A complex and rare syndrome.
A child connected to an infusion (Photo: ShutterStock)
Yesterday (Tuesday) a horrifying case was revealed of a mother from Bnei Brak who was arrested on suspicion of trying to contaminate the wounds of her one-year-old toddler son.
The medical staff at Safra Children's Hospital noticed the mother's unusual behavior, and the police have a record of her putting substances into her son's infusion.
The mother was arrested on suspicion of abusing a helpless person and released to house arrest.
Fortunately, the toddler's condition is minor.
The motive for this abnormal behavior is of course unknown at this point, but such horrific cases are published once in a while and the psychiatric phenomenon known as "Minchausen syndrome" is brought into the discussion.
This is an extreme situation in which people harm themselves or others under their care in order to receive medical and mental attention.
These are usually involved and dedicated parents.
And that is part of the difficulty
Munchausen syndrome can manifest itself in physical or mental self-harm, but in some cases a person may also harm those closest to him to achieve the same goals.
In professional parlance, this is called Munchausen syndrome by a messenger.
In these cases the parent will harm the child to make him sick and thus "profit" from it.
The causes of Munchausen syndrome are not clear, but it is commonly assumed that it is a need for attention.
There are cases where people do this because they are more relaxed when they, or the minor under their care, is inside the patient's bed in the hospital.
It is important to note that this is a complex and rare phenomenon, which may be affected by a variety of mental factors.
Contrary to the image that may be created, these are not cases of neglect.
In most of these cases, the parent will be very involved, and along with that involvement he will cause these things.
The damage is not entirely conscious.
Because this is a difficult syndrome to diagnose, medical teams rely on a multitude of warning lights to conduct a more in-depth investigation of the condition.
Some of the symptoms are a child who suffers from several problems at once, inconsistency in terms of laboratory tests, a parent who interferes with the work of the team and sticks to the child in an extreme way or demonstrates extensive medical knowledge.
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Munchausen syndrome
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