Community Munchausen's by Internet (Malingerers, Munchies, Spoonies, etc) - Feigning Illnesses for Attention

Maybe because the public is generally ignorant about it and the malingerers are able to use that to their advantage to make it seem like a debilitating ''genetic'' disease.

It's kinda terrible how people are faking intense pain like that, I know a gril with pretty severe EDS and she can't get pain meds. She has a cousin with wayy milder EDS who pesters doctors constantly about getting vicodin, and acts kinda like a lolcow on her tumblr by self-dxing herself with BPD and getting into arguments with anyone who disagrees with her about how fucked she is. Despite her supposed debilitating joint pain she walks around in heels all the time.
 
Probably pill popper, because way more people are drug addicts than munchies.

On that, it'd be interesting to know what training medical professionals receive on spotting munchies.
...because you asked.
Most physicians, nurses, or therapists have to take abnormal psychology as a pre-req for a reputable university diploma. Things like Munch used to only garner about a twenty minute lecture, if that, and then you moved on. However, there was a bit of a tidal change in the 90's and you started to see some larger focus on the topics of malingering and factitious disorders. Now, you can take entire classes that revolve around the physiology and psychology of MSBP (Munch by Proxy), Munchausen's, and other disorders that clog the system.

I'm hoping it's ok to power level a little since it was a question that was asked... I'm middle aged and when I went through school, we didn't get any education, beyond just knowing what the definitions were and your standard child abuse talk. But, I've taken entire post-grad and secondary CMEs on spotting and confirming Munch. What you're looking for depends on two very important factors: who is claiming to be ill and what are they presenting.

First, if it's a mother claiming that her child is ill or on death's door, but she's completely calm, you know you're dealing with a potential munch. Most parents over react- that's instinctual- because we want our offspring to be healthy and when they're not, it's scary. But, when you draw back the curtain and mom is texting or insists on giving you more than a ten word answer to the question: "What seems to be the problem this evening?" - your radar goes off. 90% of the time, if you say "What's wrong?", a normal parental response is "Her temp is 104 and she's not acting right." A non-normal response, in an emergency setting, is "Well...so when she was 6 months, she had x,y,z . We saw Dr. Who, and he referred us to *insert name of fancy university* and they did tests and blah, blah, blah." All that tells me is that you're not overly concerned about your child ACTUALLY being ill because you didn't tell me what's wrong. The other red flag is hospital jumping and doctor shopping. If you've had 10 abdominal surgeries at 8 hospitals,...I'm concerned.
If it's by proxy (whereby a parent or guardian is claiming shit that just doesn't add up) , then our hospital policy is actually a direct admit for observation...and we have things we do that test the parent (but, I'm not sharing what those things are because I don't want to give a hands up to a munch mom/dad). Usually, with the admit, you'll see a weird glee in the parent and they'll call EVERYONE to say how sick the kid is and start prayers...and I guarantee you it happens more than you know. Especially in this day and age. I had a mom who didn't know that the glass on the cubicle was giving us a perfect view or her tablet screen and she was typing up a GoFundMe page for the child we were evaluating...when she was told we were admitting for observation, she posted the GoFundMe. Yeah. That bad. Another obvious tell is when the kid starts tanking when that parent is present. MBP perps are narcisists at the core and they usually fuck themselves by not shutting up.

For spoonies, there are tells, too. If the patient has a history of visits for things that were serious enough to come to the ER, but magically resolved before the doctor or nurse came in? "I swear I was covered in hives five minutes ago." Or, "I can't breathe!" Well, you're talking to me, so I say you can breathe. "I hurt everywhere! It's a 10/10....ow...can you hand me the remote?" Or, my personal favorite... you'll hear them talking or laughing from the nurses station, but the minute you hit the door, they remember to double over and moan. Fun trick- loudly declare that you're going to go check on Bed 3's pain. The lols are numerous. They will amp up that moan to 11. Uh...what else? They have a two page list of various shit they've been diagnosed with, but have no physical findings that match. They have 10 meds they claim to be on but don't beg you for the stuff that doesn't give them a buzz. They argue and throw a fit when you clear them to go home. OMG!!

