Munchausen Syndrome By Proxy
Munchausen syndrome by proxy is a term introduced by Roy Meadow in 1977. He wrote this syndrome, referring to adults, as “ patients who present spectacular clinical stories, full of lies and fabrications, in an alleged attempt to obtain hospital care and medical attention ”.
It does not bear the name of the one who discovered it but of Karl Friedrich Hieronymus: Baron Munchausen (1720-1797). 16th century German Baron Munchausen told stories about his exploits as a soldier and as a sportsman. Meadow introduced “by proxy” to refer to the case where one person makes up the symptoms of another person.
That same year, Burman and Stevens introduced a Munchausen family in which the mother, who suffered from the syndrome, generated it in these two children, calling it Polle syndrome. Polle syndrome and Munchausen syndrome by proxy refer to the same thing.
Munchausen syndrome by proxy, a form of child abuse
Munchausen syndrome by proxy is a special form of violence in which one of the parents (usually the mother) fakes the existence or causes symptoms or signs in the children with the aim of seeking medical attention and diagnostic maneuvers. or expensive or risky treatments.
For example, Munchausen syndrome by proxy is a high-risk form of child abuse. The diagnosis is complicated and often survives for a long time in the person without anyone being able to identify it. In addition, as we have pointed out, serious complications can ensue, sometimes leading to death.
A real case
In order to better understand what we call Munchausen syndrome by proxy, we illustrate it with a real case. Now let’s see a story that appeared in the Daily Mail:
A mother, Kaylene Bowen, 34, has been arrested for causing serious injuries to her son. The mother admitted to persuading several doctors for eight years that her child was seriously ill. This mother even claimed that her son needed a lung transplant. So the child undergoes unnecessary surgeries. The mother has been to the hospital with her child 323 times since birth.
According to the Daily Mail, the child entered the operating room thirteen times with suspected ailments. The mother set up websites asking for money to pay for expensive treatments her son was supposed to undergo.
According to the Daly Mail, this mother could be suffering from Munchausen syndrome by proxy. As we see, it is a form of child abuse in which one of the parents induces real or apparent symptoms of an illness in the child.
What is Munchausen syndrome by proxy really?
This syndrome is considered a factitious disorder. A factitious disorder is characterized by the appearance of symptoms deliberately produced by the patient himself with the intention of receiving medical care and assuming a sick role.
A patient suffering from this disorder is deliberately creating the symptoms of an organic disease or exaggerating its symptoms. So it prevents healing as it actually desires constant attention from the medical staff. He may undergo operations and unnecessary studies in order to maintain his role as a patient.
The risk is that he will end up getting really sick. We think, for example, of a patient who intentionally takes a drug causing him certain symptoms, but who denies it during the consultation. Doctors thus ignore the true origin of the pathology. They therefore subject the presumed patient to a large number of studies, some of them presenting certain risks which would be justified if the “case were real”, but which they are not in the face of this particular case.
The obsession with being assisted by medical personnel
Thus, Munchausen syndrome by proxy is characterized by an obsession or an overwhelming desire to be treated by doctors. This obsession makes patients need to go from hospital to hospital. They often do this under false names or made up names to avoid suspicion.
The World Health Organization (WHO) calls these people “pilgrim patients”. These people roam between hospitals with the urgent need to be taken care of for their false illnesses. There is a very famous case of this syndrome. It is that of an Englishman named William Mcllroy (1906-1983). This person managed to have an operation 400 times. He only spent six months of his life without being hospitalized.
What are the symptoms of Munchausen syndrome by proxy?
A series of symptoms appear when a person suffers from Munchausen syndrome by proxy. They are sometimes difficult to identify. Let’s see some of them:
- The child’s symptoms are not identified or do not correspond to a classic frame of illness. In other words, the diagnosis becomes very complicated.
- The child improves in the hospital, but the symptoms reappear again and again at home. The mother sometimes causes the symptoms even in the hospital setting.
- The progenitor is “ too helpful” or “too attentive”.
- The mother or father is frequently involved in some area of medical care, such as nursing.
What are the causes of Munchausen syndrome by proxy?
This syndrome is due to psychological problems in adults. It almost always involves a mother abusing her child by trying to keep him constantly under medical supervision, exposing him to justify this supervision to a risk to his health. We can say that this is a rare syndrome, the cause of which is still unknown.
As we have seen, Munchausen syndrome by proxy is a “rare” disorder, but relatively common. The problem is, it’s hard to detect. We believe there are more cases than we know of.
Our thoughts Factitious disorders refer to symptoms that are simulated or produced intentionally, with the aim of adopting a role of “sick”. How to develop …
