Munchhausen Syndrome – Part 1
Have you ever heard of the Baron Karl Friedrich Hieronymus Freiherr von Munchhausen? He was a German army cavalry officer who was born in Boden-werder (Germany) and lived from 1720-1797, but he never accomplished any great or notable feat worthy of historical fame. So why is the good Baron famous? Not for what he did, but for what he didn’t do. Baron Munchhausen was a storyteller; after he returned from war, he told the most fantastic stories such as riding cannon balls and flying to the moon. His name was commandeered in 1785 by Rudolf Eric Raspe and placed upon a collection of tall tales published in London. Many assumed the tales to be perpetrated by the Baron, and his reputation for telling “the whopper” became more renowned. Today, his name occurs in the field of medicine. Munchausen’s Syndrome is the name given to individuals who lie and fake medical symptoms to gain attention. It’s classified as a mental disorder.
Do you want to be sick? I have been sick many times with some kind of virus. Sometimes it was the flu; sometimes is was something else. Being sick, however, there was one thing I knew; I didn’t want to be sick! People who have Munchausen’s Syndrome, however, not only want to be sick, but, and as odd as it sounds, they like being sick. These people aren’t sick (physically), but they want to be sick to get attention. The truth of the matter is that it is not good to be sick, and society recognizes that people who want to be sick and who will lie and fake illnesses to be perceived as being sick have a mental problem. They also have a spiritual problem! Let’s think about that in the next article.
God bless you, and I love you.
Kevin Cauley