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Reflections on a Munchausen’s by Proxy Childhood, Part 4
Factitious disorder that’s not imposed on another
Most likely, the female parent, NancyJo’s, Munchausen’s Syndrome by Proxy (MSP) or Factitious Disorder Imposed on Another was triggered originally by events that happened before she ever even married the man who would be my father, Walt. Her MSP was set in motion when Walt moved her out of Southern California where she had family and friends and into the mountains, and then out of California all together and into Reno, where she knew nobody. Those stressors combined with my sister, who was 10 years older than me, getting into drugs and not being compliant with Walt’s weirdly Edwardian beliefs about life, a serious lack of liberty, and a complete denial that happiness even mattered.
By the time I was three, NancyJo was anxious to capitalize on anything that brought her positive attention and being seen as the concerned, loving, heroic, stoic, steadfast and true parent who saved her daughter from a malfunctioning oxygen tent (Reflections on a Munchausen’s Syndrome by Proxy Childhood, Part 2) and saw her through repeated bouts of rheumatic fever (every part of this story) got her that attention.
But even children of parents with MSP grow up, unless their abuser kills them.
