Parental alienation can take many forms. A lot of times one parent feeds the child false information about the other parent, usually painting that other parent in a negative light. A parent who engages in alienating behavior might also physically keep the child from the other parent, preventing parenting time and even phone calls from occurring. But sometimes parents go so far as to subject their children to unnecessary medical treatment out of an unfounded belief that the child suffers from a serious medical condition.
A look at Munchausen syndrome by proxy
Munchausen syndrome by proxy is a mental illness whereby the sufferer is driven to seek out attention for a child’s medical condition that simply doesn’t exist. This oftentimes means that a child is subjected to invasive examinations, tests, and procedures for no good reason. In other instances, the parent even mistreats the child in a way that causes symptoms that seem real but actually are not indicative of a medical condition. Sometimes these parents go so far as to even withhold food from a child or poison them to cause illness.
Munchausen syndrome by proxy is child abuse. Yet, these abusive parents often spin their child’s false medical condition to try to portray the child’s other parent as uncaring and unable to properly care for the child. These mentally ill parents oftentimes even manipulate their children into believing that the other parent is unable to care for the fake injury or illness, which distances the child from the other parent.
Dealing with Munchausen syndrome by proxy in your case
Figuring out a way to prove Munchausen syndrome by proxy can be challenging, especially since these abusive parents often come across as caring. However, there are legal strategies that you can use to your advantage, including using medical experts and parental alienation experts who can set the record straight and paint a clear picture of attention seeking behavior and manipulation. If you think that you could benefit from this kind of strategy in your case, then consider researching our firm further to see what we have to offer.