I've never done this....but, a guy I work with has a little trick he likes to call "Positive Apple Sign". While talking to the patient, who is usually holding a phone, he'll drop a blanket or towel on the ground and lower the bed. He does his exam and woe the patient who claims 10/10 pain or "It hurts so much I can't move" but still talks normally and doesn't show any guarding. He'll pick up their phone and accidentally drop it and almost ALWAYS , if they're faking , they'll go for that phone like it's the diamond on Titanic. A less harsh version of that is to move the phone to a counter for the exam and then leave it there....you'd be surprised how someone who can't walk gets their shit back like they have a Hogwartz wand.
 
And here you have a video like this. A woman claiming to have the ever popular POTS syndrome and yelling at passers by for so much as looking at her dog. Minutes later she then gets off the bench, obviously deliberately lies herself down on the floor and claims is having a fainting spell of some kind.


She lowers herself to the ground quite steadily and raises her head and limbs repeatedly to give commands in the middle of a fainting spell? Sure.

Her voice is dripping with the same tone that's often heard in videos people film of 'injustice' that they want to go viral. They pretend not to want the attention but there they are insisting on it, inserting themselves into scenarios to trigger the desired responses from viewers. Lady, people are going to look at your dog, people look at dogs, it's what people do. It is not their fault that your dog is poorly trained. If you continue to speak to others, it will not sense that you are in the medical danger you are performing.

If you think it is then your right to pepper spray people who so much as look at your dog, you're abusive and a cunt.
 
An interesting little incident happened on the weekend and I keep forgetting to tell it. It's slightly :offtopic:because it's an IRL rather than internet, but I do think it's relevant.

On Sunday I did the supermarket thing. It was wonderfully quiet (comparatively speaking) because of Easter, but I suspect it was too quiet for at least one lady. When I was waiting at checkout for the operator to come back from another counter, this lady behind me began coughing, very hard, and she told me she couldn't breathe. I yelled for help and the operator came back, and a number of other staff also swiftly connived. The lady was clinging onto the edge of the counter, nearly on her knees coughing. At this point, another lady showed up and announced she was a doctor. In very short order the coughing lady was laying on the ground and talking to the doctor about how awful she felt. And then...

The coughing lady abruptly stopped coughing. She was back on her feet in under thirty seconds. She smiled and apologised to all. The doctor returned to her own tasks completely without hesitation or lingering. There was no roughness in the coughing woman's throat, no rasping or croaking that you'd expect from someone who'd just had a severe coughing fit. You know how when food goes down the wrong way, your chest hurts like hell, your eyes water and go bloodshot, you flush bright red, your throat is so sore afterwards it almost sounds like bronchitis and people keep asking if you're okay because "You don't look it"? Absolutely none of that. If I hadn't watched the whole thing I'd have had no clue that she'd had been in any distress whatsoever, not a single tear in her eye. She firmly refused the ambulance, unloaded her trolley with many cheerful apologies and a brilliant smile, while I paid for mine and legged it in case she wanted to try and suck me in further.

Call me cynical, tell me that I've been spending too much time on KF... but the whole episode was suspect as, especially how fast and smoothly it ended once someone who said she was a doctor showed up. The coughing woman wasn't even asthmatic, or so she told me right before I called for help, and even if she'd said yes I'm not I would have believed her because it wasn't an asthmatic's cough.

All in all, a very odd and suspect incident.
 
An interesting little incident happened on the weekend and I keep forgetting to tell it. It's slightly :offtopic:because it's an IRL rather than internet, but I do think it's relevant.

On Sunday I did the supermarket thing. It was wonderfully quiet (comparatively speaking) because of Easter, but I suspect it was too quiet for at least one lady. When I was waiting at checkout for the operator to come back from another counter, this lady behind me began coughing, very hard, and she told me she couldn't breathe. I yelled for help and the operator came back, and a number of other staff also swiftly connived. The lady was clinging onto the edge of the counter, nearly on her knees coughing. At this point, another lady showed up and announced she was a doctor. In very short order the coughing lady was laying on the ground and talking to the doctor about how awful she felt. And then...

