Munchausen by Internet: The Lying Disease that Preys on the Heart

Great article! Very well done! Thanks for all the details, this is wonderful information for everyone to read. You never know who is behind the other end of the keyboard.It would be great if everyone can share any experiences with this disorder.

munchausen by internet is preferrable to munchausen by proxy...

tn, thanks for this article. I think a lot of us were not even thinking about this possibility regarding a member here. I had thought possible inconsistencies in posts were a consequence of a particular disease progression. But thank you for watching over everybody here. I simply was not going to fact hunt through all the posts, so I would not have known. Surprisingly when I read your notice, I was not at all mad - I guess it's just a sign of the times.I would not be one to give out my personal info to this person, and, I have never had a facebook account, etc. I like to help and support, but there is a line not to cross. I think the older nurses here understand that the "interweb" LOL is often for fools. The younger ones who have grown up with it are a lot more trusting.Edit: I have to add that many members here have had horrible medical problems and I will continue to support them.

Quote from netglowI would not be one to give out my personal info to this person, and, I have never had a facebook account, etc. I like to help and support, but there is a line not to cross. I think the older nurses here understand that the "interweb" LOL is often for fools. The younger ones who have grown up with it are a lot more trusting.Edit: I have to add that many members here have had horrible medical problems and I will continue to support them.

I've been a member/regular poster of various parenting message boards for over 15 years (since I became pregnant with my oldest child). I've seen a lot of shenanigans like this, including fictitious illnesses of members, fictitious illnesses of members' children, fictitious pregnancies (and subsequent stillbirths/miscarriages), and even one person who totally Catfished - created a whole false identity, with photos she had swiped, and made up a marriage and two children (children's photos were also swiped). She posted alongside this group of women for several YEARS under her false identity until she was outed. I know of another woman (who was a stay-at-home-mom, no medical background, although medically knowledgeable) who stole another poster's identity (the poster was a physician) and started posting on medical advice boards. As a result of seeing stuff like this firsthand, I have a healthy dose of skepticism of anyone I "know" online whom I haven't met in person. This is why it bothers me when students post here, asking to interview someone here, as part of a class assignment to interview a nurse.

I actually had this happen to me it wasnt on the internet thowhen I was in nursing school working at this nursing home one of the employees fooled EVERYONE telling us her daughter passed away we all gave money and compassion and we really came together & extended our condolences no one really thought to question it because the lady had moved to our state from Kansas (I live in fl) so she had no fam here so of course none of us could go to the funeral one day my boss got the strangest phone call...from the lady's daughter! That was supposed to be dead! That freaked her out! My boss never mentioned anything like "hey aren't u supposed to be dead?" Or anything she was just like "um ur so&so? Um do u have a sister?" The ladies daughter was like "no I'm the only child" & my boss just took the phone call like normal & said "no blah blah isn't here today" Who lies about their child passing away? It was crazy! She really played everyone at my job

tn, thanks for this article. I think a lot of us were not even thinking about this possibility regarding a member here. I had thought possible inconsistencies in posts were a consequence of a particular disease progression. But thank you for watching over everybody here. I simply was not going to fact hunt through all the posts, so I would not have known. Surprisingly when I read your notice, I was not at all mad - I guess it's just a sign of the times.

GREAT article, tn. Definitely makes you think. This world is a scary place.

I'm in nursing school and there is another student who either has the world's worst and most devastating fortune, or has factitious disorder. Back in the late 90's I was part of an online internet forum. One of the more popular young women using the forum staged her own death. (She wasn't really dead, as everyone soon found out, but had been posing as a much younger version of herself - complete with photos - and had gotten into it a bit too far).

p.s. I don't think this is a sign of the times so much as the internet is just another mechanism for people who would be doing this anyway, offline. The behavior itself is nothing new.

Quote from kloneWait, what? So the OP is in response to something that happened here?

We've been discussing this extensively on another forum I participate in -websleuths.com. It came to light in regard to a thread/story which has blown up over there. In this case, the mother of a young woman who took her own life has spun this gigantic story about stalking/murder/porphyria/CO poisoning. Then there is the family who was on Extreme Makeover:Home Edition whose mother claimed her two girls had some strange malady, and this story has totally unraveled. (This is, I believe, a case of MBP which has an internet presence)There's a difference, I suppose between the person who seeks ATTENTION and the person who seeks MONEY for their supposed affliction. Anyway, I work in a peds hospital, and the whole MBP thing is so evil.