Hurting for Love: Munchausen by Proxy Syndrome [Hardcover]

Schreier. (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0898621216 | ISBN-13: 978-0898621211 | Publication Date: May 21, 1993 | Edition: 1

This book offers a comprehensive, detailed examination of MBPS. Written by leading authorities, it covers all known clinical, medical, psychological, social and legal aspects of the disorder, including detection, dynamics, treatment, and clinical management. Based on their own experiences evaluating and treating these patients, the authors present an innovative theory of the disorder as a form of imposturing. Detailed psychological test data on a group of MBPS mothers are presented for the first time to enhance our understanding of the cognitive and psychological makeup of parents who fabricate illness in their children. The text also contains a thoughtful discussion of the larger social context of women in our society and in our medical institutions--a discussion crucial to our understanding of why MBPS is predominantly a disorder of women.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Herbert A. Schreier, M.D., is Chief of Psychiatry at Children's Hospital Oakland in Oakland, California. He trained in child psychiatry at Albert Einstein College of Medicine, and was a Commonwealth Foundation Instructor in the Department of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School. His current clinical and research interests include community response to disasters, socially inept children, and the genetics and treatment of Tourette's Syndrome and bipolar disorders in childhood.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 265 pages
• Publisher: Guilford Press; 1 edition (May 21, 1993)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0898621216
• ISBN-13: 978-0898621211
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 5.9 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,040,845 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #68 in Books > Law > Family & Health Law > Mental Health

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

21 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Corrective Opinion, September 19, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: Hurting for Love: Munchausen by Proxy Syndrome (Hardcover)

Just thought I would point out, as a corrective to the reviewer who believes the authors have published "nothing" in the "medical or psychiatric literature", that these authors have in fact published quite a bit on the subject in the "medical or psychiatric literature". These reviews "warning" us against the authors strike me as having some kind of agenda. Some examples of the authors' publications: Schreier (1992), "The perversion of mothering: Munchausen syndrome by proxy," Bulletin of the Menninger Clinic, 56; Schreier & Libow (1993), "Munchausen Syndrome by proxy: Diagnosis and prevalence," American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 63; Schreier & Libow (1994), "Munchausen by proxy syndrome: A modern pediatric challenge," The Journal of Pediatrics, 125; Libow (1994), "Munchausen by Proxy Victims in later life," Symposium conducted at the 102nd Annual Meeting of the American Psychological Association; "Libow & Schreier (1986), "Three forms of factitious illness in children: When is it Munchausen syndrome by proxy?" American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 56.

14 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The only current book worth reading on mbps, May 16, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Hurting for Love: Munchausen by Proxy Syndrome (Hardcover)

The authors offer a thoughtful account of this uncommon form of child abuse. Whilst I disagree with some of their conclusions, they go much further than any other publidshed material in making sense of the dynamics of this form of abuse.

17 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars EXCELLENT, May 26, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Hurting for Love: Munchausen by Proxy Syndrome (Hardcover)

THE READER FROM MICHIGAN DOETH PROTEST TOO MUCH! GOD ONLY KNOWS HOW MANY CHILDREN ACTUALLY DIED AS A RESULT OF THIS SYNDROME, WHEN PROBABLY, IN MANY CASES, IT WAS DISMISSED AS SIDS. YES, PARENTS CAN AND DO HURT THEIR CHILDREN IN THIS WAY! I HAVE READ MUCH ON THE SUBJECT. THE PARENTS KNOW HOW TO ACT THE PART OF A LOVING PARENT WHEN AMONGST OTHERS. WE HAVE ONLY TOUCHED THE TOP OF THE ICEBERG - IT IS DIFFICULT TO DIAGNOSE, EVEN MORE DIFFICULT TO PROVE. MEANWHILE, THE CHILDREN SUFFER TERRIBLY AND MANY DIE. SO, INSTEAD OF SHOOTING THE MESSENGER (AS DID THE READER FROM MICHIGAN) LET US TRY TO BE AWARE OF THE CHILDREN AMONGST US, AND LET THE MEDICAL COMMUNITY BECOME MORE EDUCATED ABOUT THIS TERRIBLE FORM OF CHILD ABUSE.