Munchausen by Proxy

‘Munchausen syndrome by proxy, now known as factitious disorder imposed on another, is a mental illness where a caregiver, often a parent, fabricates or induces illness in someone under their care, typically a child. This behavior is a form of abuse and can lead to serious harm for the victim.’

‘…mental illness where a caregiver makes up or exaggerates an illness in a person in their care.’ WebMD

‘The person with MSP gains attention by seeking medical help for exaggerated or made-up symptoms of a child in their care.’ -WebMD

Hmm… somebody so desperate for attention and for the world to look at him… and then couple that with say… well… it’s not the martyr complex, because those people actually do sacrifice themselves, not just grandstand and do nothing but create more issue that they then can be seen to ‘fix’… all by themselves.

What’s the word?… Oh, that’s right- Narcissists!

So, if you combine a narcissist with a Munchausen syndrome by proxy… you might get somebody who creates issues that don’t exist, so that he can be seen as a hero when he fixes them all by himself, because narcissists do not like sharing their spotlight. To be sure he is on his own, he might actually send out general emails to everybody who used to do the same volunteer activity and tell them they can no longer do anything without his permission.

Then he can tell what few members show up at the meeting, that he alone worked HOURS to unclog a drainage ditch that somebody intentionally filled.

Yep. That was the only possible way that culvert got filled with all the gravel… that somebody just keeps piling on the road… with no actual work to the road… Gravel absolutely does not move, from a hill, in steady rain, unless somebody moves it.

I can just imagine somebody putting on their ninja outfits, sneaking out to a culvert and shoveling the gravel from the road to the ditch.

To learn more about narcissists, check out this article at Psychology Today.

Of course, this post is not diagnosing anybody, since the writer is not a licensed shrink.