Summary
Reports on seemingly caring mothers, who at the same time fabricate or provoke clinical symptoms in their children and subsequently expose them to potentially harmful medical procedures, are hardly believable at first sight. Nevertheless the steadily growing number of reports on this kind of child abuse, known as Munchausen-by-proxy syndrome, points to a significant number of undetected cases. The interactional involvement of health care professionals in the abuse tends to impede diagnosis, and, as a consequence of the syndrome, usually leads to violent emotional reactions, which require careful analysis and professional handling.
Zusammenfassung
Beschreibungen von fürsorglich und besorgt erscheinenden Müttern, die gleichzeitig an ihren Kindern Krankheitssymptome manipulieren oder sogar produzieren und sie schmerzhaften und potentiell schädlichen medizinischen Prozeduren aussetzen, wirken auf den ersten Blick kaum glaubhaft. Die kontinuierlich wachsende Zahl der Berichte über derartige Kindesmisshandlungen, die unter dem Begriff "Münchhausen-byproxy-Syndrom" subsumiert werden, lässt jedoch eine beachtliche Anzahl unentdeckter Fälle vermuten. Die interaktionelle Einbindung der medizinischen Helfer in den Kindesmissbrauch erschwert die Diagnostik und führt in der Regel zu syndromimmanenten heftigen emotionalen Reaktionen, die der Reflexion und eines professionellen Umgangs bedürfen.
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Krupinski, M. Wenn Mediziner ungewollt zur Kindesmisshandlung verführt werden: Münchhausen-by-proxy-Syndrom. Wien Med Wochenschr 156, 441–447 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10354-006-0325-2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10354-006-0325-2