Münchausen syndrome is a psychiatric disorder that is distinguished by the patient causing or faking physical or psychological ailments for the sole purpose of being admitted to the hospital. A psychiatric consult nurse sees about one or two Münchausen cases a month (Interview with John Hauber, RN). Out of the entire United States population, only half to two percent of people have the disorder (medicinenet.com), but the number is probably higher than that because the statistic shown only represents the number of people diagnosed, and not everybody that has Münchausen is properly identified as having the disorder. (Interview with John Hauber, RN). The numbers are higher in certain subpopulations, such as people who have been diagnosed as having psychosis or fever of unknown source (medicinenet.com). It is also extremely difficult to get accurate statistics due to dishonesty and the tendency of patients to hop from one healthcare facility to the other (my.clevelandclinic.org).
Münchausen Syndrome has been described since at least Biblical times. An example of historical documentation would be that people during the medieval era have been recognized to scrape their skin off and put leeches in their mouths to cause bleeding (medicinenet.com). Münchausen syndrome was given its name in 1951 by Richard Asher (ncbi.nlm.nih.gov), for Baron Karl Friedrich von Münchausen. Baron was born in Germany during the year 1720 and deceased in 1797. He was known to tell extravagant stories about the battles he fought against the Ottoman Empire while he was enlisted in the Russian military (ncbi.nlm.gov).
Many people mistake Münchausen syndrome and Münchausen syndrome by proxy as the same thing. While it is true that they are very similar, they are...
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...en medication to treat the underlying cause of Münchausen syndrome, which can be depression, anxiety, or other reasons. Such medications can include Prozac or Wellbutrin, and others.
Works Cited
“Munchausen Syndrome.” my.cleavlandclinic.org 27 December 2010. Cleveland Clinic. 21 Feb. 2014. http://my.clevelandclinic.org/disorders/factitious_disorders/hic_munchausen_syndrome.aspx
“Todd S Elwyn – Factitious Disorder Imposed on Self.” emedicine.medscape.com. 2014. 10 March 2014. http://emedicine.medscape.com/article/291304-overview
R, Olry. “History of a Strange Mental Disorder.” Ncbi.nlm.nih.gov. 08 Apr. 2014. http://ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/m/pubmed/12422889/
Dryden-Edwards, Roxanne. "Munchausen Syndrome." MedicineNet.com. 01 08 2012. Web. 13 Apr 2014. http://www.medicinenet.com/munchausen_syndrome/article.htm
Interview with John Hauber, RN.
Interview with Anonymous.
Artingstall, Kathryn.. Practical Aspects of Munchausen by Proxy and Munchausen Syndrome Investigation.. FL: CRC Press, 1999. Print. (tags: none | edit tags)
“Help, my daughter has stopped breathing!” she cried out entering the emergency room. In Sickened the autobiography written by Julie Gregory shares her abusive childhood to enlighten her readers about Munchausen Syndrome by proxy. With all the attention to protect children from abuse, how can child abuse not be recognized?
Siegel, D. (2009). Munchausen Syndrome by Proxy: A Pediatrician’s Observations. Families, Systems, & Health, 27(1), 113-115.
Rosenberg, Donna Andrea (2003). Munchausen Syndrome by Proxy: medical diagnostic criteria. Child Abuse and Neglect, 27 p. 421-430.
At present, people with either Munchausen syndrome or Munchausen syndrome by proxy are seldom, if ever, treated with drugs. Standard methods of management and treatment include early recognition of the disorder and years of intensive counseling; many doctors believe that the disorders are not treatable, inferring from the nature of the disorders that giving the subject medical attention would in fact heighten the severity of their pathology. (2) Munchausen syndrome and Munchausen syndrome by proxy are rarely treated successfully.
With Mother’s Day around the corner, store shelves will be lined with cards honoring the care and nurturing mothers are known for. Children everywhere will be thanking their mothers for nursing them to health when they were sick, putting bandages on skinned knees and always keeping them safe. What if your mother was the one who made you sick? That’s the reality when a person has Munchausen by proxy. Munchausen Syndrome by Proxy is a psychological disorder where a caregiver, usually a child’s mother, fabricates a child’s illness to gain attention. This paper will define Munchausen by Proxy, give a brief history, explain the controversial reasons on why it happens, and discuss some famous cases.
Mental illness is something that people do not like to talk about because of the stigma associated with it. Mental illness is a common, yet misunderstood medical condition that changes cognitive, mental, and social skills. Some common mental illnesses include depression, obsessive-compulsive disorder, bipolar disorder, and schizophrenia. These diseases and disorders can affect multiple parts of a person’s personality and change a person’s mental capacity. Some of the main causes of mental illness are genetic, traumatic, and environmental. Genetic mental illness is contained in a person’s genetics and travels through genes. This mental illness travels from parents to children. Traumatic mental illness, like PTSD, affects many people but is common in military service men and women. Traumatic events can alter the way that the brain functions. Anxiety, sleeplessness, and rage are common symptoms of this trauma. These changes to the brain are not permanent, and with therapy and treatment, the damage is reversible. Environmental mental illness is a very common mental illness with links to environmental factors like drugs...
