- Hey everybody, happy Thursday.
Now today's video is all about Munchausen syndrome by Proxy.
What is it and why does it happen?
But before we jump into that,
are you new to my channel?
Welcome!
I am a licensed therapist
and I create educational mental health videos,
and I release those on Mondays and on Thursdays.
So make sure you're subscribed
and have your notifications turned on
so that you don't miss out,
but now let's jump into today's topic.
You've probably heard about Munchausen syndrome
more recently because of the HBO documentary,
Mommy Dead and Dearest and the Hulu series The Act.
And if you don't know what any of these two shows are about,
they are both based on the real and disturbing
and really tragic story of Dee Dee and Gypsy Rose Blanchard.
Now Dee Dee was Gypsy Rose's mother,
and although Gypsy Rose was born happy and healthy
her mother made her believe she was very ill,
confining her to a wheel chair from age eight,
even though her legs worked just fine,
telling her that she had cancer,
and making her shave all her hair off
and even making her be fed through a feeding tube
for a long time all the while accepting donations
and support from various non-profit organizations.
You know like the Make A Wish Foundation,
or the Ronald McDonald House
and this story ends tragically
with Gypsy Rose getting her boyfriend, Nicholas,
to kill her mom, Dee Dee, back in 2015.
And Gypsy Rose recently pled guilty
and is currently serving
a 10 year prison sentence for the crime.
Since this documentary was so shocking and upsetting,
people are asking a lot of questions about her mom
and what could possibly cause someone
to pretend their child was so sick
when they really weren't
or how could Gypsy Rose ever consider
having someone kill her mother?
Why would she be so upset?
What's the big deal?
So let's just get into it,
and I wanna start by talking about Munchausen syndrome
which is now called factitious disorder.
Now factitious disorder can be something
that we impose on ourself as well as something
we impose on someone else.
The only difference between those two things
is really that one is called factitious disorder,
and the other is called factitious disorder by proxy.
Now basic factitious disorder is diagnosed
when someone falsifies physical or psychological
signs or symptoms or even causes injury
or disease associated with the falsification
which really just means that someone will fake
that they're sick or even harm themselves
to create the same symptoms and to fool a doctor
or a provider into believing that they actually are ill.
Now they must also present themselves as ill,
impaired or injured, obviously.
And this behavior must still happen
even when there aren't any outside rewards
like they're not getting any pity from other people
or money or help, support, et cetera.
And finally, this must not be happening
because of a different mental illness like delusion disorder
or any other psychotic disorder
because what that really means
is that they could have a delusion about having cancer.
They could truly believe that they're ill,
and that's not the same thing, okay?
Now the criteria for factitious disorder by proxy
is really the same except that
the person who has this disorder is pretending
that some someone in their life is ill, it's not them.
So in the by proxy diagnosis
the perpetrator, not the victim,
receives the diagnosis
of factitious disorder by proxy, okay?
Does that make sense?
I hope that it's clear,
but feel free to ask any questions
in those comments down below, okay?
I'm happy to go through as many of them as I can,
but now the most common form of factitious disorder by proxy
is a mother to her child
just like in the Dee Dee and Gypsy Rose case,
but it can happen to anyone,
but the important thing to remember
is that while it can appear
like perpetrator is caring and loving to their victim,
that's only in public so that they can get attention
and praise for being so caring and loving
because when they go home and they're alone
with their victim, the perpetrator will abuse the victim
emotionally and physically as they try to make them sick.
Remember they'll do things to cause those symptoms.
This is very dangerous and a shocking 9% of children
die as a result of a parent
having factitious disorder by proxy,
and many physicians are not aware of the signs,
and they can also be distracted
by all of the symptoms
that their patient is supposedly having.
I mean, just think about it.
A mother who has factitious disorder by proxy
has so many illnesses to choose from.
She could even pick and choose some symptoms
from various illnesses to ensure
that the doctors are confused and request more testing
and, or appointments to see their child.
But then also because these abusive people tend
to harm their victims to make it appear as if they're sick
it can be really hard for a doctor to know
what symptoms are real versus what ones are being faked.
There have even been reports of parents
with factitious disorder by proxy threatening doctors
with malpractice if they don't figure out
why their child is constantly so sick,
and this chaos can create the perfect storm
for them to continue looking like an amazing caretaker
or parent getting attention and support all the while
harming their victim or child.
However, there are some things to look out for
and ways to catch them in the act.
First, just notice if this same child
has many various illnesses over a short period of time.
Second, notice that if the doctor
doesn't pay much attention to the parent or perpetrator
they will escalate the symptoms or issue
until they get the attention that they want,
and finally notice if the parent or caretaker seems
at ease in the hospital and happy
to really rid themselves
of their parental or caretaking responsibilities
while they're there.
It's been reported that they tend to leave their victim
alone and go chat with other moms or caretakers,
and overall just seem really thrilled to be there
chatting it up with doctors and nurses
trying to make friends in the hospital.
It's very interesting.
Now treatment is obviously recommended for anyone
who suffers from factitious disorder
or factitious disorder by proxy.
However, it is reported that most who have these disorders
are not interested at all in treatment
and often don't see any issue
with what they're doing.
Now they hypothesize that those with factitious disorder
in any form most likely have a history
of physical abuse but have never processed it.
Some other research also shows
that mothers who have factitious disorder by proxy
often have a very distant, if not,
a completely gone spouse.
Meaning the husband or wife
or whomever they were with is just
not interested in them, not involved.
Some work a lot, some are divorced, some were abusive.
They just are trying to do anything
to kind of bring them back into the family.
And so they pretend the child is ill
in order to get the husband or wife back in the picture,
but because not many received treatment
or are honest when they're mandated to see a therapist.
Some have been mandated and just lie
'cause that's kind of what they do.
There isn't much positive data
to show which types of therapy could work
or what issues could lead someone
to having factitious disorder,
but since not many received treatment
or are honest when they're mandated
to see a therapist 'cause a lot of them get mandated
and they just lie 'cause that's kind of what they do.
So there isn't much positive data
to show which types of therapy work
or what issues could lead someone
to having factitious disorder of any kind.
And after reading all the information about it,
I truly feel that what needs to happen
is that more medical professionals need
to know about factitious disorder
and factitious disorder by proxy
because when it's by proxy, it is abuse,
and the sooner we catch them
the sooner we can get that child out of that home
or unhealthy situation because it's not safe,
and since they often don't want help
we need to do our best to protect the victims.
So please share this video
because you never know who it could help.
The more medical professionals
we have that better understand this illness
hopefully the less and less it happens
and the less victims we have to deal with because, again,
so many people die from this.
9% of children, that is unacceptable.
So please share and also share any comments
or questions that you have down below.
Have a wonderful day and I will see you next time, bye.