Boy in the ballon...

[fMRI]

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http://www.cnn.com/2009/US/10/16/colorado.balloon.boy/index.html?iref=mpstoryview#cnnSTCVideo

The boy in the balloon story made me wonder about Münchhausen by proxy. Getting attention, not from the medical field but from the media through their child.

What do you think??

The kid is called "Falcon"... -??-

Surely no attempt at "pathologizing" the parents -- just inviting a theoretical discussion. 🙂

 

[OldPsychDoc]

http://www.cnn.com/2009/US/10/16/colorado.balloon.boy/index.html?iref=mpstoryview#cnnSTCVideo

The boy in the balloon story made me wonder about Münchhausen by proxy. Getting attention, not from the medical field but from the media through their child.

What do you think??

The kid is called "Falcon"... -??-

Surely no attempt at "pathologizing" the parents -- just inviting a theoretical discussion. 🙂

I think that DSM-V will need an entire new category for media-induced personality disorders....🙄

 

[whopper]

Hard to say given what little we know, and that the media has a way of hinging us on their word.

It could've been a hoax, it could've been real.

The family's been on a reality show, indicating they want to be in the media.

IF you look at the size of the balloon, and I'm no physicist, it doesn't look like it could've supported a child, just like a helium filled birthday balloon can't support a 1 pound rock.

The child said it was for the "show."

However none of this is smoking gun evidence. Its all circumstantial. The child's comment can simply be interpreted as that of a small child who doesn't know what's going on.

I say its really not news...at least for now.

I think that DSM-V will need an entire new category for media-induced personality disorders

Had someone who possibly fit this description. THe patient in question had factitious disorder to a degree where I thought the case could be published. However the person's guardian had a weak spectrum munchausen's by proxy. In fact, I had strong suspicion to believe that the guardian (the mother) was actually coaching the person to fake symptoms over the phone. On occasion, the patient mentioned her mother told her to do things she did not agree with in terms of presenting herself with a mental illness. I chose not to publish the case because it'd just feed the mother's desire for attention. She went as far as to write a book (published by a vanity press) and encouraged her daughter to pursue a career based on her "mental illness" where she could be a Gary Coleman like celebirty seen a cute for having an illness.

This person called a few celebirities, claiming to be suicidal, and said the only thing that would make her feel safe is if the celebirty would do a benefit concert for her, while telling the treatment team that she planned on using a possible concert to launch a career.

I did consider pushing the case to the court to have the mother removed as the guardian, but this only works in extreme cases..e.g. the parent is raping the child. Even if I succeeded, there'd be little chance to get a better guardian than her own mother, as strange and inappropriate as her mother is.

 

[wolfvgang22]

I think it was a hoax, but proving that would be hard.

 

[fMRI]

I think that DSM-V will need an entire new category for media-induced personality disorders....🙄

"media-induced personality disorders" -- thanks.

I think we might have to wait until DSM-VI for the diagnosis.
With all its secrecy and hype, the DSM-V authors seem to be heading fast that way illustrating your diagnostic proposal...

 

[fMRI]

... This person called a few celebirities, claiming to be suicidal, and said the only thing that would make her feel safe is if the celebirty would do a benefit concert for her, while telling the treatment team that she planned on using a possible concert to launch a career.

I did consider pushing the case to the court to have the mother removed as the guardian, but this only works in extreme cases..e.g. the parent is raping the child. Even if I succeeded, there'd be little chance to get a better guardian than her own mother, as strange and inappropriate as her mother is.

Sounds like you're having the wrong person in treatment?

Sure, removing a parent/partents is the last resort. I hope you could compensate the maternal influence by adding a stabilizing figure in the kid's life -- a relative, a teacher, a schoolmate's parent, ...
Removing a person adds to the problem, adding stability can help.

 

[whopper]

Sounds like you're having the wrong person in treatment?

The person in treatment was placed in that status for longer than needed because she committed a crime. Her mother coached her to fake symptoms so she could avoid being found competent. The patient is mentally ill-but has ADHD, and factitious disorder, and is malingering. She does not have depression or psychosis --> which is what she wanted the court to believe.

The mother in this case is quite a character, however I can't do anything in that regard. No court is going to remove the biological mother unless the mother was doing something way over the top.