- Joined
- Apr 30, 2021
2nd one is a pissbaby but not sure if malingering or munchie because he could be malingering so he doesn't have to do chores.
Community Munchausen's by Internet (Malingerers, Munchies, Spoonies, etc) - Feigning Illnesses for Attention
- Thread starter Petronella
- Start date
- Joined
- May 12, 2021
My experience was that if your TB was latent, or active with a clean lung scan, then you weren’t required to quarantine. You still had to come in to the local ministry of health office for doctor observed therapy, however. They didn’t trust anyone to do at home administration, which is understandable. If you had active TB that had reached contagion levels, or were non compliant, you ended up in a TB quarantine negative pressure room at the local hospital where you had to stay until you completed treatment. They also requested a battery of tests consisting of everything from HIV to Hepatitis. I had the option of a three month or nine month course of medication. As an expat with family on three continents and a job that routinely has me cycling between two, I chose the shorter course. Probably the worst mistake I made in the whole debacle because Rifampin is some ‘just fuck my shit up and put me in bed all day’ stuff. It was on par with the actual disease up until that point.
I was really lucky with the whole ordeal tbh, plus I have a cool story to tell my western family members.
That is fucking wild. I wonder how that effected lung function long term. My lungs didn’t get wrecked, but it took me a year to get back to an equilibrium, I can’t imagine having a ping pong ball in there.
Very interesting, thank you.
TB is a fascinating disease, both from a microbiology standpoint as well as a cultural one. The amount of cultural references to it are pretty staggering as compared to other common victorian illnesses. Perhaps the only other romanticized illness I can think of off of the top of my head is Spanish Flu. Though much like TB, it was mowing down the young at the height of their beauty and vigor, rather than infants and olds in the manner of other strains of flu.
I could sperg about this stuff endlessly, but I digress from our delicate sickbed lovelies and their shenanigans.
- Joined
- Oct 23, 2023
Acopia is awesome, gonna use it for sure.
I’m also partial to SLS (shit life syndrome). But that diagnosis is more applicable when you actually like the patient.
- Joined
- Jul 6, 2022
I was going to post about our deaf-blind Med Student but wasn't sure if you were going to feature her, don't want to double up.
- Joined
- Feb 21, 2018
By all means. She's not one of mine and her newest saga is fucking hilarious.
- Joined
- Apr 30, 2021
Please do! I loved it when she got lost in China somehow, she's so funny.
- Joined
- Sep 15, 2016
The only long covider that made me raised my eyebrows a bit, was this YouTube science chick, who has had it for like a year, and on her Patreon basically claims to have been bedridden ever since.
Chick just got married like six months before and doesn’t strike me as a malingerer, but who the f knows.
Here she is: https://m.youtube.com/user/physicswoman
There are some updates on her Patreon as well. She has apparently closed down her studio as well and has her husband tend to her 24-7.
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- Joined
- Nov 19, 2023
I mean she could have any other variety of personality or psychological issues that cause her to have either psychosomatic or fake illness.
Alternatively she could actually be ill with something that got triggered by covid. While I'm not sure I believe in chronic fatigue syndrome I do think something happens to people sometimes after a heavy illness that can mess them up.
I can only judge from what you have shared but 6months after marriage and having her husband tend to her 24/7 sounds mighty suspicious to me. Not being able to work is one thing but needing to be waited on hand and foot like a quadriplegic sounds... Dramatic.
- Joined
- Feb 21, 2018
Yeahhh, without accusing her of faking because I think it's more likely to be a conversion disorder, I'll just say that "just got married 6 months ago" is a massive red flag for me.
- Joined
- Nov 19, 2023
Only just got a chance to read @girlblogging 's post about acopia (lol) (also the site is being a dick and not letting me reply or quote and I'm too lazy to do it manually) and this was very interesting to me that people are picking up on this phenomenon of people with abolsutely no motivation or direction in life and calling it ADHD. In my home city people all over the place are clamouring to get diagnosed with it or autism. I used to look at my city's sub reddit and every day there would be people seeking a dx for ADHD or the tism.
