summary
A 30-year-old woman who simulated a psychosis and threatened to commit infanticide and suicide was forcibly admitted to an acute psychiatric unit under the Mental Health Act. She was discharged an hour later after confessing that she had feigned illness. In this article we discuss the subject of feigned illness (malingering) and its clinical aspects in the acute psychiatric setting. Early recognition of malingering can prevent unnecessary admissions and iatrogenic damage.