CHILD PHYSICAL ABUSE
Fabricated or Induced Illness by Carers:
- fabricating or inducing illness or injury in a child (Now called Fabricated or Induced Illness by Carers but formerly known as Munchausen by proxy Syndrome)
One of the more unusual forms of physical abuse is when a Parent or Caregiver, usually a Mother, fabricates or induces (brings on) an illness or injury in a child so that they need to seek attention. They might lie about episodes of illness taking place, or might induce illness using poison. This is called Fabricated or Inducted Illness by Carers and replaces the formerly known Munchausen by proxy Syndrome. This abuse is also known by other names that you may have heard of - Munchausen by Proxy; Meadow's Syndrome; Factitious Disorder; and Fictitious Disorder by Proxy.
In these cases the perpetrator thrives on the attention, sympathy and comfort they receive when their child is ill or requires treatment. When people do the same thing to themselves (commonly called hospital shoppers) it’s simply Munchausen Syndrome or Factitious Disorder - but when they gain the same benefits through a substitute such as a child, they are doing it ‘by proxy’ – hence the name.
There has recently been an increase in cases of Fabricated or Induced Illness by Carers with the expansion of social media - introduction of crowd funding pages, Facebook, community pages, blogs, hotline websites, forums etc.
In recent years there has been an emergence of FDP (Fictitious Disorder by Proxy) in Educational settings where Parents request extensive education-related evaluations for children who do not demonstrate any educational need.