Someone close to me got the dx and the meds and let me tell you it done nothing for their ability to do things. It made them a bit more alert and productive but stimulants will do that for EVERYONE. I don't get it at all. I guess people just want an excuse for not being able to get their shit together. I'm finding it a fascinating thing to watch as a society is getting more and more fucked up with young people who don't want to make any kind of life for themself. At least in that post those people had retail jobs, so many people in my peer group and the generation after me don't even have that, it's like they see themselves as too good for that but languishing for years on end at their parents houses doing absolutely nothing. That's an issue all on it's own and I won't get into that.
I'd love to know what people think of this adhd/autism/refusal to learn life skills stuff. Is it just that too much is now handed to them on a plate that they aren't forced to learn? A lot of my favourite cows have these tendencies and it's very interesting to me. I can understand sometimes feeling like the world is a bit overwhelming and scary but surely you'd just rather learn the skills and get over it so you can move on?
Is it possibly because they are inundating themselves with all these "influencers" that seem to be hyper successful and have fun rich lives that they are just paralysed with envy and can't be realistic?
Are they just invested in the idea that someone else needs to save them? One of the big factors in me getting my shit together was realising that I was the only one that could help me. But then I thought that was a well known adage!
Im so very curious as to how this all plays out in the next 10/20 years.
Someone close to me got the dx and the meds and let me tell you it done nothing for their ability to do things. It made them a bit more alert and productive but stimulants will do that for EVERYONE. I don't get it at all. I guess people just want an excuse for not being able to get their shit together. I'm finding it a fascinating thing to watch as a society is getting more and more fucked up with young people who don't want to make any kind of life for themself. At least in that post those people had retail jobs, so many people in my peer group and the generation after me don't even have that, it's like they see themselves as too good for that but languishing for years on end at their parents houses doing absolutely nothing. That's an issue all on it's own and I won't get into that.
I'd love to know what people think of this adhd/autism/refusal to learn life skills stuff. Is it just that too much is now handed to them on a plate that they aren't forced to learn? A lot of my favourite cows have these tendencies and it's very interesting to me. I can understand sometimes feeling like the world is a bit overwhelming and scary but surely you'd just rather learn the skills and get over it so you can move on?
Is it possibly because they are inundating themselves with all these "influencers" that seem to be hyper successful and have fun rich lives that they are just paralysed with envy and can't be realistic?
Are they just invested in the idea that someone else needs to save them? One of the big factors in me getting my shit together was realising that I was the only one that could help me. But then I thought that was a well known adage!
Im so very curious as to how this all plays out in the next 10/20 years.
- Joined
- Oct 30, 2019
for some reason you can't quote long posts anymore. but if you highlight some text, "+quote" should pop up on the side. that's how i quoted you.
in my lurking in r/psychiatry, i found a fascinating post about ADHD
Exercise
A meta-analysis of ten studies with 300 children found exercise moderately reduced ADHD symptoms, but had no significant effect after correcting for publication bias (Vysniauske et al., 2020).Another meta-analysis found no significant effect of exercise on either inattention (6 studies, 277 participants) or hyperactivity/impulsivity symptoms (4 studies, 227 participants), but significant reductions in depression and anxiety (5 studies, 164 participants) (Zang, 2019).
A meta-analysis of 15 studies with 734 children found physical exercise interventions effective in temporarily reducing symptoms (Sun et al., 2022).
Meditation
A meta-analysis of 12 studies and 579 participants suggested moderate reductions in ADHD symptoms in both adults (6 RCTs, 339 participants) and children and adolescents (6 RCTs, 240 participants), but half the studies did not employ active controls. Removing studies with waiting list controls made the results nonsignificant. The authors concluded: “there is insufficient methodologically sound evidence to support the recommendation of meditation-based therapies as an intervention aimed to target ADHD core symptoms or related neuropsychological dysfunctions in children/adolescents or adults with ADHD” (Zhang et al., 2018).Caffeine
The most current meta-analysis available concluded no significant effects of caffeine on ADHD symptoms (Perrotte et al., 2023). Research suggests caffeine helps with alertness and vigilance, but not the kind of inattention implicated in ADHD (sustained attention/future directed persistence).(More research is needed)
Supplementation and diet
A meta-analysis with 16 studies with 1408 participants found omega-3 fatty acid supplementation was associated with small improvements in ADHD symptoms (Chang et al., 2018).