The coughing lady abruptly stopped coughing. She was back on her feet in under thirty seconds. She smiled and apologised to all. The doctor returned to her own tasks completely without hesitation or lingering. There was no roughness in the coughing woman's throat, no rasping or croaking that you'd expect from someone who'd just had a severe coughing fit. You know how when food goes down the wrong way, your chest hurts like hell, your eyes water and go bloodshot, you flush bright red, your throat is so sore afterwards it almost sounds like bronchitis and people keep asking if you're okay because "You don't look it"? Absolutely none of that. If I hadn't watched the whole thing I'd have had no clue that she'd had been in any distress whatsoever, not a single tear in her eye. She firmly refused the ambulance, unloaded her trolley with many cheerful apologies and a brilliant smile, while I paid for mine and legged it in case she wanted to try and suck me in further.

Call me cynical, tell me that I've been spending too much time on KF... but the whole episode was suspect as, especially how fast and smoothly it ended once someone who said she was a doctor showed up. The coughing woman wasn't even asthmatic, or so she told me right before I called for help, and even if she'd said yes I'm not I would have believed her because it wasn't an asthmatic's cough.

All in all, a very odd and suspect incident.

Depending on what kind of store you were at, she might have been acting as a distraction while someone else walked out with stuff without paying. Happens at my work sometimes. People come in together, split up, and one makes a scene while the other sneaks about.
 
I can't upload right now or I would. Sorry about that but Morgan Mccastor has really gone over the edge the last few weeks. The last few posts on her fb ( Morgan's Medical Journal and Morgan Mccastor ) are especially bad. Each day she increasingly gets worse and posts things stating that she is dying and may not make it another day. Lots of rants, pictures, and video. Including a video with only audio that she says is her heart burping. She claims her heart has been burping the last few weeks even though a cardiologist ant Clevland Clinic told her that it wasn't possible. She is back in Clevland today but posted a rant stating that she might not be able to make her appointment with the EP because even if she lived through the night she doesn't think she will be able to physically get out of the hotel and to her appointment because an ambulance won't be able to take her to the door of the doctor office. She refuses to go to the hospital because she says they won't give her the right dosage of her heart medication and even if they start her on a new med it will be too late because one dose won't be enough to save her. She is adamant that the only thing that will save her is, heart surgery. She fails to mention that she doesn't have a diagnosed heart condition for her "burping" heart. She is also threatening legal action against all her doctors in the event of her impending death. I'm sorry I can't post caps or upload rn. I hope someone can before she deletes it or goes private. There is a lot of material on both of her fb pages.
 
She lowers herself to the ground quite steadily and raises her head and limbs repeatedly to give commands in the middle of a fainting spell? Sure.

Her voice is dripping with the same tone that's often heard in videos people film of 'injustice' that they want to go viral. They pretend not to want the attention but there they are insisting on it, inserting themselves into scenarios to trigger the desired responses from viewers. Lady, people are going to look at your dog, people look at dogs, it's what people do. It is not their fault that your dog is poorly trained. If you continue to speak to others, it will not sense that you are in the medical danger you are performing.

If you think it is then your right to pepper spray people who so much as look at your dog, you're abusive and a cunt.

So POTS is really big now. I kept blacking out for a few seconds when getting up and when stretching out. I had to hold onto stuff. The doctor tested me and said there was a difference in blood pressure. She didn't tell me I had a debilitating disability or that I should get a service dog. It's gone from getting dizzy to you need a service dog? I've read it is related to lupus so maybe that's why I was getting dizzy. I wonder if self diagnosed lupus will become a thing someday.

I guess POTS could get bad. But there are diet plans that can help and it's important to get enough salt and not overeat.

This bitch is well... A bitch. People do look at dogs. Humans tend to be drawn to dogs. A service dog is supposed to be trained to ignore distractions so people looking at it shouldn't be a problem anyway. How does she react when small children look at and talk to her dog? Does she pitch a bitch fit when a two year old shouts "doggie!"?
 
