Perhaps no one likes to get sick and be treated. But some people dream of getting into a hospital bed or under a surgical knife. For this purpose, they fantasize so much that it’s hard not to believe them. And in some cases, they will injure themselves, if only an ambulance would come for them. In medicine, such a unique case is called Munchausen's syndrome.
It is extremely rare – in 0.8-0.9% of people. And most often affects women than men, and at any age. What is such a mental disorder? Why is it called that? How to recognize a simulator? All these questions will be answered by estet-portal.com.
Munchausen Syndrome: how the phenomenon got its name
The unique syndrome is called that for a reason. The fact is that the British endocrinologist and hematologist Richard Asher once encountered a patient who was eager to be treated, despite the fact that he was completely healthy. Soon similar cases were found in other people. And in 1951, Richard Asher gave the name to this phenomenon – Munchausen's syndrome.
After all, like the German baron, who was once an incredible dreamer, writing interesting stories about his adventures, patients in every possible way invented painful symptoms and even created them for themselves.
In the modern sense, an unusual syndrome is a mental disorder in which a person simulates or artificially provokes the onset of symptoms of a specific disease. He does all this in order to be hospitalized, examined and treated with a surgical method.
Munchausen syndrome: what is the essence of the unusual phenomenon
The essence of this mental disorder is that a person has an obsessive desire to be treated, and from everything that is possible. Although in fact there is no disease. But despite this, a patient with Munchausen's syndrome sets himself the goal – get into a hospital bed.
The pretenders use their acting skills to get hospitalized. They allegedly writhe and groan in pain. And for greater persuasiveness, they even injure themselves by swallowing foreign objects, making cuts with a knife and taking dangerous drugs.
This simulation does not have a purpose such as missing work or taking sick leave. Patients do all this for the very fact of treatment.
How to recognize Munchausen's syndrome: we recognize a simulator
Because Munchausen's syndrome – the phenomenon is quite rare, it is very difficult to recognize it even for doctors. Therefore, it is not surprising why such patients do not immediately end up in psychiatric clinics, but in ordinary hospitals and surgical departments. It happens that before the secret is revealed, the patient can undergo more than one operation. But it is quite possible to recognize a liar if you carefully observe him.
The main feature of the simulator – constant complaints about the state of health and severe pain. And he insistently demands to operate on him.
"Munchausens" are self-centered, narcissistic, emotionally immature and lonely people. They are prone to masochism and demonstrativeness. And they are overcome by anxiety and low or high self-esteem. They practically do not make contact with people. They have impulsive behavior. When simulating the disease, women are more hysterical, and men – more aggressive.
What is most interesting is that such people are not deprived of intellectual abilities. Before pretending to be a patient, they study medical textbooks and reference books, gaining knowledge about a particular disease and forming a history of their illness. This is done so that the simulation is so believable that even the doctors do not guess that they are facing a real liar. Such patients believe that they know all the subtleties of medicine and even give advice to doctors.
"Barons" most often end up in hospitals with the following "problems":
• "Acute belly" – the patient complains of severe pain in the abdomen, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, which he artificially causes by taking laxatives and other drugs. There are cases when a simulator even swallows spoons, forks and other foreign objects, just to be operated on.
Hysterical pains can be so difficult to distinguish from true ones that doctors often operate on a malingerer.
• Severe bleeding from various parts of the body. The simulant intentionally injures himself in order to cause bleeding and complain about it. Someone injures the gum to represent hemoptysis, which often occurs with tuberculosis, pneumonia, lung cancer, and other diseases. And someone will injure the anus to depict rectal bleeding. There are also cases when the "barons" use paint or animal blood.
• Fainting, epileptic seizures, severe headache, unusual gait – such symptoms seem so plausible that they are difficult to distinguish from real manifestations. Sometimes, to cause fainting or convulsive seizures, patients take special drugs.
If the patient, after a thorough examination, was found out and he was refused treatment, he persistently leaves with "acute pains"; and other unpleasant "symptoms" to another hospital and so bypasses several clinics until he gets his way.
There is also delegated Munchausen's syndrome. This is a more dangerous case, because here "sick" not the simulator himself, but his ward. It could be a child or a relative with a disability. In this case, the dreamer harms the health of an already close person, for example, feeding him poisoned food, suffocating him with a pillow, giving unnecessary medicines, or exaggerating the dosage of drugs. If you do not arrive in time, everything can end tragically.
Munchausen syndrome: what are the causes of inappropriate behavior
Why do people decide to do something crazy? Experts believe that they are doing this for one purpose – receive attention, pity and care from others. Psychiatrists believe that the root of this problem lies in the very childhood of the patient. Often, Munchausen's syndrome occurs due to the fact that a person grew up in an inferior or dysfunctional family, where he did not receive love, care and affection. The reverse situation also happens: pathology occurs due to excessive attention of parents at the time of the child's illness. After recovery, he formed a stereotype that in order to receive love, sympathy and understanding, it is necessary to get sick. This misconception carried over into adulthood. Another reason for the unusual syndrome is the patient's low self-esteem. In order to raise her, he resorts to various tricks.
What to do when you suspect Munchausen syndrome: diagnosis and treatment
It is far from always possible to establish a diagnosis only by seeing the patient. For accurate diagnosis, it is necessary to carefully examine the patient and constantly monitor him. When a pathology is detected, doctors usually refer such people to a psychiatrist, preventing them from surgery and other medical measures that can harm their health. Treatment of «Munchausen» usually done in a psychiatric clinic.
Munchausen Syndrome – this is a special and difficult case in medical practice. But if you recognize it in time, you can save the life and health of the patient, as well as save the nerves of the doctors.
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