What Causes Factitious Disorder Imposed on Another (Munchausen’s Syndrome by Proxy)?

One of the most complex mental health conditions of all is Factitious Disorder Imposed on Another (Munchausen’s Syndrome by Proxy).

This is a severe condition which involves a person acting as if someone in their care has a physical or mental illness – often going as far as to induce the illness in them.

This is child abuse and many suggest it isn’t a mental disorder. Those with the condition can be imprisoned or detained in a mental institute. It is classed as a Somatic Disorder.

This condition continues to confuse health professionals and scientists. Just why would anyone do this? In this article, we look at potential causes.

Factitious Disorder Imposed on Another should not be confused with Factitious Disorder Imposed on Self – which involves the person inducing or feigning an illness themselves. You can read more about this condition here.

What is Factitious Disorder Imposed on Another (Munchausen’s Syndrome by Proxy)?

Factitious Disorder Imposed on Another (Munchausen’s Syndrome by Proxy): Factitious Disorder Imposed on Another is a mental health disorder that is characterised by a person acting as if someone in their care has a physical or mental illness. Someone with this condition will fabricate an illness in those under their care – typically a child.

Background

The person fabricating the illness will often be rather manipulative, crave attention, have plenty of knowledge about the condition involved, and fiercely bat away any questions over the accuracy of a person’s symptoms.

At this point, it is common to wonder who could possibly act in this way to another human – especially someone under their care.

Overall, the cause of Factitious Disorder Imposed on Another isn’t entirely known. It is believed that a range of factors contribute to the onset of this condition.

Potential causes of Factitious Disorder Imposed on Another

The overarching truth with Factitious Disorder Imposed on Another is that the person with the condition (also known as the abuser) is abusing someone in their care to meet emotional needs that are currently not being met.

A consistent belief among researchers is that childhood abuse is a key factor [1]. Those that were abused as a child may go on to carry out their own abuse.

Certain personality traits are associated with a heightened chance of Factitious Disorder Imposed on Another developing. For example, those who enjoy manipulating others, those who like attention, those who have a habit of lying and being deceitful to others, are all traits that can contribute to this condition.

In most cases, those imposing the illness on someone is doing it to gain attention and manipulate others. However, financial gain is a possible motivation for some.

One large research study, which took into account 796 cases of this condition, found that pregnancy complications, and a past history of Factitious Disorder Imposed on Self were associated with this condition [2].

Moreover, the research also backed up the belief of childhood mistreatment. Interestingly, the researchers also found that almost all abusers (97.6%) were female, with over three quarters (75.8%) being married [2].

The average age of the caretaker (in 95.6% of cases this was the mother of the victim) was 27.6 years. Intriguingly, 45.6% of the abusers had a healthcare-based role [2].

Those that were victims of Factitious Disorder Imposed on Another as a child are more likely to grow up and treat a child in the same way, which suggests there may be a genetic element [3].

Another consistent suggestion is that Factitious Disorder Imposed on Another is associated with some Personality Disorders [2]. These disorders involve a person thinking and experiencing the world in very different ways to a normal person.

Specifically, the condition has been linked to Borderline Personality Disorder, Dependent Personality Disorder, Histrionic Personality Disorder, and Antisocial Personality Disorder.

For example, someone with this condition may struggle to control their feelings (borderline), believe they need others to care for their wider family (dependent), seek attention (histrionic), and take pleasure in manipulating others (antisocial).

While this may seem like a drastic measure, there have been cases where a mother is struggling to connect to their child, so they believe that by causing an illness in the child, it may result in them becoming closer.

Finally, those that failed in an attempt to become a healthcare professional may believe inducing symptoms in someone else is a chance to spend time in a medical setting – something that they wanted to achieve in the past, but were unsuccessful in doing so.

Summary

It is important to note that the most important person in all of this is the victim. The aim is for them to have their health restored to a healthier place.

For the person inducing the illness, they certainly need psychiatric help. Treatment is available for the condition, which will typically involve talking therapy and sometimes medication.

Due to the severity of the elements of this condition, this person may only be able to receive treatment from a prison or a mental hospital.

See Also

• Somatic Disorders Section
• Factitious Disorder Imposed on Another (Munchausen’s Syndrome by Proxy): Information, Symptoms, Treatment and More
• Factitious Disorder Imposed on Self (Munchausen’s Syndrome): Information, Symptoms, Treatment and More
• Gypsy Rose and Dee Dee Blanchard: A Match Made in Hell
• Rumination in Mental Health: What Is It and Why Do We Do It?