Munchausen Syndrome Case Study

The Trouble Today: Munchausen Syndrome by Proxy Munchausen Syndrome by Proxy (MBP), as stated by Levin and Sheridan (1995), is “the deliberate creation of actual or apparent illness or the false reporting of illness in a child or other dependent done because the caretaker apparently wishes the attention that comes from the association with that illness” (p. 1) Munchausen Syndrome by Proxy is a form of child abuse. Another name for this disorder is factitious illness by proxy (DSM IV.) It is one of the most unrecognized forms of child abuse ever. The typical perpetrator of this abuse fits into a pattern that rarely changes. The perpetrator is usually the mother or female caretaker of the child, or elder person. The mother usually …show more content…
She usually appears unnecessarily interested in what the medical staff is feeling and thinking, even more interested in the staff’s feelings than of the patients’. The perpetrator is very cunning, and very manipulative. The mother usually appears to be very involved in the child’s life and in appearing as such, she tends to be put “above suspicion”. Nothing appears more pathetic than a mother does with a terminally ill child. People who may have suspicions of such an occurrence of child abuse often end up feeling guilty. This is because at first the mother appears to be trying to get answers and appears to be interested in an end to the illness. Mothers might be lonely and feel isolated, on rare occasions they may have a personality disorder (Levin and Sheridan, 1995) There are several warning signs of MBP. Several things happen to the patient that do not occur under normal circumstances. Typically inappropriate or incongruent symptoms occur. The illness affects multiple systems of the body and is an unusual or rare illness that goes on for an unusual amount of time. The victim, possibly …show more content…
First, the medical professionals who suspect MBP should review all medical records. All of the doctors who have taken care of the child should be contacted. This will probably be an extensive list and could turn out to be very time consuming. The primary care physician should assume the leading role as facilitator of all of the collected information. One of the factors that make MBP able to exist is the lack of communication between health professionals. This allows the mother to go to various hospitals and doctor’s offices with the same symptoms for her child. Then the patient should be observed, and a clear family history should be obtained for the other caretaker in the family. This is due to the fact that mothers are prone to falsify family history data, further fueling the problems of the child. If the physicians and the like feel that they have enough information to confront the caretaker, then they should do so. They should make sure that they have backing from the agency that they are currently working for. Depending on the mother, and on how much information they have collected, this could be a difficult situation. Then a child may need to be taken from the home, or counseling is to be set up for the family. Children are seen as best placed with their parents, so rehabilitation is typically seen as the best option for the child (Levin and Sheridan, 1995) The role of the psychiatrist in Munchausen Syndrome