munchausen syndrome
... could cause the child to go through painful medical tests that aren’t really necessary. The child could become sick, injured, or even die from the actions of person suffering from Munchausen by Proxy, which is also known as MSBP. The children that are most likely subjected to MSBP are usually younger than 6 years old. This can appear in children as old as teenagers. Older children and teens that are put in this situation might cooperate with the offending care giver. They might tell the doctors what the care giver told them to say. The person suffering from MSBP who harms a child often times is not aware that his or her behavior is harmful and inappropriate. In this case the person sees no reason to get treatment for their illness. The only way these people can get the treatment they need is if someone close to them or one of the health professionals notices this from the care giver. The children exposed to MSBP might begin to think they are really sick and act like a sick, weak child. They also could develop this disorder themselves when they become adults. What causes a person to falsely report symptoms on a child is not known. It could be due to many factors, such as stress and anxiety. This may lead them to feel as if they have no power over their own lives and cannot control the things they say about their children or what they do to them. By being involved with the person they are making ill or reported being ill, the person suffering form MSBP may gain attention or sympathy from doctors and other people and they may feel a sense of being important or in control of events. Treatment of this disorder rarely involves drug therapy and usually takes years of counseling. What usually causes Munchausen could be something like a person being in the hospital for some reason and found he or she was better cared for there, than in everyday life. Somehow, this can set off a trigger, and the sufferer will fall into the pattern where he or she craves m...