Shigella

Whitney McMorris

March 20, 2015

Psychology- Musiala

Research Paper

Munchausen’s Syndrome (By Proxy)

Munchausen syndrome by proxy (MSBP or MBP) is a behavior pattern in which a

caregiver fabricates, exaggerates, or induces mental or physical health problems in those

who are in their care. With deception at its core, this behavior is an elusive, potentially

lethal, and frequently misunderstood form of child abuse or medical neglect that has been

difficult to define, detect, and confirm. The mother can do extreme things to fake

symptoms of illness in her child. For example, she may: add blood to the child’s urine or

stool, withhold food so the child looks like they cannot gain weight, heat up

thermometers so it looks like the child has a fever, make up lab results, give the child

drugs to make the child throw up or have diarrhea, and/or infect an intravenous line to

make the child look sick. There are usually signs in the mother causing the child to be ill.

Most people with this problem are mothers with small children. Some are adult children

taking care of an elderly parent. The mother often works in health care and knows a lot

about medical care. She can describe the child's symptoms in great medical detail. She

likes to be very involved with the health care team and is liked by the staff for the care

she gives her child. These mothers are really involved with their children. They seem

devoted to the child. This makes it hard for health professionals to see a diagnosis of

Munchausen syndrome by proxy. These are the many signs of a child: the child sees a lot

of doctors and has been in the hospital a lot, the child often has had many tests, surgeries,

or other procedures, the child has strange symptoms that don't quite fit any disease and

the symptoms do not match the test results, blood samples do not match the child's blood

type, and/or drugs or chemicals are found in the child's urine, blood, or stool.

In January...