Munchausen Syndrome (Factitious Disorder)
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- Опубліковано 1 січ 2022
- Factitious Disorder, previously known as Munchausen Syndrome, is a condition where people fake or exaggerate illness and injury for no apparent reason other than to to gain sympathy and attention from others.
In this video Darren Magee outlines the common characteristics and behaviours of the disorder and discusses some ideas of where it might come from. It is a condition which can also be present with some personality disorders such as narcissistic personality, borderline personality or anti social personality.
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The videos I make are requested by you the viewer. Please feel free to suggest any mental health related topics you might like me to cover in future videos. And happy new year.
Love the video. any chance of a video on Bipolar disorder? many thanks! Cheers Darren!
@@amberlynnwantstobefat5933 I’ve made a video recently on bipolar disorder already if you think you’d find it helpful
I experienced what I believe to be Munchausen by proxy when I was six years old. I watched my father set up a type of hobby-horse for me and my brother. He left a 3 inch nail protruding out of the back of the seat. I can remember seeing him inspect it and thinking to myself that he would remove it but he didn't. Shortly after my two year old brother was severely impaled through his upper lip and gum leaving a terrible scar. For days after the incident my father put on what I now believe was a type of histrionic display of conspicuous "self-recrimination" for "missing" (not seeing) the nail? I saw him set up the hobby-horse and I know he saw the nail. Even at the age of six I knew that something was "not right" about the whole episode. I can still remember his continuous lamentations about "missing the nail" and the sympathy he was able to draw from his continual self recrimination. I later became a mental health counselor and now understand that my father meets enough of the diagnostic criteria for BPD, NPD and HPD to be diagnosed with all three of those disorders but I think he is primarily a high functioning borderline with strong elements of malignant narcissism and vindictive sadism. Would love to see some research on the possible links between covert sadism and histrionic trends/disorder???
You’ve just described someone I was close friends with for many years. She manufactured illnesses as a way of controlling friends and family, especially when things didn’t go her way. She was extremely jealous of my other friendships, and the final straw was when she faked having a heart attack because I was paying too much attention to another friend. I had to walk away from her and the long term friendship. She stalks me on Social media still to this day, after many years.
There are so many facets to this disorder. It sounds like it would be literally impossible to treat much less “cure” if that’s even possible. Thank you for this video. Very informative.
A few years ago I had symptoms which were described as “ medically unexplained” by my GP and two specialists. ( swallowing problems, tingling and numbness and poor balance ) Now every time i have an appointment I dread going I’m convinced this is what all Drs think of me, It’s gotten to stage where I put off seeking medical help due to of humiliation and upset. I have never lied or set out to deceive. still have no diagnosis to explain many symptoms and don’t know how I’ll ever overcome this. I was diagnosed with ataxia but no help to cope with it, bring off unknown cause. Thank you very much for this video and you channel
Marcia, get a lyme test done. A test from California if possible
Marci get help. Get REAL help. So many illnesses are written off as "all in your head."
It's so easy to escape the emotional abuse by avoiding these "health professionals" altogether.
You are going to have to be very brave. You are worth it.
Trust your own guidance system.
Sending you my love.
💚💙💛💜
@@Lotus-Subliminals-Shorts thank you Susan I have tried many times. The answer to my problems was to send me to a group where elders and lonely people sat with colouring in books (!just before the pandemic ) it was degrading. I have spend so much money trying to get help / well.
A decade back I suffered a partial spinal cord injury. As a result I had some physical disabilities. I had a cousin at the time who just started having my symptoms. She kept going to the Dr for it and they couldn't figure out what was causing her problems. The weirdest thing is she would try claiming these symptoms to me. Asking me how I deal with such and such cause she found it difficult. There were times I remember questioning my own body. Haven't seen her in forever Thank god
Fascinating to hear you explain it. My mother suffered from this condition and also Munchhausen by proxy - which meant feeding me foods she knew I was allergic to in order to keep me sick until I finally figured it out in my teens. The doctors didn’t understand why I continued to be so I’ll. I had a difficult childhood.
Thank you for this video. Happy New Year!
Interesting topic. In the future please add closed captioning. Have a wonderful 2022, from a fellow behavioral health professional.
Thank you for your kind feedback. I have begun adding closed captioning to the videos, they are usually added a day or so later. Kind regards and a happy new year to you too.
My mother presents as BPD and is highly narcissistic. She has always been intensely jealous of her children and now her grandchildren. I was a sick child, which i thought had to do with trauma from her abuse, but looking back it's really not clear. My days were filled with her voice talking about herself and her ailments all day long, it never ended. It was torture having to endure a long car trip with her. Nobody could relax for the sound of her going on and on and on. I had really severe migraine headaches, which became a daily thing. If I complained, she also had a headache. If my stomach hurt, she also felt ill. I spent my entire childhood constantly sick with dreadful and long lasting chest infections. I'm a singer and she's fiercly jealous of my musicality...🤷♀️
The very last time i spent with her was when she demand-invited us for Christmas dinner while she was clearly very ill with a nasty cough. She coughed with her mouth wide open in our faces every chance she got and all over all of the food. After that, we both got very ill and had to take time out of work and music. This is a woman who is completely unreasonable, unapproachable and capable of some serious rage and tantrums, so nobody dares say a word about it to her. She buys medications for problems she does not have all the time, and deliberately doesn’t look after her real illnesses. She has sabotaged her own surgery by refusing to follow doctors orders. I wonder about the difference between histrionics and munchausen, or could her behaviour simply be part of her personality?
