Munchausen Syndrome Essay

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Munchausen Syndrome by Proxy Jade Lovett December 2nd 2012 Psychology 100 ABSTRACT The deliberate production of factitious disorders is a psychological disorder known as Munchausen syndrome by proxy (MSBP). It is a form of child abuse where a child’s caretaker produces illnesses in a child or fabricates an illness. This research paper helps to present a comprehensive overview and understanding of MSBP. Here I examine the background of Munchausen syndrome by proxy, the etiology of the disorder, who the MSBP perpetrators tend to be, the characteristics of perpetrators, the motives of perpetrators, and finally how the brain of MSBP perpetrators seems to function. INTRODUCTION The medical term Munchausen Syndrome was named after Baron von Munchausen, a German cavalry officer that travelled around Europe and was known for his fabricated stories. Richard Asher, a British endocrinologist and hematologist, used the name Munchausen in 1951 to describe a psychological disorder where individuals self-abused and imitated disease symptoms (Fish, Bromfield, & Higgins, 2005). The term Munchausen syndrome by proxy (MSBP) was not used until 1977 when Roy Meadow used the term to describe two cases where the symptoms of Munchausen syndrome were transmitted on to children by their caretakers (Criddle, 2010). Unlike Munchausen syndrome, MSBP occurs when a child’s caretaker/perpetrator abuses the child in order to make it seem as though the child has a serious medical condition. Child-victims of MSBP are both male and female with most cases documented under the ages of 5 years old. The false symptoms of diseases cause doctors to unnecessarily medicate and treat these children (Shaw, Dayal, & Hartman, 2008). According to Laura Criddle’s journal, Monsters in the Closet: Munchausen Syndrome by Proxy, there are three different severities of MSBP. These range from

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