Munchausen Syndrome by Proxy
Munchausen Syndrome by Proxy or MSBP is a rare form of child abuse. It consists of a parent fabricating the illness of their child in order to receive medication and attention from medical care professionals. MSBP is one of the biggest overlooked “illnesses” because it is hard to accuse a perpetrator with it. MSBP is hard to diagnose and accuse a person of because medical files are confidential and take some time to allow to be seen by the justice system. It can lead to serious health problems and even death of the child victim involved with the fabrication. The perpetrators of MSBP are accused of having a psychological problem and need immediate intervention, but in some cases, MSBP perpetrators do not necessarily have a psychological problem. Recent studies have shown that parents that fabricate the illness of their child could just be attention seeking or could be caught in a nasty habit that has acquired over time. Perpetrators intentionally fabricate or make up illnesses of their children and act in the role of a care giver. Many perpetrators do not believe they are doing anything wrong to their children, and can even convince themselves that the fabricated illness they made up is real and causing their child to be sick. MSPB is an uncommon form of child abuse, to accuse someone of this is a serious matter and must only be taken seriously with evidence or suspicion that the caregivers of the child are forging the illness.
History of MSBP
Munchausen Syndrome by Proxy has been around since the 19th century. It was first discovered by Richard A. J. Asher. MSBP got its name from Karl Friedrich Hieronymous Baron von Munchhausen, a German captain involved in the war against the Ottomans, he was wide...
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... try to put a stop to it. Health care providers need to be aware of the syndrome and look for symptoms such as elaborate stories of injuries given by the caregiver, symptoms that do not match up to the illness, and falsified or tampered with tests. Accusing the caregiver of MSBP can cause the perpetrator to act out in anger or the form of denial. It is hard for the case to be successful in court without hard evidence, but if the case is ongoing for long enough the perpetrator could be convicted for MSBP and separated from the victim. Treatment for MSBP is only successful if the perpetrator and the victim are completely separated. Munchausen Syndrome by Proxy has been a form of child abuse since the 1950’s and is still ongoing in our world today in different forms. It is important that witnesses of MSBP report the Child Protection Agency and seek help for the child.
Artingstall, Kathryn.. Practical Aspects of Munchausen by Proxy and Munchausen Syndrome Investigation.. FL: CRC Press, 1999. Print. (tags: none | edit tags)
Child abuse is usually recognized by a pattern of physical injuries or outward appearance of neglect. From RelayHealth, Munchausen Syndrome by proxy is a mental disorder, causing illness in others, usually children, to get sympathy and attention for the abuser. With the mental disorder of MSBP documented, the behaviors of the abuser and victims should be easy to identify, but it is not. Any parent/guardian entering the emergency room insisting on immediate care for their child would be considered a suspect. According to RelayHealth, dishonesty is a key part of the disorder, and of the abusers: 90% are the mothers. Imagine a mother who is able to manipulate an experienced doctor against his better judgment to perform unnecessary treatments and tests; now th...
Siegel, D. (2009). Munchausen Syndrome by Proxy: A Pediatrician’s Observations. Families, Systems, & Health, 27(1), 113-115.
In the year 2010, the documentary Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead was released. In the film, Australian native Joe Cross has realized that his health is worsening very fast. So Cross finally decides that he will turn his life around by taking an extreme diet that will deprive him of macronutrients for 60 days. Macronutrients are nutrients found in foods other than fruits and vegetables. Micronutrients are those nutrients found in fruits and vegetables. Micronutrients provide minerals such as Vitamin A, Iodine, Iron, Folate, and Zinc. While the body does not need these in large amounts, they are essential to the body because they help develop disease prevention and promote well-being. Micronutrients are important to include
In J. D. Salinger’s novel The Catcher in the Rye, Holden Caulfield exhibits many symptoms that can be directly linked to Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, Depression and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, as well as other forms of grievance. Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder is a mental illness which generally implicates exposure to trauma from single events that oftentimes involve death. It is frequently divided into three main categories: Reliving the Past, Detachment and Agitation. When analyzing the novel itself, it can be viewed as one large flashback in which Holden is constantly reflecting on past occurrences: “I’ll just tell you about this madman stuff that happened to me around last Christmas just before I got pretty run-down and had to come out here and take it easy” (Salinger, 1).
Munchausen syndrome by proxy (MSbP), or factitious illness by proxy, is the form of child abuse in which a parent (most often the mother) deliberately produces an illness in the child. The perpetrator, by definition, suffers from a serious emotional disorder that impairs judgment. The emotional disorder is not diagnosable; its pathology is culturally invisible and masked by social adaptation (e.g., overreacting to the child's illness and emotional hunger). The offending parent usually has significant medical knowledge, while being naive about human relationships. She or he seeks psychological gain (love, attention, or sanity) through provoking medical illnesses and conflicts. This entity is common and carries substantial morbidity and mortality reported mortality rates range from 10% to 30%.6,7
Eminson, Mary & Jureidini, Jon (2003). Concerns about research and prevention strategies in Munchausen Syndrome by Proxy (MSBP abuse). Child Abuse & Neglect 27 p.413-420.
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Rita Mae Brown, an American writer, once said, “The statistics on sanity are that one out of every four Americans is suffering from some form of mental illness. Think of your three best friends. If they're okay, then it's you” (Brown). Psychological and mental disorders are very common in the world, but it is commonly hidden by the public and a majority of the time, people are unclear if they have one or not. Sometimes these disorders are not just harmful to the individual person, but also to those surrounding the infected person. One particular syndrome in which the environment surrounding a person is at risk is Munchausen syndrome by proxy. Munchausen syndrome by proxy is a peculiar psychological disease that scientists and other medical professions are still trying to find the origins and explanations for this syndrome. Throughout the course of history, Munchausen has developed into a full-fledged disease and it still exists to this day.
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Hypochondria, also known as hypochondriasis is known as unconditional fears of having a disease or a medical problem. Health Anxiety as well as Illness Anxiety is also common names for this condition. As it highly resembles an anxiety disorder, Hypochondriasis is also said to be a Somatoform disorder as well. A somatoform disorder is described as having physical symptoms that have no medical cause (Hypochondriasis and Substance Abuse, n.d). This stems from the misinterpretation of symptoms and the lack of beliveal of medical reassurance of no disease or illness. Within this paper I will be talking about the symptoms, causes, and treatment that comes with this psychological disorder.
In today’s world, mental illness is still looked upon as a very bad thing and the negative views of mental illness are common within the employees. Most of the time, people assume that employees who suffer from mental illness are often seen as weird, defensive, and hard to talk to. Generally, concepts about mental illness tend to be subjective, leading to difficulties in defining mental illness. One article has described mental illness as, “ mentally distorted, mad, or crazy” and the degree of mental illness varies depending from person to person (Corrigan et al. 2010, p. 909). The following essay is based on the topic ‘Mental Illness as an Emerging Discourse’ and the article ‘Employee Mental Illness: Managing the Hidden Epidemic’ was the main article that was analysed and used in the essay to discuss the topic. The analysis has been divided into two parts which are covered equally by the study group members.
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