Munchausen by Proxy Syndrome: A Deadly Disorder

Jessica Feurtado

May 15, 2004


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Abstract

Munchausen by Proxy Syndrome (MBPS) is a deadly disorder of which awareness must be increased. It is characterized by a parent, usually the mother, who intentionally causes illness in her child. The disorder was named after Baron von Munchausen. There are different intensities and manifestations of this disorder. Symptoms of the syndrome are hard to identify but are most prevalent when the child only becomes sick in the presence of his or her mother. The mother maintains a dynamic relationship with the physician, as the whole disorder is centered upon her need for attention from the doctor. It is most widely agreed that MBPS is caused by a need for attention and compassion to placate self-doubt in the sufferer. The only plausible treatment known for this disorder is extensive psychotherapy. If more research is conducted on this syndrome, it will help to protect the youth against abuse that is a by product of a psychologically sick mother.

Introduction

When asked what Munchausen by Proxy Syndrome is, most people will draw a blank. They are unaware of this form of abuse that claims the life of nine percent of children that fall victim to it. This paper will discuss the definition of Munchausen by Proxy Syndrome (MBPS), the origin of its name, the subtypes of the disorder, the symptoms associated with it, the dynamic relationship between the sufferer of the disorder and the physicians caring for the sufferer’s child, the causes of this syndrome, and the suggested treatment for it. MBPS is extremely difficult to diagnose, which is why many children die before doctors realize what was actually happening to them. Treatment for this disorder is limited, as well as knowledge and understanding of its causes. For this reason, it is extremely important to raise awareness of Munchausen by Proxy Syndrome and to work towards ensuring that no more children fall victim to illness and death at the hands of their own parents.

Munchausen by Proxy Syndrome Defined

Munchausen by Proxy Syndrome, also called Factitious Disorder by Proxy, is a psychological disorder characterized by a pattern of behavior in which someone, usually a mother, induces physical ailments upon another person, usually her child (“Munchausen by Proxy Syndrome,” n.d., p. 1). The mother attempts to gain attention and recognition for herself by putting on the public façade of dedicated and loving mother. However, when alone with her child she will subject them to abuse, both physical and emotional, as she tries to deliberately make them sick. The website “Munchausen by Proxy Survivors Network,” offers an extended definition for the disorder:

The child is a victim of maltreatment in which an adult falsifies physical and/or physiological signs and/or symptoms in the child causing this child to be regarded as ill or impaired. The perpetrator who is usually a parent or caregiver intentionally falsifies history, signs, or symptoms in the child to meet their own self-serving psychological needs. Other member in the family may support and participate in the deception (n.d., p. 1).


Children who fall victim to a parent suffering from Munchausen by Proxy Syndrome quite often require extensive emergency medical care, and undergo several unnecessary procedures such as painful surgeries and physical testing. Parents with Munchausen by Proxy Syndrome do not typically appear psychotic and, based on incidents caught on film, are calm and collected when inflicting harm on their children. Victims of Munchausen by Proxy Syndrome range greatly in age. The youngest case known was of a mother intentionally harming her fetus. The older cases involve people inducing illness in adults (Schreier & Libow, 1993, p. 6). With such a wide array of possibilities it is often too late for the victim before the disorder can be diagnosed.

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many many web sites say this condition isnt real, or it is an excuse made by dr's because they have no idea what is wrong with the child. I say it IS REAL in fact very very REAL!!

here are a few web pages who say its not real;

http://www.msbp.com/

http://www.munchausen.com/

http://bjp.rcpsych.org/cgi/content/full/176/1/102

so what i am asking you all, if its not real then what can we call mothers who make they're children sick for attention? Disturbed? Mad? what?

i am 100% sure (positive even) that this condition is VERY REAL

this is all ***t made uP by doctors to make kids and us all go take their medications

this is all ***t made uP by doctors to make kids and us all go take their medications

why do you think its because the dr's want our kids on medication? anyway its the mothers making the children ill and NOT the dr's, (ok not in all cases) but mums, dads, grandperants make they're children ill on a regualr basis and the dr's treat the kids, and give sympathy to the dr's, i have no doubts in my mind that this condition excists

lucifer_angel....no human is the same. We can call everyone else's differences by loud proclaiming names such as "diseases" and "syndromes", but the truth is that the only real issues here are those that have an effect on successful life for us and others. I say this again, the doctors create out of thin air problems, than diagnose people with many problems they created and than they make those people take their medications and pay for their services.

lucifer_angel....no human is the same. We can call everyone else's differences by loud proclaiming names such as "diseases" and "syndromes", but the truth is that the only real issues here are those that have an effect on successful life for us and others. I say this again, the doctors create out of thin air problems, than diagnose people with many problems they created and than they make those people take their medications and pay for their services.

yeah you're right the dr's do somtimes cause problems but, this is about the mothers making children ill to gain sympathy from dr's.

