bessie
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MSBP is one of several factitious disorders, meaning a condition where an individual feigns physical or psychological illness. The disorders take different forms with various degrees of severity. They are sometimes chronic and sometimes episodic. With MSBP, the person with the disorder makes a child or an elderly patient the suffering victim, and places herself in the role of loving caretaker. Individuals with any form of the factitious disorders all share a common goal: attention, sympathy, and affirmation. And many of them suffer from a personality disorder, whether borderline, antisocial, or narcissistic.I am not saying that I think Terri is like this (I do not have enough information to form an opinion)
I am wondering if there are degrees of severity of Munchausen by proxy as there is with any mental illness or defect ...
For instance some years ago I knew a pregnant teenager who would take very hot baths to get the twin babies in utero upset and she would end up in the ER all so that she could have contact with the father. Not necessarily Munchausen by proxy but certainly some kind of narcissistic personality disorder that caused her to become justified in causing her babies discomfort so she could get what she wanted.
I suspected MSBP very early on in this case. I've since put the idea on the backburner because no information has emerged to support it. MSBP aside, I do have a strong hunch that Terri is someone who would use deception to garner attention and approval.