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

[Candidae]

I may be generalizing but why do all instagram dieticians have pituitary tumors, gastroparesis, and malnutrition?

Also, meth does that to your skin. Just sayin.

The malnutrition part is easy, they likely never got formal education and have no idea how to educate themselves properly on nutrition. Many of them also started going down the nutritionist crazy train due to orthorexia so it's nothing more than them looking to validate their views on not feeding themselves enough

 

[JCnGGd32]

Munchies are so fascinating from a psychological perspective. Obviously, there are some that are just scam artists (like the "brain cancer" belle from Australia), and never believed they were ever sick. Or scammers who exaggerate their illness for charity, getting out of work, disability welfare, etc. But of the one's who DO think they are sick, do they have anxiety about becoming sick and start seeing deeper meaning in symptoms ("I have a headache = brain cancer"), or do they just crave sympathy and being a vulnerable delicate flower? It seems so many of them love the attention, but then you see self-harming like that girl picking her skin, which is a sign of an underlying anxiety disorder.

I can never figure out which ones genuinely THINK they're sick, or the ones who are just playing up to get what they want.

 

[mooserangerofthenorth]

Its genuinely hard to decifier the ones who understand they arent sick but are malingering vs the ones who genuinely think they are sick but are not.
Munchausen by internet seems to be the attention seeks look at toobs look at my meds etc. In the process of getting attention they get pain meds and because their brains are already scrambled become addicted. Often times these stem from a single illness or injury.
To top it off most chronic illness communities perpetuate the "but your sick" thought process. They convince them they are disabled, they are sick and they deserve the attention and pain meds and the pity parties.
The internet was mankind's greatest invention of downfall for many.

 

[nothingtoseehere]

Its genuinely hard to decifier the ones who understand they arent sick but are malingering vs the ones who genuinely think they are sick but are not.

This one (Chroniczebra) mentioned earlier in the thread is a classic example. Complains of debilitating hives - appears to actually have a mild sunburn. Complains of terrible swelling - no swelling in sight. Complains of horrible bronchitis and sinus infection - speaks with a perfectly clear voice, not even the slightest bit of impairment. I still can't decide if she genuinely believes she has all these imaginary things wrong with her, or if its just some kind of social media experiment to see how many asspats she can get. She has the most melodramatic exaggerated OTT responses to everything, and describes normal physiological occurrences (eg slightly raised heart rate during vigorous exercise) as evidence of her debilitating invisible "chronic illness".

Describes herself as "so swollen" with her hereditary angioedema, which if you google looks horrendous and nothing like this:


Describes the completely normal red face and eyes anybody gets from crying as Mast Cell Activation Syndrome:

 

[mooserangerofthenorth]

The ones that claim HAE/mast cell drives me bonkers. The treatment is expensive. (And by expensive I mean you can buy a house expensive). The amount of resources, money and time the social media munchies waste is insane. They all have customized wheelchairs, ports and somehow still can afford more of lifes comforts than people working 2 jobs.
It seems among the social munchies they either follow a similar pattern to Mary Frey or dont. While yes Mary Frey is actually sick it seems that she has perpetrated that I'm so sick but look I'm normal. (And christian married young seems to be a common theme.)

 

[Dovahshit]

Munchies are so fascinating from a psychological perspective. Obviously, there are some that are just scam artists (like the "brain cancer" belle from Australia), and never believed they were ever sick. Or scammers who exaggerate their illness for charity, getting out of work, disability welfare, etc. But of the one's who DO think they are sick, do they have anxiety about becoming sick and start seeing deeper meaning in symptoms ("I have a headache = brain cancer"), or do they just crave sympathy and being a vulnerable delicate flower? It seems so many of them love the attention, but then you see self-harming like that girl picking her skin, which is a sign of an underlying anxiety disorder.

I can never figure out which ones genuinely THINK they're sick, or the ones who are just playing up to get what they want.

the ones that think they are sick due to weird symptoms can also be hypochondriacs
the main difference is how they deal with it.
the munchie will be cheerfull because she can use it for her personal gain while the hypochondriac is sobbing in the corner wonderinf wether that mole might be skin cancer, and most dont even think of posting on insta when they are in the hospital because they are busy with having a panic attack.

 

[A Seagull]

the ones that think they are sick due to weird symptoms can also be hypochondriacs
the main difference is how they deal with it.
the munchie will be cheerfull because she can use it for her personal gain while the hypochondriac is sobbing in the corner wonderinf wether that mole might be skin cancer, and most dont even think of posting on insta when they are in the hospital because they are busy with having a panic attack.

This. A hypochondriac doesn't mean to go over the top. They legitimately think that they have cancer and they're going to die and it scares them like it would a normal person. They're bombarded by these persistent, invasive thoughts like. "That dark freckle on your arm is cancer. You're going to die." They might post about the initial scare on social media, looking for comfort, but that's about it.
They usually calm down once all the tests come back negative and a doctor sits them down and explains to them it's fine and it's normal.
But as soon as another "symptom"shows up. The cycle repeats. Hypochondriacs to that degree share a lot with someone who is schizophrenic. It's really sad and they really can't help it. I'm sure they'd take getting rid of such terrifying thoughts and beliefs if given the chance.
A munchie would see that aforementioned dark freckle and use it to brag about cancer.
Rule of thumb- if they're constantly posting about it on social media, they're a munchie.

 

[Candidae]

This. A hypochondriac doesn't mean to go over the top. They legitimately think that they have cancer and they're going to die and it scares them like it would a normal person. They're bombarded by these persistent, invasive thoughts like. "That dark freckle on your arm is cancer. You're going to die." They might post about the initial scare on social media, looking for comfort, but that's about it.
They usually calm down once all the tests come back negative and a doctor sits them down and explains to them it's fine and it's normal.
But as soon as another "symptom"shows up. The cycle repeats. Hypochondriacs to that degree share a lot with someone who is schizophrenic. It's really sad and they really can't help it. I'm sure they'd take getting rid of such terrifying thoughts and beliefs if given the chance.
A munchie would see that aforementioned dark freckle and use it to brag about cancer.
Rule of thumb- if they're constantly posting about it on social media, they're a munchie.

A Munchie will also encourage their sickness by restricting nutrients to feel and look more sick while a hypocondriaque doesn't want to be sick, they're just convinced that they are
So many munchies in this thread will barely eat and show off how small and fragile they are, will try and infect their wounds, will the push themselves to faint (it seems some force themselves to hyperventilate until they get lightheaded), etc. They also seem happy and proud of having some unexplainable illness while a hypocondriaque is more convinced that they have something the doctors don't know about and they're going to die from this unknown disease.

 

[JCnGGd32]

A Munchie will also encourage their sickness by restricting nutrients to feel and look more sick while a hypocondriaque doesn't want to be sick, they're just convinced that they are
So many munchies in this thread will barely eat and show off how small and fragile they are, will try and infect their wounds, will the push themselves to faint (it seems some force themselves to hyperventilate until they get lightheaded), etc. They also seem happy and proud of having some unexplainable illness while a hypocondriaque is more convinced that they have something the doctors don't know about and they're going to die from this unknown disease.

I agree with you, but I don't think that a hypochondriac will necessarily be more quiet than a munchie, or do less to appear sick. If someone has anxiety around being sick, they may inadvertently make themselves "sicker" to prove themselves right. E.g. someone thinks they are coming out with a rash and a fever, they may pick at their skin searching for a rash, which may create scabs, which in turn look like a rash (to them). I also think hypochondriacs can want just as much attention, but for different reasons. Like a munchie would want sympathy, pity and other tangible outcomes (opiods, charity money, disability pay, time off work), whereas a hypochrondriac will want validation that they DO look sick and they are NOT crazy.

I think most in this forum are just malingerers, but some genuine hypochrondriacs may still come off as fakers.

 

[mooserangerofthenorth]

Perfect example.

 

[Crunchy Leaf]

I think a lot of the people we see here are the sort of people that, if they were 45, would be claiming fibromyalgia. They have somaticized mental illness. They're legitimately in pain, but it's pain that could be treated with anti-depressants.

Can someone give some more explanation on mast cell activation syndrome? I know two people who have it, and they also both have EDS--but like, legitimate, physical therapy once a week, has to pop joints back in EDS. Both of their descriptions of it are that it's like being allergic to a lot of stuff. Is this a new trendy munchie diagnosis? Why?

edit: what do people think about u/MBIresearch? She has a lot of the common munchie diagnoses. I also realize that getting kicked by a horse can cause serious damage, but it's weird to me that her issues aren't just the aftereffects of getting kicked by a horse.
edit again: I can't read, she just posted a screenshot and I thought it was her original post.

 

[Comrade]

edit: what do people think about u/MBIresearch? She has a lot of the common munchie diagnoses. I also realize that getting kicked by a horse can cause serious damage, but it's weird to me that her issues aren't just the aftereffects of getting kicked by a horse.

Ok obviously I know nothing about this chick (had literally never heard of her until I saw this post) and I can't make any claims about the validity of her illness, but I'm gonna take this opportunity to sperg about brain injuries for a second. Maybe warn you guys off starting a campaign until more evidence emerges of fakery?

Spoiler: TBI Sperg

TBI (Traumatic Brain Injury) does result in a whole host of weird symptoms you wouldn't expect. Physically you can be 'paralyzed' (not what we would typically think of as paralysis, more of a stiffness and ungainliness than complete inability to move) down one side, you can have vision and balance problems...the brain is incredibly complex and each brain injury has unique physical consequences. I don't know what other illnesses she's claiming but it's quite common with a brain injury for things to stack up, even if the symptoms don't initially seem related to the TBI.
More interestingly, a TBI will also change who you are as a person. I'm sure we've all heard of that railroad worker in like the 1800s who survived a spike going through his head, but became an angry drunk and lost all his friends and family? That's what a TBI does. If a previously calm and rational person suffers frontal lobe damage, they can become an impulsive, angry, maniac. They can even develop a mood disorder like bi-polor post injury - This is called an Organic Mood Disorder if anybody is interested.
Basically I'm saying that brain injuries are weird weird things that make people behave in weird weird ways and are poorly understood even by professionals, so I wouldn't be surprised if this girl isn't a munchie but just someone dealing with the effects of a TBI. Or she might have developed munchie behaviours after the injury, which brings up the question of how much she's responsible for her behaviours! Is she even who she was before the injury, or has a new person emerged? I find it a lot of fun to ponder these things
Source: I work in care and one of my clients suffered a TBI in a car crash. I talk about the effects of it with her a lot, and also observe them whilst I'm on shift

Anyway sorry for the info dump it's just a fascinating topic that I rarely get to talk about

 

[Crunchy Leaf]

No, I'm totally willing to believe that she has a legitimate TBI. But it's weird that she says she has 'Myalgic Encephalomyelitis, POTS, Fibromyalgia, Gastroparesis, and cervical spondylosis' all apparently caused by her accident.

WAIT I am a moron, the poster wasn't u/MBIresearch, it was a different user, u/MBIresearch posted a screenshot of the original post to r/illnessfakers.

 

[Comrade]

No, I'm totally willing to believe that she has a legitimate TBI. But it's weird that she says she has 'Myalgic Encephalomyelitis, POTS, Fibromyalgia, Gastroparesis, and cervical spondylosis' all apparently caused by her accident.

Fair enough, I didn't see the exact issues she was claiming, and yh if she says that all that is related to her TBI then it's a bit strange. I jumped the gun a little bc I'll take any opportunity to talk about TBIs, it's such an interesting and misunderstood disability.
I stand by my guess that any munchie behaviour could be the result of the brain injury though, so I guess in that sense she's right that her ailments are caused by that. Just not in the way she claims

 

[Candidae]

I think a lot of the people we see here are the sort of people that, if they were 45, would be claiming fibromyalgia. They have somaticized mental illness. They're legitimately in pain, but it's pain that could be treated with anti-depressants.

Can someone give some more explanation on mast cell activation syndrome? I know two people who have it, and they also both have EDS--but like, legitimate, physical therapy once a week, has to pop joints back in EDS. Both of their descriptions of it are that it's like being allergic to a lot of stuff. Is this a new trendy munchie diagnosis? Why?

edit: what do people think about u/MBIresearch? She has a lot of the common munchie diagnoses. I also realize that getting kicked by a horse can cause serious damage, but it's weird to me that her issues aren't just the aftereffects of getting kicked by a horse.
edit again: I can't read, she just posted a screenshot and I thought it was her original post.

Mast cells are a type of white blood cell that is part of the immune system rich in histamines. When you have MCAS they are hyperserponsive to stimuli and basically go crazy and release histamines all over the place even when you aren't having an allergic reaction or have nothing to fight. It can cause you to go into allergic shock over even the smallest things and is commonly associated with those who have EDS.
I can see it being a choice syndrome because not that much is known about causes and because anyone can pretend they feel allergic to everything. If you flush easily, bruise easily, and can convince people your skin is itchy you could probably fake it. It's also a more "silent" issue if you don't have a very severe case. If you check the wikipedia page you'll get a good list of the symptoms and you'll see how basic and generic they are. They're also symptoms hard to disprove online

 

[Crunchy Leaf]

