Not many may have heard of Munchausen by Internet, but they’ve probably seen it online—some may not just know what it is. You may have already been a victim of this without your knowing. This is a relatively new syndrome, which means someone is faking having a serious health condition to gain sympathy.
Seeing someone gravely sick and asking for your help and support can easily get your empathy. This can even lead to fundraising to finance their treatments and medicines. But how sure are you that their illness is true? Here’s when the Munchausen by Internet comes in, resulting in the rise of fraudsters on social media. Sure, not everyone who’s asking for help online is guilty of this new evil trend, but it cannot be denied that many are already taking advantage of this move and the netizens’ concern to make money for their own gains. Remember, everything is easy to fake on the internet nowadays. Your image can even be changed in an instant, thanks to AI.
Munchausen by Internet: What It Is
According to the National Library of Medicine, Munchausen syndrome is a psychological and behavioral condition where someone fakes their own illness or exaggerates or induces their symptoms to get attention and sympathy. When this happens online, it will be called Munchausen by Internet, a term coined by Dr. Marc Feldman in 2000.
The rise of the internet and social media have posed a massive change to the health world, with people making their own diagnoses by checking their symptoms online. Some even join forums to ask others or to see some health similarities. But aside from affecting the medical world, it also affects the users’ behavior.
"Munchausen-by-internet" remember this phrase because it will be used often in the future.
— itsagundam (@GundamIsHere) April 16, 2022
Feldman saw a rise in this case in virtual support groups when the year 2000 began.
“It can go to a whole new level online when you not only make up a name, but you can make up sock puppets, people to endorse your story, when it’s all stemming from the same individual using different email accounts or other social media accounts,” he told Inside Edition Digital. “They avoid having to go to emergency rooms and hospitals. They avoid having to play sick, and they can nonetheless be totally convincing.”
Sure, this thing isn’t really new, but he saw a dramatic rise in it again during the heights of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. At a time when getting doctors’ appointments was relatively hard, many sought help from the Internet and social media to look at their symptoms and share awareness. But despite not getting a correct diagnosis, many still claim they have the virus—and many are guilty of this.
A study published in the National Library of Medicine claimed that less than one percent of patients in a clinical setting have this syndrome. But Feldman and many other experts believe the number is much higher, considering the number of patients who have remained undiagnosed and do not even seek help.
Munchausen by Internet is real.
— Emperor Sagar V Chauhan I (@DJ_Saguaro) October 14, 2023
Sadly, Munchausen by Internet is even much harder to detect. You can never ask a sickly-looking person if they are really sick.
The Rise of Social Media Fraudsters
Online fundraisers are often seen on social media. This is a move to help others who need funds to support their treatment, whether cancer or other serious illnesses. But not everything about this is true, as social media fraudsters are on the rise, faking their own diseases to fraud other people who only show their concerns and empathy.
Many have already been exposed for lying about their health, from influencers to other common citizens—and cancer is the most common faked illness.
Munchausen by Internet is an actual thing, and I'm pretty sure creating a fake identity with a chronic illness and trauma falls under that heading.
— Louis Peitzman (@LouisPeitzman) April 5, 2022
One great example of this is Gypsy Rose Blanchard, a victim of her own mom, Dee Dee, who was later diagnosed with Munchausen by Proxy. Compared to Munchausen’s Internet, as the name says, she used a “proxy” to fake a medical condition to gain attention. This time, she used her daughter.
Dee Dee claimed Gypsy had terminal leukemia, could not walk, and had a mental age of seven years old, but none of them were true. And to prove that the fake illness was real, she was even medicating and letting her child undergo treatments she didn’t need. The detectives learned she was perfectly healthy. Unfortunately, this story became a nightmare when Gypsy played a role in her mother’s murder, resulting in her imprisonment. However, she was already granted parole and would be released in December.
Munchausen by Internet and Social Media Fraudsters Explained
You probably get by now what Munchausen by Internet means, and you may have also noticed how others do this thing. Sure, this behavior is real, but many use this syndrome to fool others. Aside from the sympathy, attention, and well wishes, money may have motivated the culprits to do this.
A lot of fraudsters are now circulating online. Many are always targeting people on the Internet, and these concerned netizens become their willing victims. How? People have a soft spot for the sick and the weak, and these fraudsters take advantage of these traits. Many also easily believe what they see online, not even scrutinizing whether it’s real or not. Hence, they fall into the trap that these online scammers make, resulting in willingly giving donations to the illness fakers.
Real cancer sufferers suffer emotionally, physically and financially so it is infuriating when people fake cancer for attention or money or both. Munchausen by internet is common and has a very damaging effect on actual cancer patients, families and support groups.
— John Dabell (@John_Dabell) June 18, 2022
If for you this means help, it is business for these fraudsters. You probably know how the internet works nowadays, and the evildoers are making this their nest to fool a lot of people as possible. So, before you believe—not just the health fakers but everything you see online—ask, research, scrutinize, and be vigilant. Sure, you only intend to help, and the fraudsters are the ones who will carry the bad things they do.
But while you’re helping these fakers, the real people who need help and funding get nothing. Hence, Munchausen by Internet doesn’t only affect you and the medical world. If there’s someone who has become the real victim, they are the ones who are really sick, weak, and dying.