Morgan And Momma bear are riding crazy train for real. Most recently Morgan has posted a picture of poop with food coloring stating it is poop with blood clots. An hour later mommy posted how it's rude to ask if someone is terminal. Which by the way, Morgan has 7 terminal illnesses guys this getting super serious! In this rant she includes how she was approved for hospice but left. Uh, you don't leave hospice alive Morgan and on a side note most patients enter hospice 6 months prior to death.

She is asking to meet some artist and when someone suggested a group that helps that it wasn't good enough. People are tagging Ellen. Pretty sure Ellen doesn't need to see pictures of poop.

Best part; someone suggested an exorcism.
 
So POTS is really big now. I kept blacking out for a few seconds when getting up and when stretching out. I had to hold onto stuff. The doctor tested me and said there was a difference in blood pressure. She didn't tell me I had a debilitating disability or that I should get a service dog. It's gone from getting dizzy to you need a service dog? I've read it is related to lupus so maybe that's why I was getting dizzy. I wonder if self diagnosed lupus will become a thing someday.

I guess POTS could get bad. But there are diet plans that can help and it's important to get enough salt and not overeat.

This bitch is well... A bitch. People do look at dogs. Humans tend to be drawn to dogs. A service dog is supposed to be trained to ignore distractions so people looking at it shouldn't be a problem anyway. How does she react when small children look at and talk to her dog? Does she pitch a bitch fit when a two year old shouts "doggie!"?
I had that all the time as a teenager. The doctors advice?
"Shake your foot or leg or something before standing up."

Wish I had got prescribed a dog
 
I found out that this subreddit existed from a KiwiFarms review post. Some of the people posting in here probably already also post here, but it's nice to have a link to this sub in this thread (and I will probably put it in the OP a bit later) could be good for scouting out lesser munchies we don't have threads for yet.

https://www.reddit.com/r/illnessfakers/
 
Morgan And Momma bear are riding crazy train for real. Most recently Morgan has posted a picture of poop with food coloring stating it is poop with blood clots. An hour later mommy posted how it's rude to ask if someone is terminal. Which by the way, Morgan has 7 terminal illnesses guys this getting super serious! In this rant she includes how she was approved for hospice but left. Uh, you don't leave hospice alive Morgan and on a side note most patients enter hospice 6 months prior to death.

She is asking to meet some artist and when someone suggested a group that helps that it wasn't good enough. People are tagging Ellen. Pretty sure Ellen doesn't need to see pictures of poop.

Best part; someone suggested an exorcism.

If you claim to have a bunch of terminal diseases then pull the "don't ask me if I'm dying" routine it screams attention whore. Because you can do a crazy rant update about rude people that will earn you even more asspats.

What bugs me is that people like this want to appear terminal and they want people to feel sorry for them anyway. It's like those Facebook statuses where someone freaks out then gets upset when you ask what happened. You know they are going to update with 14 paragraphs of "woe is me" anyway. But playing Contrary Mary gives them an extra dose of attention. They would have kept up with the attention whore statuses until someone asked. It's all a game.

I had that all the time as a teenager. The doctors advice?
"Shake your foot or leg or something before standing up."

Wish I had got prescribed a dog

You got it at the wrong time. These days you can get a service dog for having hurt feelings too often.

Plus with a trip to Amazon you can get a fake vest. You never know these days.

It's really obvious to anyone who has been in the ER more than once in the past decade. About 15 years ago, someone with severe stomach pain could go into the ER and be loaded up with dialudid while waiting for their tests to be run (imaging on the stomach etc). They'd get you comfortable while waiting for everything to happen because that shit takes forever.

The opioid epidemic has destroyed that sort of care, there is no immediate relief anymore. Now you are taken into the triage area while an expert assesses whether or not your pain is genuine. Once you're cleared, you are taken in for testing. If they don't believe you, you're sent home on your way with a recommendation to see a family doctor or go to the walk-in clinic. My local hospital now has a policy against giving opioid pain relievers to anyone who isn't being admitted for observation and treatment or surgery. You used to get vicodin for sprains and broken bones or even stitches if the injury was large. Now they give you directions to combine Tylenol with Ibuprofen and Benadryl for non-surgical pain relief. Oh and if you request anything stronger, they note it in your chart because addicts are known to injure themselves to get a fix. A lot of folks hospital hop, once turned away, but so many are linked now they're starting to share charts and info.