Another meta-analysis, with 18 studies and a total 1640 participants, found tiny improvements (Puri and Martins, 2014).
Another meta-analysis of 22 studies with 1789 participants found insignificant short-term effects, but long-term supplementation may result in tiny to small reductions in symptoms (Liu et al., 2023).
Omega-3 fatty acid supplementation was associated with small-to-modest improvements in ADHD symptoms in two other meta-analyses (10 studies with 699 participants, 7 studies with 534 participants) especially with high EPA ratio (Bloch and Qawasmi, 2011; Hawkey and Nigg, 2014).
A meta-analysis combining findings from 5 double-blind crossover studies with 164 participants found that the restriction of synthetic food colours from children's diets was linked to tiny to small reductions in ADHD symptoms (Nigg et al., 2012).
In a meta-analysis encompassing 15 double-blind placebo-controlled trials with 219 participants, exposure to artificial food colourants were associated with a small increase in disinhibitory (hyperactivity/impulsivity) symptoms among children (Schab and Trinh, 2004).
Another meta-analysis covering 20 studies with almost 800 participants, identified a tiny increase in ADHD symptoms albeit only when assessed by parents and not other observers (Nigg et al., 2012).
A nationwide population study using the Swedish Twin Register identified almost 18,000 twins who completed a web-based survey examining the relationship between inattention and hyperactivity/impulsivity presentations and dietary habits. The two presentations of ADHD exhibited very similar associations. Both had significant associations with unhealthy diets; were more likely to be eating foods high in added sugar and neglecting fruits and vegetables while eating more meat and fats. After adjusting for degree of relatedness of twins (whether monozygotic or dizygotic) and controlling for the other ADHD presentation, the associations remained statistically significant for inattention, but diminished to negligible levels or became statistically nonsignificant for hyperactivity/impulsivity. Even for persons with inattention symptoms, adjusted correlations were very small (never exceeding r = 0.10), with the strongest associations being for overall unhealthy eating habits and eating foods high in added sugar. Among over 700 pairs of monozygotic (“identical”) twins, it found very small associations between inattention symptoms and unhealthy eating habits. For hyperactivity/impulsivity symptoms, the association with unhealthy eating habits was even weaker. The association with consumption of foods high in added sugar became statistically insignificant (Li et al., 2020).
A meta-analysis combining seven studies with a cumulative participant pool exceeding 25,000 from six countries across three continents found no evidence of an association between sugar consumption and ADHD in youth (Farsad-Naeimi et al., 2020).
Neurofeedback & cognitive training
Multiple meta-analyses were published by the European ADHD Guidelines Group on cognitive training and neurofeedback interventions for youth. In studies where cognitive training was likely conducted with blinded evaluators and active controls (6 studies, almost 300 youths), found no significant reduction in ADHD symptoms. There were no significant effects on academic outcomes in reading and maths (Cortese et al., 2015). In blinded neurofeedback studies with active/sham controls (6 studies, 251 participants), there was no significant reduction in ADHD symptoms (Cortese et al., 2016a).Another meta-analysis of 5 randomised controlled trials with 263 participants, investigating the effectiveness of neurofeedback, found a minor reduction in inattention. However, there was no noteworthy reduction in hyperactivity-impulsivity or overall symptoms of ADHD as assessed by presumably blinded evaluators (researchers responsible for measuring outcomes were unaware of whether patients were undergoing the active or control treatment) (Micoulaud-Franchi et al., 2014).
Behaviour modification
A meta-analysis of 19 studies with almost 900 adults found cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT) associated with moderate improvements in self-reported ADHD symptoms and self-reported functioning. However, when limited to the two studies with active controls and blind assessors (244 participants), it found only small improvements (Knouse et al., 2017).Another meta-analysis in three studies of 191 patients found CBT led to modest improvements when compared with active controls (Young et al., 2020).
