Munchausen syndrome
Munchausen syndrome is a form of psychological disorder known as a factitious disorder.
The sufferer feigns, exaggerates, or creates symptoms of illnesses in himself in order to gain attention, sympathy, and comfort from medical personnel. The role of "patient" is a familiar and comforting one, and it fills a psychological need in the man or woman with Munchausen's.
In Munchausen Syndrome by Proxy (MSbP), a caregiver feigns or induces an illness in another person, usually her or his child, to gain attention and sympathy as the "worried" mother or father.
Munchausen by proxy is a form of child abuse first identified by Sir Roy Meadow, former professor of Paediatrics at the University of Leeds, England. During the 1990s and early 2000s, Meadow's expert testimony sent many parents to prison for allegedly murdering their children through MSbP, as well as causing many potential victims to be taken into care. However, during the course of 2003 a number of high-profile acquittals brought Meadow's ideas into serious disrepute. Some experts now doubt even the existence of MSbP, despite observations on hospital surveillance cameras which have caught MSbP abusers in the act. At the time of writing upwards of 250 convictions which relied on Meadow's evidence are under review. Meadow himself is under investigation by the British General Medical Council for suspected professional misconduct.
In 2003, Sickened, an autobiographical account of the Munchausen Syndrome by Proxy abuse Julie Gregory suffered as a child, was published.
Munchausen Syndrome by Proxy
Origin of the Name
The name derives from one Baron Munchhausen (Karl Friedrich Hieronymus Freiherr von Münchhausen, 1720-1797), to whom were ascribed a series of fantastically impossible tales written by Rudolf Raspe.External link