The Munchausen patient in a forensic facility.

The many reports in the literature of chronic factitious illness (Munchausen's Syndrome) have emphasized the difficulty of treating these patients because of their propensity to leave medical facilities as soon as the factitious nature of their symptoms is discovered, and because of their disinclination to accept psychiatric help. The authors report on their treatment of such a patient who was incarcerated for over ten years under a criminal commitment, and discuss methods for overcoming resistances to treatment in Munchausen's patients.