BBC story on "Munchausen by internet"

[exexpat]

Interesting piece on BBC website about people who invent their own/their children's illnesses to get attention on the internet. Obviously MN is not the only place to get them occasionally.

Blimey!

That is really interesting exexp - the lengths and depths sone people will go to for some attention is incredible isn't it?

(haven't see BBC News magazine before - it makes a good read -thanks for the link)

Anither thread on this here.

Wow, can you imagine having the energy to keep up a deception of that sort for up to six years. Just can't get my head round it.

All I can say I hope they never ever have a child with a terminal illness

r

It's so sad, I've seen one of these on a childhood leukaemia support group and it caused a lot of pain and did damage to the ability of the group to support the parents, the person was revealed to be a fake in the end but some mistrust always remains after something like this and it is a terrible thing to do to people who find it so hard to get genuine support from others who understand even a fraction of what they are going through.

Can't believe they missed the trick of calling it munchausen by proxy server...

Sorry

Kato, I love it!

And that's why they pay me the big bucks! Prrrfffft

at Kato!

It's a shame - it's such an abuse of trust.

But I suppose it's (slightly) better than actually making your children ill so that you can get attention for yourself from health professionals, which is what some Munchausen people do, I think.

Wasn't there someone who trolled here saying they'd lost a baby?

Sick people, just not sick in the way they present themselves.

There have been a few, Sunny. Some really dramatic and terrible tales that turned out to be a pile of shit.

Really, we all have to protect ourselves and remember at all times that all we have are the words that we read which could as easily be fiction as real. It's easy to think that we all 'know' each other, but we don't.

Subject was covered on Radio 4 earlier this week, too. Absolutely fascinating and so terribly sad at the same time.

solopower - couldn't agree more with your point about it being marginally better than actually harming a child / someone else.