Mental disorders adversely affect the quality of life, creating problems primarily in the social sphere.
But there are also such disorders as a result of which a person is completely deliberately harms their physical healthwhile acting with “alien hands”.
What is it in medicine?
Munchhausen syndrome - what is it in simple words?
This is a simulation disorder in which the individual purposefully fabricates the symptoms of the disease in order to receive medical assistance.
In this case, a person may exaggerate real health problems or ascribe to themselves non-existent diagnoses, simulating the corresponding symptoms.
This syndrome was first identified and described by the researcher. By Richard Asher in 1951.
Obsessed by the desire to undergo a course of treatment, “Munchhausen” can harm themselves, create invisible cuts on the body, inject unknown and dangerous substances, deliberately add dirt to the wounds, provoking the appearance of purulent boils, etc.
Munchhausen syndrome in medicine occurs quite often, and men prevail among the “professional patients”.
Often people with a disorder are referred for treatment and even operations, since it is not always possible to identify the disorder (or not from the first treatment).
Causes
The exact reasons for the development of Munchhausen syndrome remain for professionals. a mystery.
However, scientists believe that this disorder develops in people who did not receive enough attention in childhood.
Unloved children quickly realize that any discomfort makes adults fuss around the bed with a sick baby. Those. "The position of the patient" in their case is associated with real benefits and advantages.
As an adult, a person deliberately plays the role of the patient in order to get a portion of care, compassion, love, attention and even respect for how steadfastly Munchhausen fights against the ailment.
Often people with a similar disorder come from dysfunctional, incomplete or large families. In such conditions, the child does not feel the love and protection of the parents, or actively competes with other family members for the attention of the mother / father.
Symptoms and signs
People with Munchhausen syndrome are hysteroid, demonstrative personalities, dependent on someone else's assessments.
They adore be in the spotlight and differ in some infantilism.
It is worth noting that people with this syndrome have excellent acting characteristics and a rich imagination. These qualities ensure the credibility of the “painful performance”.
People with Munchhausen syndrome prone to liesand also very well oriented in non-standard situations, which allows them to quickly and efficiently cover their tracks and hide evidence, as well as counter any accusations and suspicions.
A skilled actor must also be well versed in diseases and terms in order to simulate certain symptoms.
Munchhausen syndrome is different from hypochondria in that the hypochondriac thinks he is sick and the person with Munchhausen wants to hurt and eager to be treated.
The clinical picture of the disorder
Suffering from "professional patients" disorder convince others in the presence of pathology and the need for its correction (mainly through surgical intervention).
They are not amenable to the entreaties and convictions of doctors who are trying to rationalize the “harrow” and prove that it is healthy.
As a rule, people with frustration go to the nearest hospitals, miraculously “bringing to light” the necessary symptoms, corresponding to the profile of the medical institution.
If during the examination the doctor suspects the patient of lying, the person dependent on the treatment will immediately go to another medical facility.
Distrust of doctors and refusal of radical measures of treatment can cause an attack of aggression in Munchhausen and anger.
The patient suffering from the syndrome begins to threaten the specialists by contacting the authorities, fatal as a result of the aggravation of their own illness, complaints and so on.
Watching films about Munchhausen's Syndrome (“The Ninth Life of Louis Drax”, “Little Lie to the Rescue”, “Bury me at the Baseboard”), you can get an accurate picture of the disorder, its development and its consequences.
Delegated Syndrome Description
Delegated Munchhausen syndrome (also known as Munchausen syndrome by proxy) is a type of simulation disorder in which a parent or guardian intentionally causes symptoms of an illness in a dependent or vulnerable person or fabricates them to seek medical help.
This situation is not about simply simulating the disease, since the child or a vulnerable adult does not take part in the “sick play”, being only puppet in the hands of a man with real frustration.
The guardian or parent harms the dependent person in order to ensure the credibility of the medical history.
But why does a person purposefully harm his neighbor? The “barons” do not enjoy the suffering of the vulnerable “sick”.
But they receive emotional benefits from the compassion of doctors, the admiration of others with their own perseverance and devotion, sympathetic attitudes and questions about the condition of the person being treated.
More often it is mothers who suffer from the delegated syndrome. And they can sit for days at the bed of a sick baby, sacrifice personal life and career, suffer various inconveniences and financial losses.
Example №1
A small patient arrived at the hospital, brought in by her mother. The boy’s body was covered with purulent boils. unknown origin. As a result of lengthy and serious examinations, the cause of the pathology was not identified.
In this case, the mother cried, insisted on the urgent hospitalization of the child and even required surgical intervention.
For the first time the boy was hospitalized, where opened the boils and ligation.
The kid quickly went on the mend. But the strangest thing in this story was that for the entire time that he was in the medical institution, the child did not new boils appeared.
One month after discharge history repeated. Mom brought her son again for treatment. The body of the child was covered with inflammations. At the same time, the woman cried, begged to help the baby and refused to move away from the hospital bed.
Comparing certain facts, doctors began to suspect the mother in a lie. But the woman quickly took the child from the hospital, justifying her decision by the desire to go to a private clinic.
A week later, the nurse admitted that she had seen the mother injecting the baby with a dirty syringe.
Example 2
A woman approached the hospital claiming that her 2-year-old daughter stuck in the nose a plastic part from a toy.
The examination revealed that in the nasal cavity really stuck foreign object.
Two weeks later, the woman turned to the specialists again. This time girl swallowed plastic part. Mother insisted on immediate surgery, falling into a hysterical state.
For the third time, the woman claimed that the baby pushed a piece of the designer in the ear. A thorough examination of the foreign object was not found.
But the woman still insisted on the operation and was very angry when the doctors denied the fact that there was a plastic element in the ear canal. As a result, she left the clinic with the intention of finding more competent doctors.
Munchhausen syndrome in mothers is the cause of child developmental lag.
The child, through which the mother seeks direct contact with doctors, is under severe stress, cannot make contact with peers, and later other babies begin to walk, talk and play.
Sometimes the situation goes so far that the parent brings the child to a critical state or even arranges murder, then to play the role of a person crushed by grief and to receive sympathy from others.
Treatment
Effective ways to correct the syndrome does not exist.
A big role is played by the desire of the patient himself to get rid of the disorder and his willingness realize the existence of the problem and the need to solve it.
If a patient with Munchhausen syndrome is “caught” in the hands of doctors, he is sent for psychological training, prescribed family therapy or regular consultations with a specialist.
In the case when an individual with a disorder is dangerous for himself or others (dependent and vulnerable relatives), “Munchhausen” is sent to compulsory hospitalization with further drug treatment.
The main task of a specialist when working with people suffering from the disorder is to show a person that there is a real problem (without provoking aggression and a new portion of lies).
The specialist must also transmit to the patient that, in addition to playing the role of the “patient,” there are other ways to get around, and ongoing medical interventions limit and reduce the quality of life.
There is a high probability of substitution, in which a person with a disorder perceives Munchhausen syndrome as another reason for receiving medical assistance and emotional benefits.
Munchhausen syndrome subject to the negligence of doctors can end with serious health problems, disability and even death.
Therefore, it is important for professionals not to be led by a person with a disorder and to closely monitor symptoms indicating the presence of the syndrome.
Simulation disorder or Munchhausen syndrome:
