323 hospital stays, 13 major surgeries – this is how the story of someone really very sick could begin. Unfortunately, 8-year-old Christopher was given such hell by his mother. The woman had been telling doctors for years that the boy had cancer, but in fact he was completely healthy.
- Kaylene Bowen had been telling doctors for eight years that her son was seriously ill. She stated that the boy was very allergic and had cancer
- The constant visits and the boy’s mother reported further ailments prompted one of the doctors to notify the relevant services
- According to specialists, the woman suffers from the so-called transferred Münchausen syndrome. The disease comes down to the abuse of children or adults under the care of a sick person
Kaylene Bowen convinced doctors that her son was severely allergic to milk and needed a lung transplant. Later, the woman began to convince her that her son had cancer. The 34-year-old even organized a fundraiser online for the treatment of her sick son. More and more new ailments and illnesses in Christopher, with which the mother reported to the doctors, finally disturbed one of them. When the doctor reported the matter to Child Protective Services, it emerged that the 8-year-old had never been ill.
The boy’s father, Ryan Crawford, said in one of the interviews that it all began eight days after the baby was born. The man added that his wife was persuading both him and the doctors that the boy violently “vomits” every time he drinks milk. She even told the judge that the boy would most likely never be able to walk. “It turned out that I do not have a sick son, but a sick wife,” he said.
Overprotection? No, it’s a disease
The disorder from which the boy’s mother suffers is called transferred Münchausen syndrome in psychiatry. The disease comes down to the abuse of children or adults under the care of a sick person. Most often, such a pathological reaction connects the biological mother and her child.
This seemingly caring and loving mother does not actually accept her child. He feels an inner need to be perceived by others as a sick person. The interest and compassion shown by family and friends is a kind of psychological reward for her. Usually, the mother triggers disease symptoms in her victim, e.g. by administering poison, starving, causing infection, suffocating until she is unconscious, and in milder forms – tells the doctor about imaginary symptoms of the disease or fabricates test results. These activities are planned, with special care to avoid exposure.
– People with Munchhausen syndrome are usually very well educated. They go to great lengths to obtain the information they need to produce the various symptoms. They know what drugs or substances to take to, for example, falsify the results of blood or urine tests. They force specific diagnostic tests or give symptoms that guarantee their hospitalization – says Dr. Joanna Mossakowska-Wójcik, a psychiatrist from the Medical University of Lodz, in an interview with Medonet.
Where is it coming from?
In the United States, 1200 cases of this disorder are recorded in medical statistics each year. However, doctors estimate that the true extent of this phenomenon, especially with regard to child abuse, remains unknown.
What causes parents (mainly mothers) to display such difficult-to-understand behaviors towards their children? Most specialists say that the behavior of a sick person results from the desire to focus on themselves, a sense of power over the child, or is an attempt to react to everyday problems. There are also doctors who believe that the existence of a nonspecific brain dysfunction arising in a mother who was a victim of abuse as a child, or lost one or both of her parents at an early age, or supersedes her childhood memories for an unclear reason. Strong stresses, such as marriage problems, can give rise to MSBP. The incorrect relationship between parents and the child is also indicated as the source of the disorder. The child is used as a tool to control the situation. The attention paid to the mother by the medical staff is perceived by her as a reward.
How to recognize?
The diagnosis of the disorder is very difficult due to the fact that a person with this disorder does not admit to “producing” symptoms of the disease in his victim. The doctor cannot assume in advance that this is not what the mother says. He must rule out the possibility of disease. But when the mother frequently returns with the baby, she gives the same or new symptoms of the disease – she should analyze the child’s medical history and test results. When he finds no reason to make a diagnosis, he may suspect that his mother suffers from MSBP. Then, institutions that will take care of the victim’s safety should be interested in the matter.
The doctor should pay special attention to, among others on:
– an unexplained, chronic or recurrent disease of the child;
– multiple hospitalizations for unusual reasons or symptoms of the disease,
– discrepancies between the test results and the child’s health condition,
– initial diagnosis of a very rare disease,
– the fact that symptoms improve or decrease significantly when the child is not cared for by the parents,
– the fact that the mother is unnaturally caring and sensitive to the child, that she emphasizes that the child does not tolerate the prescribed treatment, that she is worried about the embarrassment of doctors resulting from diagnostic failures rather than the child’s disease,
– the fact that there were unexplained deaths of newborns in the child’s family,
– the mother was a medical professional or has a rich history of numerous and unexplained diseases herself,
– detection of a drug in the blood that has not been prescribed by the doctor.
Dear mother?
The data collected so far shows that in over 95 percent. In some cases, the person abusing the child was the biological mother. Usually, she is extremely caring and does not leave the child’s bed in the hospital. In reality, however, for unknown reasons, he rejects the child or uses them to attract attention. Such a person is often emotionally unstable. Sometimes he is indifferent to the hard work of medics, sometimes he accuses them of lack of knowledge and competence. But at the same time, she willingly cooperates with medical staff, accepts no questions asked for additional diagnostic tests, regardless of the risks and pain they carry for her child. Invents or even provokes new symptoms of the disease. She diligently hides her actions, eg giving the child some “syrup”, a strange drink, etc. She does it so effectively that for years she manages to cheat doctors and nurses. When she is concerned that she might be caught, she can destroy a sample taken for testing or steal the results of obtained tests.
The best way to recover is through short- and long-term therapy. The patient should also be under constant psychological care. Cognitive-behavioral psychotherapy is also recommended. Treatment lasts for years and does not always bring the expected results. The child must be isolated from the mother during therapy. After the end of its treatment, the relevant services must check whether it still does not display behaviors that are dangerous for the child. If the mother does not learn to accept her unwanted child, she should not and cannot continue to look after her. – The best results would be achieved by psychotherapy, which would make the patient aware of what motivates him to such behavior, verify his needs and make it possible to change his current functioning. However, conscious psychotherapy must be voluntary, and in the case of this disease there is often no such will – adds the specialist.