(p.s i dont have a _ in my name)

yeah you're right the dr's do somtimes cause problems but, this is about the mothers making children ill to gain sympathy from dr's.

(p.s i dont have a _ in my name)

well mothers who do not care for their children, should be discerned the right to have control over their children...control given to dad or to government institutions/other parents

this condition is both sad and at the same time dispecable. I dont think mothers (and its generally mothers not fathers) with the condition should be charged but they DO need to lose the children and they need treatment

Of corse the same can be said for pedifiles and most criminals.
*shrug* sociaty is screwed up what can you do about it

this condition is both sad and at the same time dispecable. I dont think mothers (and its generally mothers not fathers) with the condition should be charged but they DO need to lose the children and they need treatment

Of corse the same can be said for pedifiles and most criminals.
*shrug* sociaty is screwed up what can you do about it

in order for society to be "screwed up", a control of good "un-screwed up" society must exist...so do u say that in past things were better? because in past they were saying the same thing you are saying now...and in their past the people said the same thing as well.

Yet we're alive and well.

i never said things were better or worse in the past, i said the way we treat "criminals" is screwed up in general.

What reasons do people comit crimes, well lets break it down:
Passion
desperation
mental illness
sociapathic tendancy
Greed ect

Now lets look at those
Passion - Temperary loss of mental control
desperation - well if you fix social welfare this shouldnt happen
mental illness - not compitent
sociapathic tendancy - mental illness
Greed - this may well be the ONLY reason that should be punishable

you forgot lack of money which resulted from lack of job...this is the main reason anyone commits crime

i was classing that as desperation and as i said if you fix social wealfare you would have a better chance of eliminating this rather than throwing people in jail

this condition is both sad and at the same time dispecable. I dont think mothers (and its generally mothers not fathers) with the condition should be charged but they DO need to lose the children and they need treatment

Of corse the same can be said for pedifiles and most criminals.
*shrug* sociaty is screwed up what can you do about it

they do need to be charged, because the conditions they put the kids through often go with them into adult hood,

one mother, held down her daughter and got a cocktail stick (the daughter was just 8yrs old) and she then scraped the inside of her daughters nose, saying, sit still its your nose treatments, making the daughter have nose bleeds constantly, and then gong to and fro the dr's to have treatments, and in the end haveing to have her nose cauterized, that is assault and assault is illegal

but your right in one respect it is mostly mothers, but it can also be child minders.

its a mental illness, what is the point of throwing mentally ill people in prision?

its a mental illness, what is the point of throwing mentally ill people in prision?

yes i know its a mental condition but they can charge the mental people doing this and then put them into an assylum to get better.

they should not be allowed to look after other peoples children under ANY curcumstance, and if they allowed to walk the streets then that is what they will end up doing.

Oh i didnt mean that they should either look after children or walk around without treatment. I just have a problem with the way we treat people who comit crimes including child abuse

My first thought was, OMG our mothers are out to get us..

Then I realized that there is now a name for domineering abusive, hypocritical, evil mothers.
Great.

They are mother's who hurt their children so people pay attention to them, the mother. "You're such a good mother. You do so much for your child. You sacrifice so much for your child" That kinda crap. They have important people (doctors) listening to them. "My child has seizures. My child vomits in the middle of the night. My child's mouth bleeds when I mix Draino in her milk" ok, maybe not that last one, but....
Ever see Sixth Sense?

I think the time has come to seriously consider designing biometric human production system. That way the child will be the child...of the machines. And no mother or father will harm him/her ever. The machine will be obsolete.

They are mother's who hurt their children so people pay attention to them, the mother. "You're such a good mother. You do so much for your child. You sacrifice so much for your child" That kinda crap. They have important people (doctors) listening to them. "My child has seizures. My child vomits in the middle of the night. My child's mouth bleeds when I mix Draino in her milk" ok, maybe not that last one, but....
Ever see Sixth Sense?

Ok, now I'm scared. A mother is telling me to be scared of other mothers.

Seriously. Is this disorder due to some childhood incident ? Or is it an ego boost?
.

its a mental illness

I had herd that it can be related to PPD but i dont know what happened to the study and what its findings were.

Ok, now I'm scared. A mother is telling me to be scared of other mothers.

