Thursday, May 23, 2013

What Happens In Munchausen Syndrome Cases

By Esther Salazar


Munchausen syndrome is a serious mental condition whereby the patients intentionally makes themselves sick or lies that they are suffering from a certain disease, ostensibly to attract attention and sympathy. Sadly, thus condition only works until it is diagnosed that apart from the mental condition, the victim does not have any other medical illness. In a majority of Munchausen syndrome cases, the sufferer visits several physicians searching for treatment for a nonexistent disease.

The condition has several variations, the other being Munchausen Syndrome by Proxy, characterized by an adult hurting a closely related person just to attract sympathy. A typical example is a parent who abuses his or her child so that the family can receive money or attention from other people. This is considered a type of abuse, with the victims mainly being helpless individuals such as the mentally handicapped and children.

There is another condition found in modern times referred to as Munchausen by Internet, whereby a patient feigns disease or sickness via web forums. The sufferer may even go to the extent of creating web pages to testify their illness. Most of the times, the patient sets up a donation system for receiving money, ostensibly for making payments for treatments and medical bills. In the real sense, they are perfectly all right and only want to use the money on other things.

There is quite a big difference between Munchausen and hypochondria, in terms of patient behavior and symptoms. A person suffering from hypochondria truly believes with all their soul and heart they are indeed ill. Ironically enough, a person believing that they are ill for long enough will actually cause them to be ill.

The main difference between these two conditions is that while a syndrome victim may tell lies concerning the disease they claim to suffer from, they cannot have easy control of themselves when doing so. For a person who has no medical training, figuring out the difference between the two is quite hard. Only a trained doctor can positively confirm the conditions as well as differentiate between them to find out the course of treatment.

Patients suffering from this condition pose a risk both to their well being and that of the individuals around them. It is quite a serious syndrome that may lead to sufferers starting to hurt themselves intentionally so as to further prove to others they are actually sick or ill. They may even go the extent of doing something crazy that can break their limbs or damage organs. Some cases have been reported of women intentionally getting themselves pregnant and later inducing a miscarriage just to attract sympathy.

Such victims seeking treatment is of utmost importance, in order to prevent them harming those involved in their lives. Through getting help, the patients can avoid the infliction of fatal damage to their bodies. It is very vital for those around these individuals to find out a way of assisting them improve their lives.

During the early stages of Munchausen syndrome cases, a doctor examines the patient to find out their medical and childhood history. Most of the sufferers were either abused or neglected as children. Therefore, when they become adults, they look for people who will give them the attention they never got.




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