A meta-analysis of 19 studies and over 2200 youths with ADHD found that social skills training did not improve teacher-assessed social skills, school performance, academic achievement or classroom manageability (Storebo et al., 2019).
Medication
A meta-analysis of 18 studies with over 2000 adults found three amphetamine derivatives (dextroamphetamine, lisdexamfetamine and mixed amphetamine salts) produced moderate to large reductions in ADHD symptoms (Castells et al., 2011).A meta-analysis of 19 studies with over 1600 participants found that methylphenidate moderately reduced ADHD symptoms (Storebø et al., 2015).
A meta-analysis of 7 studies with over 1600 participants found that atomoxetine moderately reduced ADHD symptoms (Cheng et al., 2007).
A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study of 345 participants found that guanfacine XR modestly reduced ADHD symptoms (Biederman et al., 2008).
A meta-analysis found that lisdexamfetamine (5 studies, over 2300 adults), atomoxetine (3 studies, 237 adults) and methylphenidate (13 studies, over 2200 adults) result in small to modest reductions in symptoms of emotional dysregulation (Lenzi et al., 2018).
Another meta-analysis covering 9 studies with over 1300 youths reported atomoxetine to be associated with modest reductions in emotional symptoms (Schwartz and Correll, 2014).
Comparative effects
Three meta-analyses (9 studies with 2762 participants; 11 studies with 2772 participants; 7 studies with 1368 participants) (Hanwella et al., 2011; Rezaei et al., 2016; Hazell et al., 2010) found methylphenidate and atomoxetine have comparable efficacy and tolerability in the treatment of ADHD. In another (network) meta-analysis, efficacy and tolerability were equivalent (Bushe et al., 2016).A meta-analysis of 20 studies found lisdexamfetamine modestly more effective than methylphenidate at reducing symptoms; slightly more effective than mixed amphetamine salts. Modafinil was ineffective (Stuhec et al., 2018).
A meta-analysis combining 4 studies with 216 youths found mixed amphetamine salts slightly more effective than methylphenidate (Faraone et al., 2002).
Conclusions
- Medication (stimulants: amphetamines, methylphenidate; non-stimulants: atomoxetine) produce moderate to large reductions in symptoms; for guanfacine XR (alpha-2a agonist), the reductions are modest.
- For the treatment of ADHD atomoxetine and methylphenidate have comparable efficacy, acceptability and tolerability.
- Amphetamines tend to be modestly more effective than methylphenidate and atomoxetine but also potentiate higher incidence of side effects.
- The stimulants (amphetamine, methylphenidate) and non-stimulants (atomoxetine) are modestly more effective than the alpha-2 agonists (guanfacine XR) but the formest are also more likely to be diverted, misused, and abused.
- Cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT) is modestly effective for reducing symptoms. It works best as an adjunct to medication.
- It's unknown whether meditation-based therapies are effective; the evidence is insufficent to support its recommendation.
- ADHD is linked to poor treatment response to social skills training.
- Neurofeedback and cognitive training interventions are ineffective for ADHD.
- No special diet has been shown to improve symptoms, with two exceptions: supplementation of omega-3 fatty acids or eliminating exposure to artificial food colourants both independently result in small improvements. However, they have a very small magnitude of effect compared to primary treatments. On a scale of one to ten, if we define the effect of ADHD medications as 7-9 and the combined effects of CBT, environmental modification and accommodations as 5, dietary changes would be rated 2 (Faraone & Antshel, 2014).
- Sugar consumption does not cause ADHD.
- Unhealthy eating habits do not exacerbate ADHD symptoms.
- Evidence is conflicting on whether exercise has specific effects on ADHD.
TL;DR: medication is basically the only thing that works, with other factors (diet, exercise, etc) having negligible effect.
it's a long post but i definitely recommend reading it.
my personal opinion is that ADHD is definitely real, but it is also over-diagnosed and frequently co-opted by failures to launch. and i think you can clearly tell who's faking and who isn't, because those with real ADHD will improve significantly with medication (and perhaps some therapy), and continue having a normal life of not posting their ailments online.
when munchies get their grubby hands on stims, they obviously feel better because duhh, stims, but they fail to improve in material ways because they never lacked executive function to begin with. stims just makes them stupid faster.
