What is Munchausen Syndrome by Proxy? It is a psychological illness where a parent or caregiver pretends their child is sick in order to get attention and sympathy.
Munchausen Syndrome by proxy is technically known as Fabricated or Induced Illness (FII) in the UK or Factitious Disorder Imposed on Another (FDIA) in the USA. It is extremely difficult to catch and diagnose because the people who have it are very careful. It is an extension of Munchausen Syndrome, so let’s look at that first.
Munchausen Syndrome is a psychological disorder where a person pretends that they are sick to get attention and sympathy. Munchausen is not the technical name for the disease. It is called Factitious Disorder Imposed on Self (FDIS). The name Munchausen Syndrome was given by Richard Asher, the physician who first documented the illness in and 1951 edition of the Lancet. He named it after the fictional German character Baron Munchausen, who was, in turn, based on a real person: Hieronymus Karl Friedrich, Freiherr von Münchhausen. (Freiherr is equal to the rank of Baron in the nobility). The real Münchhausen fought for the Russian Empire in the Russo-Turkish War of 1735 to 1739. After he retired, he became famous for his exaggerated, outrageous, and obviously untrue stories about his experiences in the war. Rudolf Erich Raspe wrote a book about a Baron, inspired by the real baron, who told increasingly unbelievable stories. (Ironically, the real baron was considered an honest man, yet Raspe was a con man.) Asher based his newfound syndrome on it because the patients tell increasingly outrageous stories in order to get medical attention.
People with Munchausen’s syndrome make up illnesses to get medical attention and sympathy. It is different to hypochondria because a hypochondriac may not be ill, but they believe that they are. A person with Munchausen’s Syndrome knows that they aren’t sick. They lie about their symptoms, manipulate their test results, poison themselves or overdose on medication, inflict injury on themselves, undergo unnecessary surgery, and travel from hospital to hospital in different places to see many doctors. The people who have this are usually highly knowledgeable about medicine and are able to produce enough symptoms to make doctors think there is something wrong with them.
Munchausen Syndrome by Proxy is an extension of this. A parent, guardian, or caregiver pretends that their child is sick in order to get attention and sympathy. People tend to be more attentive and sympathetic to someone whose child is sick, and the parent may become addicted to this feeling. The parent will have the same medical knowledge as a person with Munchausen’s syndrome and they will take their child around numerous hospitals to ensure that they get treated. This is an extremely rare psychological condition and seems to happen mostly to mothers. Only 7% of cases are caused by a father.
Munchausen Syndrome by Proxy is far worse than the regular syndrome because it is child abuse. In order to convince doctors that the child is sick, the mother has to force the child to display the symptoms that go with the illness. This can involve physically harming the child. In many cases, the child will be forced to undergo painful and unnecessary medical treatments. Sometimes even surgery. The sicker the child seems, the happier the mother will be. When a child is hospitalized, the mother may attempt to worsen the child’s condition, Unfortunately, 6% of cases of Munchausen Syndrome by Proxy end up with the child dying.
It is very difficult to catch and diagnose Munchausen Syndrome by Proxy. The parent will move around hospitals to avoid arousing too much alarm. They will have done a lot of research about the medical illness that they want the child to present. And, if the doctors refuse to perform any tests, they will accuse the doctors of negligence for not helping a sick child. The doctors are too scared not to perform tests. There are many cases of people who have been arrested and jailed for the harm they caused to their children, sometimes fatal, due to this syndrome. However, some people have been falsely jailed in the belief that they killed their children because of Munchausen Syndrome by Proxy. It is a very difficult diagnosis to make. And this is what I learned today.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Factitious_disorder_imposed_on_another
Sources
https://www.nhsinform.scot/illnesses-and-conditions/mental-health/munchausens-syndrome
https://medlineplus.gov/ency/article/001555.htm
https://www.webmd.com/mental-health/munchausen-by-proxy
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baron_Munchausen
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Factitious_disorder_imposed_on_self
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Asher
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Factitious_disorder_imposed_on_another