Marc D. Feldman, M.D. is Clinical Professor of Psychiatry and Adjunct Professor of Psychology, the University of Alabama (UA), Tuscaloosa, Alabama. A Distinguished Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association, he is the author of more than 100 peer-reviewed articles in the professional literature. Dr. Feldman is an international expert in factitious disorder, Munchausen syndrome, Munchausen by proxy, and malingering, and his credits include five books including Dying to be Ill.

www.munchausen.com

Andrea Avigal is a recovered Munchausen syndrome patient and one of the authors of Secrets Unraveled: Overcoming Munchausen Syndrome. Why would anyone deliberately try to create illness or injury? That’s the startling subject of the extraordinary new book, Secrets Unraveled: Overcoming Munchausen Syndrome, co-written by a psychologist and his remarkable patient. Munchausen Syndrome, or Factitious Disorder, is a rare and intriguing condition where the person repeatedly and secretively tries to create illness or injury in an attempt to get attention and love. Hundreds of hospitalizations can occur in a patient’s life, with medical staff, family, and friends left in the dark about why such a thing is happening. Patients will often travel from hospital to hospital fooling medical professionals.