- Joined
- Nov 19, 2023
I suppose it's the failures to launch that interest me most. And I daresay most of them are cognizant of their faking but instead have identified a possible cause and put all their eggs in that basket.
The failure to launch thing overall interests me and maybe it's the low birthrate because the majority of people are forced to grow the fuck up if they have a dependent to look after. But it feels like more and more people are failing to launch and pursuing tism or adhd dx to give themselves a reason to not bother learning any life skills. In the same way that munchies munch and the line is a bit blurred between blatant lies and imagined limitations.
I'm also of the personal opinion that trauma and attachment issues can cause symptoms superficially similar to executive function disorders and a lot of people would be better served by taking care of their mental health and maladaptive behaviours than pursuing some shaky borderline dx. I know certainly in my city more and more people are going private with their seeking dx and that to me would seems kinda weird and suspicious. Doctor shoppy.
I believe that adhd is real I just don't believe the swathes of people who now say they have it. Unless you told me it was because of like... Microplastics. Or some shit.
CrossedTubes
kiwifarms.net
- Joined
- Dec 12, 2022
I think a lot of people are just not cut out for the complexity of modern life. Maybe if they weren't inundated with data and demands 24/7, they'd function better. I don't think the fix is as simple as 'put down your phone and touch grass' - even just to keep up with workplace change and conversations, you're meant to know so much. You can't just be a bit dim with simple interests and modest aspirations. There seems to be no space for average people any more.
As such I'm somewhat sympathetic to the acopics - at least, if they're of the 'unhappy, seeking support' sort, rather than 'obnoxious lifelong munching and draining the resources of others'.
As such I'm somewhat sympathetic to the acopics - at least, if they're of the 'unhappy, seeking support' sort, rather than 'obnoxious lifelong munching and draining the resources of others'.
- Joined
- Feb 24, 2019
ADHD/ADD is overdiagnosed now because its being treated as a behavioral problem and before it was required to have neurologists diagnose it. If you were diagnosed with add/adhs in the 80s you are deemed neurologically imparied, post the 90s its now listed as behavioral disorder and is diagnosed by any lay therapist.
- Joined
- Dec 12, 2022
A few years ago a diagnosis of autism / ADHD was to try enable people (mostly kids) to learn skills they needed. For those people who struggled to independence skills when they did they felt proud because it was fought for.
Now adults mostly get diagnosed to avoid things, they use the whole 'masking' concept as an excuse to shed more responsibility by 'unmasking' and suddenly act like a child, demand ridiculous things sometimes to the extent of using augmentative communication apps / devices.
Theres also other reasons: being special, for whatever reason romanticising the experience of special school / institutionalisation / significant disability, wanting the additional benefits that come with, social contagion (the usual factitious disorder things).
Any challenge and they start the usual screeching privilege towards people who got diagnosed because they didn't speak at 5 year old in the 1980s and have no chance of saying the right things because instead of a graduate education they spent their school years colouring in and being 'allowed' to live in sheltered housing with significant support will be the biggest achievement of their lives.
A large number don't have a diagnosis ("self diagnosis is valid") or are claiming diagnosis which they do not have (example: our own Agonyautie).
NHS clinics tasked with diagnosing adults with autism and ADHD have started secretly screening for borderline personality disorder alongside to attempt to weed some out, as many clinicians have noticed what's going on.
- Joined
- Feb 10, 2015
She’s what got me interested them. Her twitter draws in other long coviders like moths to a flame.
- Joined
- Sep 8, 2013
- Joined
- May 12, 2021
There seems to be a large amount of overlap between the behavioral symptoms of BPD, ADHD, and autism. People with clinical symptoms of autism and ADHD presenting trauma responses end up getting misdiagnosed with BPD more often than they should, and vice versa. From what I understand genuine BPD is scary. Tbh the advent of C-PTSD might make sense in the concept of an autistic or ADHD person who’s otherwise high functioning, but has experienced enough trauma to cause severe disregulation. Though I understand that C-PTSD is becoming a polite way of saying BPD.