Mast cells are a type of white blood cell that is part of the immune system rich in histamines. When you have MCAS they are hyperserponsive to stimuli and basically go crazy and release histamines all over the place even when you aren't having an allergic reaction or have nothing to fight. It can cause you to go into allergic shock over even the smallest things and is commonly associated with those who have EDS.
I can see it being a choice syndrome because not that much is known about causes and because anyone can pretend they feel allergic to everything. If you flush easily, bruise easily, and can convince people your skin is itchy you could probably fake it. It's also a more "silent" issue if you don't have a very severe case. If you check the wikipedia page you'll get a good list of the symptoms and you'll see how basic and generic they are. They're also symptoms hard to disprove online

So is there a treatment other than just not eating whatever sets you off? While obviously being allergic to lots of things sucks, it's not on the same sympathy-garnering level as a chronic pain disorder, which is why it seems like an odd munchie choice--although I guess it is good to add to a long laundry list of conditions.

 

[Lysenko]

I was reading Merek Manuals for Professionals and came across an interesting passage linking Munch (aka Fictitious disorder) to Borderline PD.

Patients may have prominent borderline personality features and are usually intelligent and resourceful. They know how to simulate disease and are sophisticated regarding medical practices. They differ from malingerers because although their deceits and simulations are conscious and volitional, there are no obvious external incentives (eg, economic gain) for their behavior. It is unclear what they gain beyond medical attention for their suffering, and their motivations and quest for attention are largely unconscious and obscure.


Patients may have an early history of emotional and physical abuse. Patients may also have experienced a severe illness during childhood or had a seriously ill relative. Patients appear to have problems with their identity as well as unstable relationships. Feigning illness may be a way to increase or protect self-esteem by blaming failures on their illness, by being associated with prestigious physicians and medical centers, and/or by appearing unique, heroic, or medically knowledgeable and sophisticated.

What do you think?

 

[OG 666]

I was reading Merek Manuals for Professionals and came across an interesting passage linking Munch (aka Fictitious disorder) to Borderline PD.

Patients may have prominent borderline personality features and are usually intelligent and resourceful. They know how to simulate disease and are sophisticated regarding medical practices. They differ from malingerers because although their deceits and simulations are conscious and volitional, there are no obvious external incentives (eg, economic gain) for their behavior. It is unclear what they gain beyond medical attention for their suffering, and their motivations and quest for attention are largely unconscious and obscure.

What do you think?

People with BPD really struggle with feeling that they lack a solid identity. One of the DSM symptoms is "chronic feelings of emptiness." Whenever they do find a new identity, they cling onto it very quickly and with a lot of intensity, hence why you see a lot of tumblr BPD girls adopting a different sexuality or gender every month.

I could see how some borderlines would adopt "chronically ill" as one such identity. I'd also imagine that this gives them a new excuse to seek out affection, attention, and validation, which are really powerful motivators for people with BPD.

It makes a lot of sense to me and I wouldn't at all be surprised if a lot of munchies also have BPD, tbh.

 

[Lysenko]

@Crunchy Leaf DO you have any screenshots or more info about the alleged illnesses of MBI? I didn't realize she was a she until now. I believe her that she works in healthcare though because at least she seems to know her stuff and posts a lot on other med subreddits.

 

[grumbleBum]

I was reading Merek Manuals for Professionals and came across an interesting passage linking Munch (aka Fictitious disorder) to Borderline PD.

Patients may have prominent borderline personality features and are usually intelligent and resourceful. They know how to simulate disease and are sophisticated regarding medical practices. They differ from malingerers because although their deceits and simulations are conscious and volitional, there are no obvious external incentives (eg, economic gain) for their behavior. It is unclear what they gain beyond medical attention for their suffering, and their motivations and quest for attention are largely unconscious and obscure.


Patients may have an early history of emotional and physical abuse. Patients may also have experienced a severe illness during childhood or had a seriously ill relative. Patients appear to have problems with their identity as well as unstable relationships. Feigning illness may be a way to increase or protect self-esteem by blaming failures on their illness, by being associated with prestigious physicians and medical centers, and/or by appearing unique, heroic, or medically knowledgeable and sophisticated.

What do you think?

It’s all quite fascinating, really. Their motivations don’t seem as obscure as Merck would have it, though, these fragile little snowflakes gain a lot more than just medical attention. It’s a free ticket out of tedious adult responsibilities and a bottomless well of asspats for entitled drama whores with a penchant for self-victimisation.