It’s not unknown for children and adults to fake injuries to get attention. A parent might pick up a child who’s been running free at daycare and then once the mom arrives, the child goes back to limping to get attention.
I think this unhinged thirst for attention is a big warning sign of trouble ahead. This faker is likely to fall into addiction. We have to connect to something, and if we can’t connect normally to other people, we’re likely to connect to alcohol, drugs, sex, porn, video games and the like.
Someone who can’t connect normally with other people is less likely to abide by communal norms. They are more likely to grab what they can.
My therapist once said to me, “When you talk, I get this image of a child sucking on a breast for all he can, sucking until it goes dry, because he has no assurance of being able to find more sustenance. You suck people dry.”
