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Sickened: The Memoir of a Munchausen by Proxy Childhood by Julie Gregory. Hardcover: 256 pages; Publisher: Bantam Doubleday Dell Pub (Trd); ISBN:

After a childhood spent being X-rayed, medicated and operated on - in search of an illness that existed only in her mother's mind - the author is able to share a personal story of hope.

Editorial Review
From Publishers Weekly
The first of its kind, this compelling memoir recounts the story of a childhood affected by Munchausen by proxy disease, a.k.a. MBP, a psychological disorder in which caretakers, usually themselves the victims of traumatic abuse, "make an otherwise healthy child sick" as a way of gaining attention and approval. Set in towns of rural obscurity, Gregory's memoir movingly describes how, as a "sick" child, she believed that her constant feelings of exhaustion and lethargy were caused by some illness in herself rather than by her mother's complicated and abusive rituals. When her mother feeds her handfuls of pills, withholds food or instructs her to "act sick," Gregory does as she is told because she wants to please her. Then, undernourished and doped up on drugs for problems that don't exist, Gregory is dragged from hospital to hospital in search of "answers." Interspersed throughout Gregory's narrative are real medical records that show the efforts of dozens of doctors, procedures and surgeries to "heal" her, efforts which instead become the source of new illnesses. Not until adulthood, when she hears a professor describe MPB during a lecture, does Gregory realize what the real problem is. Gregory's impressive and disturbing memoir uncovers the truths of this elusive and disturbing form of child abuse that is often overlooked and misdiagnosed. 22 pages of b&w white photos. ©2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From the Back Cover
"This story of unfathomable child abuse is told with remarkable wit, compassion, and courage. It's a work of beauty from a beast of a childhood." - Augusten Burroughs, author of Running With Scissors and Dry

Annotation © Book News, Inc. Portland, Or.

(January 2002) Paperback.

A thorough critique of the rare diagnosis "Munchausen's Syndrome by Proxy" (MSBP) and the way in which it has been employed by medical, mental health and child protective professionals.

Munchausen Syndrome by Proxy describes the deliberate harming by parents of their children in order to get attention. Many families are separated after its diagnosis. But does MSBP exist, or is it a product of our imagination, creating MSBP as the 'trendy' disorder of our time? Investigative reporter McGill traces the history of MSBP, and examines high profile cases from the USA. Do No Harm also asks what can be done to protect parents from being falsely accused.

Provides suggestions and guidelines for reporting cases of suspected mistreatment of children, now mandated in all 50 states by human services professionals such as psychologists, social workers, teachers, and psychiatrists. For students and practitioners, weaves together research findings, ethical debates, and current policies, drawing on examples of both reported and unreported cases. Includes a glossary without pronunciation. Annotation copyright Book News, Inc. Portland, Or.

New York Times best-selling author Patricia Cornwell brings back Kay Scarpetta, consulting forensic pathologist for the FBI's Behavioral Science Unit, in her grittiest and most compelling novel. In rural North Carolina, the brutal murder of eleven-year-old Emily Steiner has shaken a small town. But more disturbing are the details of the crimes, chillingly reminiscent of the handiwork of a serial killer who has eluded the unit for years. Into this volatile atmosphere comes Scarpetta's ingenious, rebellious niece Lucy, an FBI intern with a promising future in Quantico's computer engineering facility--until she is accused of a shocking security violation. While coming to terms with Lucy, Kay must conduct a grisly forensic investigation at a clandestine research facility in Tennessee known as the Body Farm. There she will find more answers to Emily Steiner's murder--and evidence that paints a picture of a crime more horrifying than she imagined.

Read a complete review and interview with the author on msp magazine.

"Kafka's syndrome" might more aptly describe the elaborate, arguably unconsciously-rooted staging of illness characterizing Munchausen syndrome by proxy abuse. In 14 papers, one US and 17 UK health and legal experts explore the psychiatric, moral, case assessment, management, and child protection issues raised by MSBP, in which parents or other caretakers induce a fictitious illness in a child by physical abuse or a story of symptoms leading health professionals to believe the child has an illness. Emison is a consulting child and adolescent psychiatrist for UK hospitals, and Poslethwaite consults in pediatric nephrology at Manchester Children's Hospital. Book News, Inc.®, Portland, OR (From Book News, Inc.)

This book reviews the current state of knowledge of MSP. Two main areas are covered, which will be of particular interest: new directions in research, and treatment of the perpetrator in and outside the family. The book also considers the ethical and legal issues raised by this problematic behavior, which involves many different types of professionals and has a heavy cost not only for services but also for victims and perpetrators.

Unlike other books, this volume provides a multidisciplinary perspective, with input from social workers, pediatricians, child-psychiatrists and lawyers, among others. It also offers an international perspective, with contributors from the USA, Canada and Australia.

It is essential for anyone involved in the investigation and prosecution of child abuse cases to be aware of the often hidden and subtle warning signs of Munchausen by Proxy. Munchausen syndrome, classified as a mental illness, occurs when a person inflicts or fabricates illness upon themselves, often as an attention-getting device. Munchausen by Proxy (MBP) is an even more insidious disorder in that such illness or injury is inflicted upon a victim—usually a child.

Stranger than Fiction: When Our Minds Betray Us by Marc Feldman, Jacqueline Feldman, Roxenne Smith,1998 ISBN: .

Read the WebMD chat with the authors.

Patient or Pretender: Inside the Strange World of Factitious Disorders by Dr. Marc Feldman / John Wiley & Sons / Published 1995 

How far will some people go to get attention? In compelling cases that read like medical detective stories, the authors take readers into the lives and minds of people whose craving for attention compels them to fake illness, sometimes to the point of death.

Munchausen by Proxy Syndrome : Misunderstood Child Abuse by Teresa F. Parnell (Editor), Deborah O. Day (Editor) / Published 1997 / ISBN:  

The Death of Innocents: A True Story of Murder, Medicine and High-Stakes Research by Richard Firstman, Jamie Talan / Hardcover /  Sept 1997 / ISBN

A rule of thumb in forensics: one dead baby is Sudden Infant Death Syndrome(SIDS); two dead babies is suspicious; three dead babies is murder. The Death of Innocents starts off a bit slow, but as soon as a new district attorney decides to pursue an old case of five siblings whose deaths were attributed to SIDS, the story kicks into high gear. There are two villains: the quietly furious mother who admitted to smothering her children--one of whom was 2 years old, and kicked and flailed as he died--and the arrogant medical researcher who was so eager to make a name for himself that he was willfully blind to the warnings of danger. Richard Firstman and Jamie Talan, a husband-wife team, write about abuse of the scientific method as suspensefully as they write about parental abuse of babies. The Death of Innocents was named a 1997 Notable Book of the Year by the New York Times. The NYT writes, The Death of Innocents "...seamlessly weaves the tales of the earlier and later murder cases, separated by two decades, with the complicated scientific and social issues, the many disparate personalities, documents, interviews and dramatic moments. The book is paced like a thriller, and it will be read like one." True Crime Editor's Recommended Book, 01/01/98