ON THE SUBJECT OF MUNCHAUSENS-SYNDROME

The Munchausen's syndrom has been described by the english physician R ichard Asher in 1951. It was immediatly a successfully description in the anglo-saxon medical world. The DSM-IV and the CIM-10 assimile it t o factitious chronic disorders, with physical symptoms. In France howe wer, were some difficulties to insert this syndrome in the fram of ''p athomimies'', widely described at the beginning of the century by Dieu lafoy. Finally, it has been done owing to the specific psychological c ontext of people presenting Munchausen's syndrome.