A soldier facing court martial suddenly reports hearing commanding officer's voice, claims amnesia for the alleged offence, and performs dramatically poorly on memory testing. Records show he made a detailed confession two days earlier. The single most discriminating feature favouring MALINGERING over genuine illness here is:

• A Symptoms appeared immediately after arrest
• B Poor performance on formal memory tests
• C Reported auditory hallucinations
• D Clear secondary gain linked to the symptoms ✓

Explanation

Malingering is the conscious, wilful simulation of disease for an identifiable external gain such as escaping court martial, and this external incentive is its defining feature. Timing after arrest supports suspicion but occurs in genuine post-traumatic states too. Hallucinations occur in real psychosis, and poor memory test performance occurs in genuine amnesia. Secondary gain distinguishes malingering from factitious disorder, where gain is psychological rather than material.

Reference: Parikh's Textbook of Medical Jurisprudence, Forensic Medicine and Toxicology, 7th ed.

High-yield for: NEET PGINI-CETNExTFMGEUSMLEPLABMRCP

Written and medically reviewed by the StethoPrep medical team.