Have you ever come across someone with Munchausen syndrome?

Munchausen is a mental illness where a person fakes being sick (often terminally ill) for the attention they receive from doctors and others. They may even deliberately poison themselves to make it appear more real. Munchausen-by-proxy is an especially disturbing version of the illness where a person makes someone else (often a child) sick for the attention.

A couple years ago I was on another site and interacted with this man who was apparently dying of cancer; he chronicled all his surgeries and his story was very detailed, emotional, and moving, and a lot of people were deeply into it. In the end it turned out he had faked the entire thing.

JaneDoeEyes · 36-40, F

I was accused of having Munchausen by proxy because I took my son to the Dr. A total of 21 times in my sons first 3 months. There were many things that even to a new mother screamed something was wrong. They removed him from my care for 6 months. After I got him back I was terrified to take him to the Dr. At age 4 I used Google and made a "diagnosis" of Cystic Fibrosis.

That day I marched into the Dr office that I had begged for help from,the people who stole my baby's health from him and him from me. I came in loud and demanded to see the two doctors we always saw,told them I wasn't waiting and I wanted both in the same room.

I'll never forget how smug and infantilizing they acted untill I stood up and told them to wipe the smug looks of their face and told them that I had diagnosed him with Google. They laughed at me and asked what he had. When I said "CF and your going to send him for a sweat test today and after that I'm coming for your jobs,I'm coming for everything you have" the smiles just slid from their faces.

Both resigned that day by the time we got back from Saint Louis with a positive sweat test.

I wasn't sad to find out he had it,I was just so grateful to finally have an answer and the medical care he needed the entire time.

Picklebobble2 · 56-60, M

I've come across it twice in my working life as a social worker.

I think it's human nature to [i]want[/i] to help people who [i]appear[/i] to be in trouble.
And when you read endless reports from 'Professionals' who supposedly know about this stuff but don't take the possibility into account when making their 'diagnosis' of their patient/clients 'condition' it is very worrying.

SW-User

Yeah I've only seen them online. There's a lot of them chronicling their countless hospital visits on Instagram.