My mum has type 1 diabetes but has lived the past 40 years as if she was on palliative care. My dad the enabler is her carer and has to test her blood, tell her what units to have, what to eat. She has an eating disorder but he honestly thinks she doesn’t. Her hypos and lack of appetite is something else. He always brings her back to life so is codependent and he thinks she will die if he left her for 2 hours. Is so sick
I have seen this area in a person. It’s VILE to watch a mother get attention for whatever she did to her child. She also comments on herself and ex-husband. It’s beyond what a normal person can even fathom. It’s true that they appear to have done all this for NO real reason, with no visit to a doctor. Super odd. Total fabrication. When that doesn’t work? Chemtrails can substitute. It’s a revolving door.
Thank you for this video Darren. Is this condition different than hypochondria?
Thank you for your question. It is different yes and hypochondria is a topic I’ll be covering in the future
The problem with Munchauser is when a narcissistic mother projects the illness on her child. I have a narcissistic mother with Munchauser syndrome and she tortured me with all her medicines and vaccines since I was a child. I even developped a malformation on my head shape due to so much medication as an infant, that leaded to much discrimination and bullying in my youth and me developping a cancer before I turned 30.
What I find more curious about these type of mothers, with NPD and Munchauser is that they freely torture their child with medicines and medical procedures while their husbands keep silent. My father tricked me as a child that he was a good father, but now I realize it was not like that. He shouldn't have permitted all the experiments she did on my body while I was under his custody, too.
Psychosomatic symptoms can become so true that it almost forms a psychosis in the sufferers mind. They are so set in their mind of the illness that the mind believes the symptoms are manifesting in the sufferer.
You identified literally all of the symptoms of someone I believe to have munchausen Syndrome. The question I have is; can a person have both munchausen Syndrome and munchausen biproxy syndrome?
I appreciate your videos. I have had no contact with my narcissistic mother and entire family for eight years. It was the best and hardest decision of my life. I was not, however, prepared for the societal abuse and judgment in folks encountering an individual with no demonstrable family relationships. I am in my late 40's now. And, thankfully, I have learned to navigate things well -- including not reattracting myself into scapegoat/rescuer roles plus better protecting my private life from public consumption. Kindly, can Munchausen projection happen with mental health conditions? Or does it only apply to physical health? From a very young age, my narcissistic mother would tell people I was crazy. I had a high IQ and ultimately obtained a graduate degree from an Ivy League University as well as held a pre-doctoral fellowship from the American Mental Health Association. Today, I am the Chief Operating Officer of a national company. As a child, my mother told me stories of a "genius" friend of the family who went off to college, had a nervous breakdown, and was never the same. She took me to a state mental institution to visit my stepfather while in primary school. He was dual diagnosed manic depressive and paranoid schizophrenic. I recall a person walking a dog on the grounds that did not exist, among other troubling memories. My mother was diagnosed with anxiety disorder and openly shared beginning my earliest years that she had been molested by 11 family members among other traumas (like witnessing a stranger being murdered on the street as a young girl). My mother once took me to a psychologist at the age of 10. He stopped the session, looked at her, and said: you and I both know there is nothing wrong with this child. She grabbed my hand and we left. She never took me to another therapist. But she continued to tell every family member and friend that she could over the years I was crazy. They openly called me crazy. People who were addicted to cocaine, repeat felons, and psychiatrically diagnosed persons stood to my face and said I was crazy. She never defended me. I once had a cousin tell me as a young adult I was "the most sane crazy person she ever met." I am grateful to God that I survived these and many other experiences that left a hole in my soul. Please accept my gratitude for your excellent work. You are a light to so many. Thank you for being a great professional and human being -- the care shines through in your delivery.
Thank you for your kind feedback and question. I’ll be covering Munchausen by Proxy in a future video answering that question
@@DarrenFMagee Terrific, thank you -- I look forward to it.
Sounds exactly like the ex wife and eldest daughter, thanks for sharing this information it has helped clarify some things.
Could you do a video sometime on people who do something similar to Munchausen syndrome behaviors like they claim false victimhood for attention or money. The people that claim they were hurt by someone but they weren't , they just wanted attention and they wanted that other person to look bad and look like an abuser. I know narcissists can behave this way sometimes with false victimhood and false accusations.
Thank you for your suggestion
What is the difference between this and malingering in regards to behavior traits?
When I was 10 years old I learnt what depression was and tried to get it to this day I feel horrible about it and feel like I can never escape the the hole I dug for myself I feel if I had one redo for life I could JUST BE NORMAL I hate my life and try not to thing about it I want to die. I am still on the antidepressants that i do not need I am stick in a mess I made and I have no one to blame but myself 😀
*stuck
mijn dochter met autisme had dit. ze sneed zich in haar arm en liet het in de wasbak lekken zodat het leek alsof ze bloed overgaf als overtuiging dat ze iets ernstigs had aan haar maag.
Can a person move from factitious disorder against self to factitious disorder against others and vice versa?
Happy New Year, Darren. Please can you talk about Narcissists where triangulation is involved. Also, can a fictitious disorder also be known as "Conversion disorder"?
Thank you for your question and suggestion. There are differences and I’ll look at those in a future video as well if you think that would be helpful. Happy new year to you as well.
What if someone in a family of high/overachievers seems really happy to have a mysterious chronic illness? Can this co occur with anorexia?
♥
They'll even copy illness symptoms/diagnoses from disabled loved ones (in my personal experience). I'm currently feeling like I'm stuck in a SWF situation 🤷 with my very own Hedra who mistakenly romanticizes my disabled existence - meanwhile I'm over here thinking grass greener on the able bodied part of the land 😅