A
young woman begins a regimen of cancer treatment and reaches out to the
internet to share her experience with others who are going through the
same thing. She builds a circle of friends for support, but while going
through her own struggle, finds out gradually two of them are faking
their illness for attention. Playing the patient online is a lot easier
and more common than faking illness in real life.
Think
of it: You're anonymous—you can manifest any symptoms you want, like
puking pints of blood, without having to actually puke pints of blood.
And instead of being examined by the trained eyes of a doctor, you're
welcomed unconditionally by flocks of people who stand on-call, ready to
shower you with attention and emotional support 24 hours a day. For
weeks or months or years, you can live out your deception without the
fear of having your lies challenged in person. And if someone does
eventually doubt your story, you can simply log out. Change your name or
your illness. Find a fresh group of sympathizers.
This
accessibility makes Munchausen by internet "way, way more common than
Munchausen ever was or could have been," Dr. Feldman says.
"Unfortunately, a lot of therapists have no clue what Munchausen is, let
alone Munchausen by internet."
After she becomes a
crusader to expose fake internet personas with tragic medical stories,
she is victimized once again by an even more convincing troll who went
to great lengths to prove her nonexistent illnesses. You may recognize
some aspects of her story at The Stranger. Or you may learn to be even
more diligent when befriending people online.
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