You know, on rereading your comment, I think I misunderstood what you were communicating with the phrase "making it up." Maybe you don't mean lying; maybe you mean accidentally inventing. That is a distinct possibility, but it's also entirely possible that they're remembering something real. The problem is that in a context like that, a false memory and a real one will probably look just about identical. The existence of symptoms doesn't tell us anything additional about the situation -- your body doesn't "remember" trauma your brain forgets -- but it could indicate that they went into this search looking for the answers they got. Or it might not. There's no way to know. unfortunately, I think you'll have to live in the grey space. A very good book about a parallel experience is Meredith Maran's "My Lie." Despite the title, it's not really about a lie. It's a memoir by a woman who thought only sexual abuse could explain the symptoms she was experiencing, then recovered memories, and later realized they weren't true. Thankfully, she came to realize how much the "recovery" had damaged her life shortly before her dad passed away, and was able to reconcile with him. Meredith's story is shockingly common, but she tells it extremely well.