Seriously. Is this disorder due to some childhood incident ? Or is it an ego boost?
.


it can be either, the mother feals important, or they are genuinly wanting the child to be ill because they enjoy the hospital/dr enviroment,

personally, the mothers are twisted and sick to do what they do, and they need help in either long term care or mental care in a "special" prison of some sort, it is true that some mothers who are accused of such things are acutally innocent, i will keep beliveing that Muncheousons is real and there is no one who can ever change my mind.

My first thought was, OMG our mothers are out to get us..

Then I realized that there is now a name for domineering abusive, hypocritical, evil mothers.
Great.

I don't know how you would classify it. It is most often related to women who like the attention, be it from the medical staff and from family members. She likes to feel pitied.

Is it a mental disorder? I would say yes. Does she get an ego boost from her child being sick? Yes. That is her mental disorder. She gets attention, pity, empathy, sympathy, the whole gamut of what a mother would normally get when a child is sick, and that is the mental disorder in itself. She thrives on it. She likes to be seen to be the perfect and good caring mother who would do anything for her child. Sadly there have been instances where women have been wrongly accused of it due to the fact that their children have ended up in the hospital a few too many times, as some children do get sick or hurt themselves.

A lot of hospitals now even have cameras in private rooms in children's wards or children's hospitals and any child suspected of being a victim of such a mother will often be placed in such a room and closely monitored the whole time.

But usually these children don't know they are being purposely hurt. A parent who pushes their child down the stairs and then tells the doctor they had a seizure and fell down the stairs, are just abusers. They don't have this Munchausen by Proxy.

But usually these children don't know they are being purposely hurt. A parent who pushes their child down the stairs and then tells the doctor they had a seizure and fell down the stairs, are just abusers. They don't have this Munchausen by Proxy.


yes they do, its what the condition is called, many children a year die at the hands of mums with the condition, what would you suggest we call it?

yes they do, its what the condition is called, many children a year die at the hands of mums with the condition, what would you suggest we call it?

Its just plain old child abuse. A parent can try and claim it was Munchausen's, since its considered a mental illness, but they don't. They are just mean. Not every mom who abuses a child and takes them to a doctor has Munchausen's. They are just covering their ass.
I know if I was an abused child I would rather think my Mom was mentally ill and couldn't help it, then to think she just hated me and enjoyed hurting me.

Its just plain old child abuse. A parent can try and claim it was Munchausen's, since its considered a mental illness, but they don't. They are just mean. Not every mom who abuses a child and takes them to a doctor has Munchausen's. They are just covering their ass.
I know if I was an abused child I would rather think my Mom was mentally ill and couldn't help it, then to think she just hated me and enjoyed hurting me.

but some mothers do enjoy hurting they're children, some women should never be allowed to have kids and never be allowed near them and these women with this condition are amoungst those women

But usually these children don't know they are being purposely hurt. A parent who pushes their child down the stairs and then tells the doctor they had a seizure and fell down the stairs, are just abusers. They don't have this Munchausen by Proxy.

No. A child abuser will want to harm their child and not want the world to know about it. Someone with MbP will harm their child and want the world to know the child is "sick" or she will lie and tell everyone the child is sick. And it is rarely harm such as pushing them down the stairs. Some inject their children with all sorts of things or poison them via their food, so the child becomes ill and remains ill, resulting in the mother getting the pity of those around her. She wants attention and will do whatever it takes to get it, even to the point of causing harm to her child.

She doesn't "enjoy" harming her child. It is basically the one way she can get attention and be seen to be a good and caring mother.

And it does not always mean she will harm the child. A lot of the time she will lie and tell the doctor and others that the child is sick. She will take the child to the hospital and tell them it has been throwing up all night, etc, when the child is perfectly healthy. Or she will blow something completely out of proportion.. for example, a mild temperature could end up being described as a severe fever with convulsions.

MUNCHAUSEN BY PROXY (MBP) (also called Munchausen Syndrome by Proxy, Munchausen by Proxy Syndrome, and Factitious Disorder by Proxy) is a label for a pattern of behavior in which caretakers deliberately exaggerate and/or fabricate and/or induce physical and/or psychological-behavioral-mental health problems in others.
http://www.mbpexpert.com/definition.html


That site has quite a bit of information on it. It's quite scary to be honest. Because their behaviour covers such a wide range, it is easy to see why some women have been falsely accused of it.

No. A child abuser will want to harm their child and not want the world to know about it. Someone with MbP will harm their child and want the world to know the child is "sick" or she will lie and tell everyone the child is sick. And it is rarely harm such as pushing them down the stairs. Some inject their children with all sorts of things or poison them via their food, so the child becomes ill and remains ill, resulting in the mother getting the pity of those around her. She wants attention and will do whatever it takes to get it, even to the point of causing harm to her child.

