For those who don't know, Munchausen syndrome [http://my.clevelandclinic.org/disorders/factitious_disorders/hic_munchausen_syndrome.aspx] is a factitious disorder characterized by the faking of illness symptoms for attention. This can include things like tampering with urine samples to produce positive results and faking symptoms of various diseases. Some sufferers also take it one step further and actually hurt themselves on purpose. There is also something called Munchausen by proxy, where somebody gives illness symptoms to somebody close to themselves. The end goal in all of this is to get attention.
This is different from hypochondria, because while the hypochondriac actually believes that they are ill, the person with Munchausen knows that they are fine, but wants the attention associated with illness anyway.
Getting to the main point, apparently there is such a thing as Munchausen by internet syndrome. The consequences for faking illness for attention are much greater in the real world than on the internet. You could lose your job, your friends, and the respect of others if you are caught faking an illness. But online, you can say whatever you want to and people will accept it and give you attention. It is easy to say that you were raped, or that your family was killed, or that you have a terminal disease, and people will give you the attention that you want. After all, they can't exactly track you down and confirm if what you are saying is true. (Well, somebody could if they really wanted to, but that's quite difficult.)
Apparently, experts say that this is a real thing [http://www.selfhelpmagazine.com/article/munchausen-by] and that it should be treated like a legitimate disease.
So what does The Escapist think about all of this? Does making stuff up to get sympathy online mean that you have an actual disorder, or does that just make you a jackass?
NOTE:
I have seen at least one instance of this kind of behavior on these forums. This tread should not contain any discussion about people in this community who show Munchausen symptoms. Feel free to talk in a general way about things that you might have seen, but please don't include any examples from this forum, and if you must, please don't give any specifics.
Edit: I just realized that I forgot to give my own opinion on the matter. Well, I personally suffer from OCD, and I understand that it can be hard to resist certain urges. However, I'm not sure that there is a definite biological cause behind this specific subcategory of Munchausen. Aftr all, they are not desperate enough for attention that they do this kind of behavior in real life, so they might just be dicks. But I simply don't have enough information about the disorder, so I'm leaving it as a "maybe".
This is different from hypochondria, because while the hypochondriac actually believes that they are ill, the person with Munchausen knows that they are fine, but wants the attention associated with illness anyway.
Getting to the main point, apparently there is such a thing as Munchausen by internet syndrome. The consequences for faking illness for attention are much greater in the real world than on the internet. You could lose your job, your friends, and the respect of others if you are caught faking an illness. But online, you can say whatever you want to and people will accept it and give you attention. It is easy to say that you were raped, or that your family was killed, or that you have a terminal disease, and people will give you the attention that you want. After all, they can't exactly track you down and confirm if what you are saying is true. (Well, somebody could if they really wanted to, but that's quite difficult.)
Apparently, experts say that this is a real thing [http://www.selfhelpmagazine.com/article/munchausen-by] and that it should be treated like a legitimate disease.
So what does The Escapist think about all of this? Does making stuff up to get sympathy online mean that you have an actual disorder, or does that just make you a jackass?
NOTE:
I have seen at least one instance of this kind of behavior on these forums. This tread should not contain any discussion about people in this community who show Munchausen symptoms. Feel free to talk in a general way about things that you might have seen, but please don't include any examples from this forum, and if you must, please don't give any specifics.
Edit: I just realized that I forgot to give my own opinion on the matter. Well, I personally suffer from OCD, and I understand that it can be hard to resist certain urges. However, I'm not sure that there is a definite biological cause behind this specific subcategory of Munchausen. Aftr all, they are not desperate enough for attention that they do this kind of behavior in real life, so they might just be dicks. But I simply don't have enough information about the disorder, so I'm leaving it as a "maybe".