I remember getting vicodin for an ear infection. I was 16 and the pain was pretty severe. It felt like my eardrum was going to detonate. I was going on a trip an they just gave it to me so I would be able to go without pain. These days I doubt that would happen. Especially for a minor.

The whole process now is really unfortunate for people who actually need pain medicine. But thanks to munchies and druggies everyone suffers. It's like a more severe version of the whole class being punished because Johnny was chewing gum.
 
Morgan is getting pretty cringeworthy. I wish I could figure out how to post FB videos here, because her latest post is a screeching, tearful rant about how shitty healthcare is. Apparently the cops showed up? And then left? And also she declined to be treated at the Mayo Clinic. Probably because the clinic offered to treat something other than what Morgan felt she was in for.

In the meantime, have a screenshot of yet another video I don't know how to post. I have no idea how she's staying conscious with that kind of arrhythmia, or even have the presence of mind to take a video.

wtfmorgan4.png

Also Morgan has shaved off her head because... she overheats? Nevermind that she's wearing hoodies and is bundled under blankets. It's the hair that's making her hot, and you're just an asshole if you think she did it because it made her look like she has cancer. /sneed

wtfmorgan6.png
 
I remember getting vicodin for an ear infection. I was 16 and the pain was pretty severe. It felt like my eardrum was going to detonate. I was going on a trip an they just gave it to me so I would be able to go without pain. These days I doubt that would happen. Especially for a minor.

Not a chance. When I broke my arm recently, all I got was Motrin 800mg.
 
Based on Morgan’s recent posts, she desperately needs a psychiatric evaluation. She is fixated on the fact she “broke a world record” with her heart rate hitting 480. She has been responding to people with what she wants written on her tombstone. After looking at her Instagram, she has alluded to killing herself more than once. Her latest post where she shaved her head was the cherry on top.

It’s a little confusing as she says she is dying and that it is too late to save her but then has refused to be admitted per her mother after an appointment at the Cleveland Clinic (for “decomposition”).It truly appears that the only acceptable treatment for her would be unlimited pain medicine and Ativan. Based on her posts, I believe she is very mentally ill and addicted to any medicine she can get a buzz off of. It’s a car crash you cannot look away from.
 
Not a chance. When I broke my arm recently, all I got was Motrin 800mg.

I hear they're even cracking down on dentists now in some places, not allowing them to give vicodin unless there's a tooth removal taking place or a visible infection. It sucks because if you have to go to an oral surgeon, there's sometimes a week or more between those appointments - all with a tooth ache that OTC stuff won't touch.
 
For once I believe something Morgan is saying, I have no doubt that someone reported her posts to the police to do a well check. However my doubt lies with the fact that they said 'we got it' and let it be. She probably told them "I'm not suicidal" and often times without serious danger obviously present they can't take you in. It's clear though that mama bear may be playing a part and Morgan may be partly puppet.
The fact that she feels the need to argue with those that may in fact be genuinely asking questions tears down a lot of credibility. She wants people to look through her page to find answers.
Her recent state screams a pysch disorder and an obvious adult in need of services. I really hope she gets the help before she 'dies' because to be honest she is showing the true possibility of actually commuting suicide.

Edited to add; her Instagram has a picture of someone calling her out (same person who suggested an exorcism) am I the only one if I was really dying and someone didn't believe me I'd block them and move on?

Than again I wouldn't fake dying.
 
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If she is behaving the way she was in that video, I have no doubt the cops were called. The way she was screaming into the camera was disturbing. I believe if anything happens to her, it will be of her own doing.

If I was dying, I would not be updating my social media multiple times a day and responding to every “hater”. Her latest thing is to bring up all the lawsuits that she will be bringing up against the doctors who did not believe her. Personally, I cannot believe her mother has not intevened but it absolutely appears that her mother is enabling the situation.
 
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