She doesn't "enjoy" harming her child. It is basically the one way she can get attention and be seen to be a good and caring mother.

And it does not always mean she will harm the child. A lot of the time she will lie and tell the doctor and others that the child is sick. She will take the child to the hospital and tell them it has been throwing up all night, etc, when the child is perfectly healthy. Or she will blow something completely out of proportion.. for example, a mild temperature could end up being described as a severe fever with convulsions.



That site has quite a bit of information on it. It's quite scary to be honest. Because their behaviour covers such a wide range, it is easy to see why some women have been falsely accused of it.

yes yu are right, i had a friend who was falsely accused of it, and she had her children taken away, they went into care for a year and a half, and she didnt do anything wrong in fact she is the best mum anyone could wish to have, my children love her t pieces, but i knwo of one mum who was allowed to abuse her child for years and get away with it, (UNDER the noses of the social services), the child was constantly going to social workers for help and they just sent this girl back home, and the abuse only stopped because she left home.

It's bizarre actually. Our 9 month old had a temperature and after 24 hours of it not abating, we took him to the doctors today, just to make sure it was not something serious. We gave him his paracetamol at the alloted time and it fell about 30 minutes before our appointment. When we got there, his temperature had dropped a little bit, as it would with the medicine. She took his temperature and noted it wasn't too bad then and asked us what we had given him. When we told her, she said she was glad we were treating him even just before coming to the doctors, because she had seen a lot of mothers not giving their children fever reducing medication so that she (the doctor) could see that they were indeed sick. All I could think was 'what in the hell kind of idiot does not medicate their child to get its temperature down just so the doctor can see it really is sick?'... I guess it stems from the fear that parents are scared they are going to be seen to be lying about their child's condition, so they rather let it have a fever so the doctor can see that the child is indeed sick.

It's bizarre actually. Our 9 month old had a temperature and after 24 hours of it not abating, we took him to the doctors today, just to make sure it was not something serious. We gave him his paracetamol at the alloted time and it fell about 30 minutes before our appointment. When we got there, his temperature had dropped a little bit, as it would with the medicine. She took his temperature and noted it wasn't too bad then and asked us what we had given him. When we told her, she said she was glad we were treating him even just before coming to the doctors, because she had seen a lot of mothers not giving their children fever reducing medication so that she (the doctor) could see that they were indeed sick. All I could think was 'what in the hell kind of idiot does not medicate their child to get its temperature down just so the doctor can see it really is sick?'... I guess it stems from the fear that parents are scared they are going to be seen to be lying about their child's condition, so they rather let it have a fever so the doctor can see that the child is indeed sick.


i always give my children they're meds even if it means they're fevers will be lower when going to see the dr, and in fact at the moment my littel boy was away from school last week because he had an inner ear infection, and this morning i sent him to school, and the school called me to ask me to collect him, and now i have to go back to the dr's, but he still has had his medication, but i dont like going to and fro the dr's to much, because if it is just a little illness, i should be able to deal with it, with over the counter medication.

week #1 - son broke wrist
week #2 - son had to get stitches in head
week #4 - son broke his foot

I was lucky that all three of these things happened at school, or I know social services would be at my door because of a doctor's call. I wonder if they investigate schools??

week #1 - son broke wrist
week #2 - son had to get stitches in head
week #4 - son broke his foot

I was lucky that all three of these things happened at school, or I know social services would be at my door because of a doctor's call. I wonder if they investigate schools??

i know they do over here, its funny because somthing similar happened to me one time.

week 1 monday: 1st son fell of chair, and cracked his head,
week 1 wednesday: 1st son fell of a saftey bar and broke his arm, causing him to have an operation, and nearly loose his arm
week1: sunday: 3rd child (youngest) stood on a glass that was thrown in the garden by drunks walking by.
week2 wednesday: 2nd child, fell off the fridge, (wellwas actually dangling there, his left foot was jammed behind the fridge)
week2 : thursday: my daughter was swinging her little brother around and lost her hold and he went flying into a radiator, cracking his head so bad he was given 4 stitches.
week2 sunday: my youngest had a ADHD fit and threw himself of his brothers bunk bed.

that was the worse 2 weeks ever, but the funny thing is my daughter, who does all sorts of stupid things, like jump down a flight of steps on a scooter, and ride her bike with her legs on the bars and her hands behind her head coming down a hill has never been in an accident.