who fake symptoms of mental illness can convince themselves that they genuinely have those symptoms, a new study suggests.” Scientific American on the power of the mind.
Sign up for Smart Faster newsletter
The most counterintuitive, surprising, and impactful new stories delivered to your inbox every Thursday.

“People who fake symptoms of mental illness can convince themselves that they genuinely have those symptoms, a new study suggests.” Scientific American on the power of the mind: “People will also adopt and justify signs of illness that they never reported themselves when presented with manipulated answers, according to the study published online July 9 in the Journal of Clinical and Experimental Neuropsychology. Not only do the findings demonstrate that deliberately feigning illness can evolve into an unconscious embellishment of symptoms, they indicate that self-perception of mental health is susceptible to suggestion. The study has particularly serious implications for cases in which people fake mental illness to take advantage of the legal system.”

Sign up for Smart Faster newsletter
The most counterintuitive, surprising, and impactful new stories delivered to your inbox every Thursday.

Related

Up Next
“It is the poor, not the rich, who are inclined to charity.” The Economist reports on a study that finds the less affluent are quicker to compassion and more willing to give to the needy.