Munchausen syndrome

[muhn-chou-zuhn sin-drohm, muhnch-hou-zuhn]

noun

Psychiatry.

1. a factitious disorder in which otherwise healthy individuals seek to hospitalize themselves with feigned or self-induced pathology in order to receive surgical or other medical treatment.

Word History and Origins

Origin of Munchausen syndrome¹

1950–55; named after Baron von Münchhausen ( def. ), whose fictionalized accounts of his own experiences suggest symptoms of the disorder

Example Sentences

Dee Dee suffered from Munchausen syndrome by proxy, a psychological disorder and form of child abuse in which a caregiver fabricates, exaggerates or induces serious illness in another person — typically their child — to garner attention.

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But the Cleveland Clinic reported that a rare 1 percent of people have Munchausen syndrome and two in 100,000 children are thought to be the victims of Munchausen by proxy.

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Gypsy Rose Blanchard’s attorney said the mother had Munchausen syndrome by proxy, a psychological disorder in which parents or caregivers seek sympathy through the exaggerated or made-up illnesses of their children.

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Her mother had Munchausen syndrome by proxy, a psychological disorder in which parents or caregivers seek sympathy through the exaggerated or made-up illnesses of their children, said her trial attorney, Michael Stanfield.

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Hospital staff suspected that her mother was exaggerating the symptoms and demanding high doses of ketamine and sedatives as part of Munchausen syndrome by proxy, according to the Daily Mail.

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