Streaming Video

Deception : Munchausen's disorder

Kent, Nicolas

1997

Overview

People afflicted with Munchausen's disorder invent illnesses in order to be admitted to a hospital. They repeatedly turn up in emergency rooms, claiming to be in acute distress and falsifying their medical histories. So convincing is their deception that they may even be operated on needlessly. This powerful documentary follows 41-year-old Nina and 26-year-old Simon into their bizarre world where reality has all but disappeared. Nina has made over 500 hospital visits in her lifetime. Having once suffered a genuine ectopic pregnancy, she has faked many such emergencies and been operated on seven times. While Nina s case is tragic, Simon is an even more complex individual who exhibits a dangerous combination of medical obsessions and habitual lying. He has made over a hundred hospital visits, often taking a taxi directly from the medical library where he researches symptoms. Psychiatrist Dr. Ben John admits the medical profession is largely defeated by Munchausen s disorder. These people divert valuable health resources from the truly sick in their endless drive to gain attention. Psychiatrist Dr. Michael Murphy of Queen Mary s Hospital observes that the typical Munchausen patient has few peer relationships and uses nursing and medical staff for social contact that does not become too intimate.

• Publisher: Filmakers Library
• Subject: Documentary / Health / Munchausen syndrome