Psychological assessment of malingering in psychogenic neurological disorders and non‐psychogenic neurological disorders: relationship to psychopathology levels

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: It remains unknown whether psychological distress causes malingering in patients with psychogenic symptoms. METHODS: We studied 26 patients with psychogenic neurological disorders on psychopathology and malingering in comparison with 26 patients with various neurological conditions and 18 matched healthy controls (HC). RESULTS: Psychogenic patients showed the highest levels of psychological complaints and malingering, but non-psychogenic neurological patients also showed significantly more psychological distress and malingering compared with HC. Psychological distress was related to the degree of malingering, in both patient groups. CONCLUSION: This data does not formally support a causal relationship between psychological distress and psychogenic neurological disorders, but suggests that a part of the psychological complaints is a general result of having an illness. The clinical implication of this study is that psychological distress is not sufficient for diagnosing functional complaints. Also, if a patient scores normal on a test for malingering, this does not mean that he or she is not suffering from psychogenic symptoms.