Munchausen Mum Escapes Jail Term

So what happens to a mother when she is found to be suffering from Munchausen by proxy? As we learned in the previous articles on this puzzling condition, Munchausen by proxy or its alternate title, Factitious Disorder by proxy, is a condition whereby the legal guardian, usually the mother, deliberately harms her child in order to draw attention to herself. Such a mother usually presents herself as being very caring and loving towards her child. Because her child is so chronically ill, with a whole range of puzzling and perplexing sicknesses, and the mother is so devoted, she is often … Continue reading →

Munchausen by Proxy: A Special Kind of Child Abuse

We previously looked at the curious phenomena of Munchausen by Proxy (MBP) in the article of that name. Correctly known as Munchausen Syndrome by Proxy, or more simply, factitious disorder by proxy, it customarily involves a female parent or guardian who will use the illness of her child to draw attention to herself. However, it is the parent or guardian who actually makes the child sick, often by chemical means or even injecting urine into the child’s bloodstream in an attempt to cause infection. The parent thrives on the attention of her sick child, yet comes across as a very … Continue reading →

Munchausen by Proxy

When a parent, usually the mother, consciously attempts to make her child sick, while at the same time seeking medical attention for the child, this is known as a case of Munchausen Syndrome by Proxy. These sad cases often make the news, as deliberating harming one’s child is a form of child abuse. Yet in this syndrome the mother seems to be very caring. So caring, in fact, that she may fool medical authorities, often for years. The mother typically makes her own child sick so she can bask in the attention that the intervening medical attention provides her. She … Continue reading →