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Loading... Sickened: The True Story of a Lost Childhoodby Julie Gregory
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will love Sign up for LibraryThing to find out whether you'll like this book. It is horrible to think that some people's parents actually do this kind of thing to them. How could you? I hadn't heard of Munchausen by proxy before I read this book. Now that I have, its title is an accurate reflection of how I feel about it. I'm glad that the author came through it, and is now old enough to stand on her own and write. Heartbreaking story. Munchausen by proxy (MBP) is the world's most hidden and dangerous form of child abuse, in which the caretaker--almost always the mother--invents or induces symptoms in her child because she craves the attention of medical professionals. That's a pretty cold description. The author of this book was the victim of MBP and her tale is difficult to read at times. As you do, though, you begin to realize the vise in which these children are held, how helpless they are, how they naturally believe that their parent is only trying to do what's best, if mom says I'm sick than I must be sick. This mother was particularly horrible, abusing the father and essentially forcing HIM to physically abuse the children, just frightful episodes. How kids survive this sort of life is beyond my comprehension, and I know many don't. How professionals can't recognizes these symptoms is really even harder to understand. The first part of this book was very interesting, though a bit disturbing. The part where Julie's mother took her in for an unnecessary heart catheterization and later tried to insist on open heart surgery sent chills up my spine. I cringe at the thought of my child having surgery, so it's so hard to imagine a mother doing this to her own daughter. After Julie separated from her mother toward the end and began her own downward spiral, the book became much less interesting. Even when she saw her mother again near the end, it wasn't as interesting as the first part of the book. I would like to think that doctors today would be more educated about mental disorders and would call Child & Family Services to investigate this family. I am a social worker and can say from experience that this does not always happen. Though there is more information out there today about various types of mental illness, there are still so many doctors and other professionals who would rather just "pass the buck" because this is not their area of specialty. Interesting story of a girl whose mother puts her through a lot of torture because she's suffering from Munchausen's by Proxy. It's scary how easily her mother continued to persecute her through time and how no-one really noticed that it was happening. Interesting read, scary stuff, of interest to those who enjoy tales of childhood suffering. no reviews | add a review
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(retrieved from Amazon Fri, 24 Apr 2009 07:58:05 -0400)
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This book is about the story of a young girl growing up with a mom who has munchausen by proxy, a form of child abuse where the person who has the mental disease fakes syndroms or even causes syndroms of sickness to get attention from medical proffesionals. It tells about the things that happen to her in her life, and how they affect her later on as she grows up. This book is definetly a courage booster. (