Table of ContentsView AllTable of ContentsRecognizing the SyndromeConsequencesComplicationsPreventionTreatmentPrognosis
Table of ContentsView All
View All
Table of Contents
Recognizing the Syndrome
Consequences
Complications
Prevention
Treatment
Prognosis
In time, children of this form of abuse can come to believe that they are really sick. Some children fear to contradict their mothers or feel that no one will believe the truth if they tell it.
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Caretakers may take to extreme measures to fake symptoms in the child. This may include doing the following things:
These signs can indicate that a child is the recipient of abuse:
Some mothers may severely hurt their children in order to cause symptoms. A mother may poison her child with medications, chemicals, or salt, givelaxatives to cause diarrheaor syrup of ipecac to cause vomiting. Some may go as far as suffocating the child for brief periods of time to cause respiratory and nervous system problems.
Sometimes the abused child dies as a result of the induced medical procedures, such assurgery, done to treat the child’s strange symptoms.
If you recognizesymptoms of abuse, you can help prevent continued abuse. Putting an end the abuse may also mean preventing unnecessary, expensive, and possibly dangerous medical testing.
Children may need medical care to treat complications that could arise from injuries, infections, medication, surgeries, or tests. They may also need to see achild psychiatristor other mental health professional to deal with the psychiatric trauma which can manifest as depression, anxiety, and post-traumatic stress disorder.
Parents or caregivers who abuse a child this way havea psychological problemthat requires professional intervention. This usually involves individual and family therapy. Because they are a form of abuse, these cases are also reported to the authorities.
Summary
Caregivers can go to extreme lengths to fake illness and may sometimes end up causing the child real harm. Treatment for Munchausen syndrome involves medical and psychological treatment for the child as well as individual and family therapy for the caregiver doing the abuse.
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