I think that the world is getting more complex and the lack of community coupled with the rise in narcissism due to the ‘me, me, me’ culture we live in is going to create a lot of BPD like collateral in more sensitive individuals. That being said I think some people just want to check out and use a dx as an excuse to do so. We’re seeing more ‘hikikomori’ than ever before and it’s probably only going to get worse. There’s probably some overlap with the munchies, but they seem to have more dark triad personality traits than the average shut in or trauma survivor.
Also what is the clinical difference between ME/CFS and long Covid? I imagine that some weird autoimmune issues can arise from a major illness, but it seems like doctors just saying ‘lol, we have no idea, here’s a dx to get you out of our hair.’
I think that the world is getting more complex and the lack of community coupled with the rise in narcissism due to the ‘me, me, me’ culture we live in is going to create a lot of BPD like collateral in more sensitive individuals. That being said I think some people just want to check out and use a dx as an excuse to do so. We’re seeing more ‘hikikomori’ than ever before and it’s probably only going to get worse. There’s probably some overlap with the munchies, but they seem to have more dark triad personality traits than the average shut in or trauma survivor.
Also what is the clinical difference between ME/CFS and long Covid? I imagine that some weird autoimmune issues can arise from a major illness, but it seems like doctors just saying ‘lol, we have no idea, here’s a dx to get you out of our hair.’
- Joined
- Sep 15, 2016
If by “COVID Jacquie” you mean “kinda hot” then yes.
Unlike our beloved Jacquie queen of the munchies and blessed virgin of malingering, she was popular BEFORE her illness.
She was kind of a big deal. YouTube channel with millions of views, Patreon, guided tours to CERN and NASA because “Muh women in science!”
Had a COVID vaccination and got married. Then got COVID. Six months later, about a year ago, she gets long COVID and has apparently been in bed ever since.
No videos on YouTube since, but she periodically uploads stuff on Patreon. Members get to see her (weakly) cut her hair in bed, and get to hear the husband despair.
It’s weird!
(Supposedly though, she has periods where she’s up and about. Immediately followed by a crash and weeks in bed.)
Idk man, I just find it weird that young people can reach these weird states where everything but breathing and laying in bed exhausts them. REALLY weird.
Isn’t it a new thing? I don’t recall reading about weird wasting diseases like this from just 50 years ago.
Yeah, supposedly quite a few BPD patients get the CPTSD label, since they’d otherwise refuse treatment.
A skilled therapist/psychiatrist can see from their medical history who they’re dealing with.
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- Joined
- Feb 21, 2018
Yep. The problem with the "put the phone down and touch grass" line is no one else will. You've deleted your tiktok and decided you're going to pick up gardening and painting instead? Great! All your friends and coworkers are still permanently online and want you to have and freely give the correct opinions on everything they're being fed opinions about. Now every conversation feels like reeducation camp because saying you don't know or care is unacceptable.
I was just saying this in a DM. In my totally non-professional opinion I don't think we're actually seeing a rise in things like BPD. It's just that these kids' social lives are being played out in very public and highly curated spaces where they're comparing themselves in realtime to celebrities and pseudo-celebrity influencers, where you're only as important as your follower count and where everyone is lying to get ahead and it's creating a BPD-like condition. Like yeah, of course under these circumstances these kids are emotionally unstable, attention-seeking, and have trouble maintaining relationships.
Spend some time on tiktok watching the "if you do this you have X" content these zoomers shit out all the time. If this song makes you happy, it's a sign you have autism. If this video makes you uncomfortable, it means you have OCD. If you ever wondered what you'd look like as a man, you've got gender feelings. If you've ever found anyone of the same sex attractive in even the most platonic of "wow that person is really sharply-dressed" ways, you're 'queer.' It's wild how much these kids are being taught to pathologize what the Olds understand is just personality and preference.