Factitious Disorder Factitious disorder is a condition in which a person acts as if he or she has a physical or mental illness when he or she is not sick. The person or patient will be consciously and deliberately creating, exaggerating, fabricating signs and warnings of the illness for the purpose of simulating the sick character. The patient with a factitious disorder will knowingly fake symptoms for psychological reasons, not for monetary reasons. The patient in undertaking the sick role may go from one medical facility to another medical service in order to receive attention and treatment. Patients with this condition will sometimes be ready to undergo painful and risky tests and operations in order to gain the sympathy and individual attention that is typically given to a person who is truly sick.
Sir Meadow, a British pediatrician and professor, became publicly known after publishing academic literature titled “Munchausen Syndrome by Proxy – the hinterland of child abuse.” This article generated extensive attention towards this new phenomenon. The phenomenon, Munchausen Syndrome by proxy, consisted of a mother’s ability to deceive medical personnel by creating a fictitious illness often resulting in unwarranted surgical procedures carried out on the child primarily to meet self gratification (Parnell & Day, 1998). The publication of this literature increased the understanding of MSBP, and created great controversy surrounding the topic including its relative impact on the medical and legal aspects of society. Although Sir Meadow generated publicity on this topic, the term Munchausen syndrome originated in 1951 by Dr. Richard Asher when he identified common factors between many of his patients and the exaggerated storytelling of Baron Karl Friedrich Hieronymous von Munchhausen in the 18th century, who was described to have had “a reputation for colorful raconteur who spun outrageous stories and wandered about the countryside to find audiences” (Gray & Zide,
The scientific community discovered more diseases and adjusted the symptoms that fall under the diagnosis according to new medical discoveries. Some illnesses became completely obsolete such as drapetomania,(Wade, Tavris). David Rosenhan a professor of psychology believed that labels such as “paranoid schizophrenia” tainted patients with the stigma of mental illness. Such labels cause other people to treat them in prejudiced and even harmful ways. To reduce this stigma, Rosenhan argued that mental health professionals should avoid global diagnostic labels, such as “major depression,” in favor of objective behavioral descriptions, like “looks sad”. Rosenhan conducted an experiment where eight mentally healthy individuals presented themselves to mental hospitals. They all pretended to have mild anxiety and requested admission based on hallucinations and hearing voices that repeated the words “empty” and “hollow”. Once these “pseudopatients” were admitted to the hospital, they stopped faking all symptoms of a mental disorder. They wanted to see whether the hospital staff would discover their absence of illness and release them. They were released after about 19 days with the same diagnosis but just reclassified as in remission since they no longer presented any symptoms. Rosenhan interpreted these findings to mean that mental health professionals can not distinguish normality from abnormality. The people who were
...ological 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. There is much that still needs to be learned about MSP in general, but every time there is an instance of this specific syndrome, it gives us the potential to gain a better understanding of it every day. Although there are many small and minute cases of MSP, the combination of them all allows our society to better adapt to them. Munchausen has caught some pop culture and media attention so far in the 21st century and doesn’t seem to be slowing down. With proper concentration and willingness to understand information, society will be able to obtain a full definition of Munchausen syndrome as well as treatments.
History shows that signs of mental illness and abnormal behavior have been documented as far back as the early Greeks however, it was not viewed the same as it is today. The mentally ill were previously referred to as mad, insane, lunatics, or maniacs. W.B. Maher and B.A. Maher (1985) note how many of the terms use had roots in old English words that meant emotionally deranged, hurt, unhealthy, or diseased. Although early explanations were not accurate, the characteristics of the mentally ill have remained the same and these characteristics are used to diagnose disorders to date. Cultural norms have always been used to assess and define abnormal behavior. Currently, we have a decent understanding of the correlates and influences of mental illness. Although we do not have complete knowledge, psychopathologists have better resources, technology, and overall research skills than those in ancient times.
(Consequences of Inaction): Claiming that this is usual and that surgical intervention is ideal is to collaborate with this dysphoria that one may
During childhood, the person may have experienced a serious illness. A parent or relative that has also had this disorder can influence a child making them believe that they have something wrong with them. If I experienced this as a parent, I definitely wouldn’t want my child to deal with this sort of issue in life. What kind of example is this going to the doctor all the time?
Carl Landau had shown issues throughout an 8-year time frame. Current distressing symptoms have arisen to which halt a socially normative progression in varying forms. The varying symptoms have shown deviance, distress, dysfunction, and ultimately a danger to health, altogether coming to describe a disorder in all abnormal points (Comer, 4). The symptoms described have come as behavioral (i.e. hissing, excessive washing and showering), and have gone to such extremes such as isolating himself primarily in his room and hygiene to which has ranged from excessively hygienic to excessively unhygienic (i.e. excessive washing to no washing whatsoever). It was told that these acts had come due to habitually gaining negative thoughts associated with these tasks, the behaviors having had helped relieve the negative thoughts associated.