Within mental disorders, there is one that is very difficult to detect and diagnose because, apparently , the patient does not have a psychopathology, but a physical disease that is difficult to diagnose.It is known as Munchausen syndrome , but it is also called " factitious disorder ", since the word "factitious" means "artificial". What is Munchausen syndrome and some of the most surprising cases of this mental illness.
Discover what is Munchausen syndrome and surprising cases
Before you begin to discover what is the Syndrome of Munchausen or Munchhausen it is interesting to know who was «Munchhausen».Karl Friedrich Hieronymus, baron of Munchhausen, was an aristo German crata who lived in the 18th century.He was a page of the Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg and enlisted in the Russian army with which he fought in two bells against the Turks.On his way back to his home I tell several incredible stories about his adventures.that he had traveled to the moon or that he had ridden on a canon bullet.
The writer Rudolf Erich Raspe created a fictional character that collects and exaggerates the stories that the aristocrat explained and whom I call Baron de Munchausen, without dieresis or "h" interspersed.Because of the fictional nature of the adventures he explained, the surname was applied to the psychopathological disorder known as Munchausen syndrome or Munchhausen syndrome , which is both correct since in one case reference is made to the last name of the historical character and in the other to the literary one.
1.What is Munchausen Syndrome?
Munchausen syndrome is a mental disorder in which the person who suffers is self-injured or self-ill, real or fictitious, with the purpose of getting attention from third parties .He was first diagnosed and baptized as "Munchausen Syndrome" in 1951 by Dr.Asher in his article published in The Lancet in February of that year.
It is not someone who feigns a disease, since this does not imply a psychiatric pathology, but someone with a psychopathological disorder that makes them need to assume the role of the patient to get attention without this, as in the case of simulators, get your own benefit or be free of any responsibility.
They are usually treated by family doctors or general practitioners who in very few cases refer them to a psychiatric unit and instead become what WHO has baptized as "pilgrim patients" , since in the absence of an organic pathology or by successive self-harm, when rejected by a care center, they go to others where they are again under study , performing new explorations and interventions and obtaining the medical and personal attention they crave.
2.Amazing cases of Munchausen Syndrome
Although many times are difficult to diagnose , some extreme cases of Munchausen syndrome or Factitious disorder they have been published in medical journals or have jumped into the media.Let's look at two cases that were especially noticeable:
The nurse in hemodialysis
This case was described in the «Magazine of Nefrologia »of the Spanish Society of Nephrology in 2012.Explains the case of a 31-year-old woman who was undergoing hemodialysis due to chronic kidney disease with a poorly defined cause and a permanent pacemaker who was placed for a tachycardia syndrome., who was a nurse by profession, I arrived at the emergency room saying that I had fever with chills, anuria and malaise.The preliminary diagnosis was of septic shock due to infection of the hemodialysis catheter and was admitted to the ICU.On the third day of treatment all values were normal and there was no evidence of Kidney disease: An ultrasound scan showed the kidneys and urinary tract of normal size and echogenicity.The doctors suspected that the woman had factitious disorder or Munchausen syndrome .It was found that from her post work altered her own urine samples and had access to medication to cause arrhythmias and alter or cancel hemodialysis sessions.It was also discovered that she herself had damaged the infected fistula.The doctors did not know with certainty the reasons that led her to Munchausen's Syndrome.
The case of Suzy Bass
The case of Suzy Bass was uncovered in 2007.This woman of just over 40 years, a teacher On, she said she had stage IV breast cancer when she arrived in Knoxvill, TN.She quickly got the support of the entire educational community that helped her and took care of her during the crises of her illness.When the people who treated her wanted to gather around her to family and friends so that he could say goodbye to them before he died, they discovered that he was not really sick and that he had done the same in a Georgia school and his own family when he was younger.In his defense Bass said that he really I thought I was sick and about to die every one of the three times I said I had cancer and let myself be cared for and pampered by family and friends.
Munchausen syndrome and its known variant as Munchausen syndrome by powers, in which « the caregiver , produces, exaggerates or induces health problems , whether physical or mental, to those people who They are in charge , with the only end d de get consideration and sympathy from others »and that you might want to know more about the Lifestyle entry: Munchausen by Powers | 3 Real Cases, it is not accepted by many professionals, although WHO does so by qualifying it as "factitious disorder" .It was recognized in 2013.Do you know the existence of Munchausen Syndrome? Do you have more information about it? Share them with us! We will be happy to read you.
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