It's pretty rare for someone to pretend to have symptoms they don't have, and if someone is doing that, they still have a problem that they need help with.
this post was submitted on 18 Sep 2026
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Psychiatrist often employ the differential diagnosis as a particular symptom can be in multiple illnesses. So the patient thinking they have some one symptom is not really good basis for diagnosis.
Your premise is wrong. Just because you belief something doesn't make it real. For how it can be figured out: there are brain tests, it's called psychometrics. These tests are specifically designed to be resistant to "faking it". For some diagnoses, they also use data such as third party accounts, teachers notes, etc.
does it also work on minor disorders like AVPD, Anxiety etc?
Yes. The point of the diagnostic protocol is determine what issue it is and the severity.
Shit anxiety and depression is so easy you can do a 1-10 fill in the blanks about common situations and how you feel. Just remember lying about it doesn't help anybody.
Unless you need an anxiety diagnosis for a medical marijuana card.
Your question, phrased clinically is would I be diagnosed with Diagnosis X or hypochondria, now called illness anxiety disorder?
The answer depends on the interview. If you said you started noticing these symptoms right around the time you read about the disorder and don't remember them existing before hand, propably you'd get the illness anxiety. If you did not mention the correlation, more likely to not get that...