I hope this segment is aired again, as I missed it the first time. Munchausens is a VERY dangerous, very serious mental disorder. It is almost like pedophilia, as the person who really DOES have it, can appear to be as normal looking as a concerned mother...could be anyone.
Doctors must be better trained to pick this up, yet, it often becomes a Catch 22, enabling the disease to flourish. Excessive visits to the doctor was mentioned by one posting on the forum. Well, I'd say that's a clue, but with recent changes in New York 's polocy of medical absences, it's a rough call, especially in grammer school. If your child is home for three consecutive days, there must be a doctor's note...so, in order to not be guilty of MEDICAL NEGLECT, you must go to the doctor...for a head cold...anything that when I was in school, was not needed. A letter from my mother was sufficient. If you aren't being hit with Medical neglect, then, it's educational neglect....in primary grades.
Visits to the doctor have dramatically increased in the last decade, by State mandating....and I personally KNOW of women who were suspect of Munchausens, who were obeying the law.
We had a big balleyhoo at my kids' grammer school (thank God, one is now in college, the other, a High School senior). Working parents are sending their children to school with runny noses, low grade fevers, stomach virus...and many other contagious diseases. I always was a stay at home Mom...and I resented these kids getting mine sick, because I keep my kids HOME...especially when they were so young, as do many other parents, when there are such symptoms. A group of us tried to address the issue and were told by the principal that the school cannot tell a parent to keep their child home. This, for some reason, is not neglect...everything else is...just not sending sick children into class. Mine got sick once too often...and I went into the classrooms of both, and all you heard was sneezing, coughing, some children had their heads on the desk, half asleep. This is in a top rated school....love to see the bottom ones.
I also was becoming tired of bringing a child to a doctor, who SHOULD have been at home, in bed...getting well, not in an office with more germs. So, I pulled them out of public school, put them into private, where there is still some remnants of sanity, common sense and common courtesy...like respect for the health of others....and their attendence improved, the colds were less frequent, and I wasn't living at the doctor's office. The rumor at the public school, I had Munchausens. At the time, I was devastated. Today, I laugh at the ignorance, but feel great fear for the prospect of true Munchausens being assimilated in this crazy world, until there is a fatality.
Not once was there ever a school seminar about this, it's always on drugs (necessary), alcohal(also necessary), but there is just so much one can say on those two issues. Nothing about pedophilia, porn, Munchausens, the Nambla website(ageism as an argument for man/boy sex), presented to parents at these all important monthly meetings we are encouraged to attend. Fundraising is the hot button, and it really does not need to consume better than half of school meetings. When I got fed up with the lack of important information, I just stopped going...why waste my time to appear to be a "concerned" parent when I could fork over my money to the fundraisers as they came along. My suggestions for more serious problems were dismissed, by both the public and private sector...but they questioned why only 10% of parents regularly attended meetings. We (the absent (90%) wrote to the school board asking for topics to really inform us about problems that exist, how to spot a red flag. We also requested speakers from the professional arena...who volunteered to take their time and discuss them. The letters were "under consideration".
If they were EVER put into practice, it was after my children graduated, so maybe they are still under "consideration". I hold tremendous contempt for the lack of effort, in my experience with schools, when they fail to address matters that could PROTECT CHILDREN...It's a buzz phrase, and a disgrace that the information is there, not shared, and you must hear it from T.V. or research every mental disorder yourself.
We have so many resources, yet the primary networks, like school meetings, will not share them. When you hear of a tragedy, such as a buried baby, the story of Heather and Tracy, you ask...how did I NOT know? Simple answer....we aren't given the information until it's too late, if even then. Most parents are just not able to be trained in every field...would be nice to hear those who are, given the floor at these meetings.
Dr. Phil takes a look at the unthinkable: making your own child sick to fulfill a disturbing need to get medicine, sympathy and attention. The idea might sound unimaginable, but for people with a psychological disorder called Munchausen by Proxy, it’s irresistible. First, see disturbing footage of parents caught on tape actually causing harm to their children. Then, Dr. Phil looks into the mind of one woman, Tracy, convicted of trying to harm her youngest daughter by constantly keeping her sick. Hear from Tracy's oldest daughter, Heather, who survived years of her mother’s abuse. She says her mom forced her into a wheelchair unnecessarily, took her to almost 400 medical visits, and caused her to spend over 100 days of her life in hospital beds -- needlessly. Most disturbing of all is the secret Heather revealed to police about what her mother buried in their back yard. When Dr. Phil makes a phone call to Tracy in prison, will she acknowledge the problem with her parenting? And could she be preparing to have another child? Hear Dr. Phil’s strong words for this Munchausen mom. Plus, how are Tracy’s children doing now that she is out of their lives? Note: Viewer discretion is advised. Join the discussion.
