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Munchausen Syndrome By Proxy Essay

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For decades, Munchausen’s Syndrome by Proxy (MSbP) has been rarely diagnosed or discussed; when asked what MSbP, most people will draw a blank. Only specialists in the fields such as child-welfare, or psychology are fully aware of the danger of this abuse that claims the life of nine percent of the individuals that fall victim to it (Morrel and Tilley 2). MSbP is such a difficult disorder to diagnose that, by the time the condition is evident, the victim has usually gone through many painful, unneeded procedures and face irreparable mental and physical damage. Due to the relatively low amount of information available surrounding MSbP, treatment and understanding for the sufferer is genuinely very limited. Munchausen Syndrome by Proxy, technically called Factitious Disorder by Proxy, is a disorder characterized by a care-giver, usually a mother or nurse, who inflicts physical harm on another to garner attention and sympathy for themselves (Brown et al 1). The sufferers present themselves as a caring, loving figure when in public, to keep their façade up; but when left alone, subject their victim to mental and physical abuse to keep their ruse going. First identified by prominent psychoanalyst Richard Asher …show more content…

“On the internet,” Feldman explains, “it’s very easy to fake. […] You can become an expert on anything in 30 minutes by visiting google” (2). Initially, Munchausen by Internet (MbI) was most commonly seen in online support groups, where medical information on specific disorders and treatments were readily available for anyone to find. But, with a boom in popularity, such as one social media has gone through in the last 5-10 years, instances of MbI are becoming more and more common on blogs, forums, chat rooms and discussion

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