At Weird-Sci we investigate many oddities, but this one just might hit the top ten list for the most peculiar. We were already aware of Munchausen Syndrome, whereas a person causes illness or injury to themselves to seek attention, but we never knew there was another side of this syndrome where another person involuntary stands in for the attention seeker. To understand how Munchausen Syndrome by Proxy (MDbP) works, we’ll need to look at an example.
We’ve chosen to illustrate how this disease works by citing a fictitious account, as most of these cases involve children and we choose to protect the innocent. While the situation given won’t be real, it will have all of the earmarks of an actual case. And so, we move onto the case of Janet and Billy Wayne.
Janet Wayne is called home from work early by her babysitter. It would seem her son, Billy, has taken ill again. Upon entering the house she quickly lays her purse and keys down and asks the babysitter how her son is doing. The news is grave, as the child has been vomiting all evening and is showing no sign of getting any better. The babysitter recommends that the boy be taken to the hospital and the mother quickly agrees.
Having left the home several months ago, the father is nowhere to be found, nor is any thought given to contacting him. The mother rushes little Billy out to the car as the babysitter gathers up some of the boy’s belongings. This wouldn’t be the boy’s first trip to the hospital, and she was certain it wouldn’t be the last.
At the hospital, the boy is rushed into the ER. A trickle of blood is falling from his nose and he’s becoming lethargic. As the mother is too distraught to speak, the babysitter calmly fills the staff in on the boy’s medical condition, detailing every allergy and the numerous medications Billy has been taking. She’s deeply concerned for the boy’s health, and yet, she is somehow able to function as a proxy for the mother.
The days go by with the mother stopping in each morning to check on her son’s recovery. The outlook isn’t good, as Billy is showing little of improvement. The doctors are baffled, but they know little Billy has pulled through worse and are confident he will do so again. At the boy’s side is the babysitter, faithfully feeding him some chicken soup she had brought from home. As the boy’s protector she has been there almost constantly, only stealing a few moments away each day to go home for a nap and a change of clothes. Janet asks the young woman for an update and is quickly updated on the boy’s vitals. She then grabs the babysitter in her arms and cries, all the while praying that her son will get better.
Three weeks have passed by and little Billy is finally showing some improvement. With summer at an end, the babysitter needed to return to med school and Janet has taken a leave of absence from work to care for her son. Though she isn’t as much as a cook as the babysitter was, she has maintained the chicken soup ritual via canned stock she bought from the grocery store. Has the magic of the broth once again brought her child back from death’s door? The doctor seems to think differently as he pulls Janet out of the room.
It would seem small levels of Warfarin have been found in the boy’s bloodstream, and the doctor wants to know if the boy somehow got hold of some rat poison. Janet defiantly claims that’s not possible as the boy is never left alone, and besides, she has no rat poison in the house. Still, the doctor is skeptical, and he has every right to be, as the boy’s condition didn’t improve until the babysitter returned to college. He had witnessed the faithful daily feedings of chicken soup and the boy’s recent improvement, which allowed him to finally assemble the pieces to the puzzle. And while this is only an example, it definitely shows how such a disorder works in real life.
MSbP is a disorder where a person seeks attention by causing injury or illness to another. At no point is the intent to actually kill the victim as this would end the needed symbiotic bond, but there have been occasions where the person suffering from the disorder has inadvertently caused their victim to die.
In 90% of all cases it’s a woman who suffers from this disorder, and the victims are typically small children or vulnerable adults. While it’s difficult for us to conceive why one human being would want to do this to another, we need to understand that these are people seeking attention, and what better resource is there for constant attention than a hospital?
Sufferers of this disorder will typically hover over their victim and forge a bond with the treatment team, making themselves a proxy between the caregivers and the patient. As for the victim, they often bond heavily with their aggressor as they see the person as having a major stake in their existence, which furthers the disorder. And while the person suffering this disorder can seem very genuine in their care for the victim, they see that person as merely a tool to gain the attention they are craving.
Of the many mental disorders that exist, this is perhaps one of the strangest, as it forms a symbiotic bond between two humans where each sees the other as the necessary piece for their survival. This is why such a condition is so difficult to diagnose, as it’s nearly impossible for a caregiver to determine the difference between a concerned loved one and a person suffering from a factitious disorder. And as if all that wasn’t bizarre enough, there have also been cases where the victim has been a pet.
While many of us might see the results of this disorder as an intolerable crime, we need to remember that those who suffer from it are unable to control their impulses and are definitely in need of psychiatric help. While some do finally overcome this disorder, there are also many who do not, and unlike many other disorders it’s transferable over time to its victims. We can only hope that someday a cure will be found, as there are many who have been suffering silently from it for quite some time.
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