Iatrogenic artifact
Please Take Over This Page and Apply to be Editor-In-Chief for this topic: There can be one or more than one Editor-In-Chief. You may also apply to be an Associate Editor-In-Chief of one of the subtopics below. Please mail us [1] to indicate your interest in serving either as an Editor-In-Chief of the entire topic or as an Associate Editor-In-Chief for a subtopic. Please be sure to attach your CV and or biographical sketch.
Overview
An iatrogenic artifact is a disease made up by doctors, often a diagnostic trend or fad that has become or is expected to become obsolete or discredited.
Examples of diseases considered or accused of being iatrogenic artifacts include nymphomania, hystero-epilepsy, repressed memory, autogynephilia, and multiple personality disorder.
In many cases, it has been shown that "experts" who believe in the disease are able to observe or even induce symptoms matching the disease's description in suggestible patients. In the case of hystero-epilepsy, it was shown that moving those allegedly afflicted with the disease into different settings made their symptoms disappear.
The concept of iatrogenic artifact has important implications for those who diagnose "diseases" of behavior.