Munchausen by Internet: Faking Death Online
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Written by: Jaclyn Popola
Munchausen by Internet is one of these disorders. Regular Munchausen syndrome is a psychiatric disorder in which those affected feign disease, illness, or psychological trauma in order to draw attention or sympathy to themselves; Munchausen syndrome by proxy is a type of abuse in which a caregiver feigns or induces an illness in a person under their care, in order to attract attention, sympathy, or to fill other emotional needs. Munchausen by Internet takes this concept to the realm of cyberspace, to blogging communities, social networking sites and message boards.
SCENARIO #1 Lauren is a long-time member and frequent poster on the message boards over at a pet lover's community. One day, she composes a new post that says something like, "I CAN BARLY TYPE BOTH ARMS R IN CAST OWWW IT HURTS OH DEAR GOD PRAY FOR ME PLEASE!" Community members will respond, obviously concerned, and Lauren's next post will be typed by her "brother" as she dictates, telling him what to say. He will relay a story about how he is sitting next to Lauren in her hospital bed because she fell off the roof/got beat up by her ex-boyfriend/was mugged at gunpoint. Some fakers will even go so far as to say they will be bed-ridden for the next two months and will be so bored. Would anyone mind checking out her Amazon.com wishlist and buying her the books and movies she's been wanting?
SCENARIO #2 Maddy is a blogger who has kept an online diary at LiveJournal.com for over a year. She has amassed a decent number of cyber friends who read her entries daily. One day, out of the blue, her friends log on and see that Maddy's most recent entry says something like this: "My name is Tom, I am Maddy's younger brother. I know her log-in password from when I did the HTML on her profile. I am very sorry to have to inform you all of this, but Maddy was in a car accident last night. The roads were slick from the rain we've been having, and a tractor trailer hydroplaned into the opposite lane and hit Maddy head on. She suffered from numerous injuries to her head and neck, and was bleeding internally. The doctors did everything they could, but it was too late. Maddy passed away this morning at 2:11am. I know she is in a better place now. Please pray for our family to get through this difficult time."
At first, Maddy's online friends will be shocked, and there will be an outpouring of comments expressing their sympathy and remorse. But then someone will remember something, a vague recollection from an earlier time. Didn't Maddy say at one point a few months back that she was an only child? Didn't she mention that she didn't go for her driver's license test yet? Something will arise that plants a seed of suspicion, and all it takes for that seed to germinate is another person voicing their agreement that they feel wary, too.
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I just experienced this...and very well done, too. The girl is zani, a kinky 'slave' looking for a Master. But, unfortunately she is suffering from Lupus. She supposedly died 3 days ago, but on her deathbed, she wrote me a beautiful poem--which I found on someone's blog--written for HIM.
"Even if caught red handed, the faker will not stop operating. It is a compulsion. She will just create a new screen name, a new online persona, and continue the charade in another community" <--- or in the same community as one or ten or twenty more alts.
I don't know how I missed this thread, but I have had dealings with one of these people. I had no idea it was a syndrome with a name or that widespread. Excellent hub.
Excellent Hub. We all know about children (and adults) who misbehave to get attention due to low self-esteem - the internet gives such people a chance to attention-seek on a grand scale, so I suppose it's no wonder it's attracting behaviour like this.
I knew about M Syndrome but not how people afflicted with it use on the internet. I'm shocked.
It is so sad these people who seek help in the wrong way for whatever their reasons are. I recall one woman I worked with years ago 'faking' her father's death. So many of us shared our sympathy with her, yet she continued to work for the firm for another 8 or so months, even after we found out the death was faked.
I do not know how someone could 'fake' such things unless they are so warped.
But alas, they do exist in the cyber world as well, as I have recently been witnessed to another personality(s) of one person who basicaly created so many scenarios and psuedo personalities of horrid accidents and deaths, it was basically too unreal. And what's worse, so many of us at this particular social site expressed concerns, spent time trying to find out where to send flowers and what's worse it created a negative energy at the site which (for now) has calmed down.
All I can say is be wary out there in cyber land. This is for real, this syndrome, though the 'patient's' problems probably are not real.
Ive had a pretty extreme version of this. I met a girl on an online dating site. she was amazing. but told me when she was young,she had neuroblastoma (a rare form of cancer). we were dating really well for only 2 months but soon enough she got cancer again.she showed me her MRI scans on her data stick and i could see the severity of it. she moved back to her home town, but we kept in touch on phone and email. but i then got an anonamous txt saying there was to be a memorial service held for her.its location didnt exist. her "sister" later added me on msn and she told me what happened and sent me a beutiful obituary detailing how amazing she was.3 months went on of more anomalies like her facebook account being reactivated and phoning the hospitals she supposedly stayed at and hearing theyd never heard of her. but then i looked at the obituary again and rang the funeral director who also hadnt heard of her but then found out that the obituary was an exact copy of a young girl's who did actually die of neuroblastoma except names and places we're changed accordingly.
i messaged her friend on facebook to tell her my discoveries who must have conversed what i had said. lucy coincidently got back from a 2 month holiday on that day claiming all her friends we're asking why it was going around that she was dead.
I am someone who is anti-pro anorexia, and have seem SO MANY individuals who have Münchhausen's syndrome on the internet.
Most pro-anorexia (pro-ana) websites are filled with people who are afflicted by this syndrome. It's horrible how many people actually care and worry that these people have passed away and so forth, when they have not.
There are MANY weblogs on livejournal and xanga (and various pro-ana communities) that are created by pro-eating disordered people with Münchhausen's, who belittle eating disorders and their effects and make a joke out of the illness with their lies and attention seeking. Those who actually suffer from anorexia nervosa(like myself) and other eating disorders often get very angry at the pro-anorexics for emulating this illness for attention when they have no idea how horrible this illness truly is.
I would say that a very large percent of pro anorexics have Münchhausen's by internet or factitious disorder.
Although I do recognize this is a genuine problem and these people desperately need treatment, it's aggravating to be lied to by anyone, and lying to get attention pisses me off so much.. It's so hard for me not to get angry with people who have Münchhausen's unfortunately.
Bony Pink died from complications from a disease she picked up when she was doing all those porn movies. She used to have intercourse with animals and she has been dead for quite some time now. However there is someone masquerading as her on the internet.
Who would know better than Bonypink what Munchhausen's is. She invented it. She was a used up whore. If I was a girl I would never take dieting advice from her. If you lay with the horses you die with them too........
Most of the girls who say they are pro ana (the ones Bonypink sais have munchhausens) are not the ones who actually have it. They might strive for thin but for the most part they stop at thin or maybe even scary skinny. Bonypink has purposely made herself emaciated. Now that's Munchhausens, when you go beyond scary skinny on purpose so you can get all the attention that Bonypink is getting, thats munchhausens. She is not a doctor so really making that diagnosis or any diagnosis for that matter is dangerous and she should not be giving it
Bonpink is the photographer who took the photos. If you look at the set of nudes there are three different Asian girls not just one so this Bonypink has got to be someone posing as an imaginary anorexic. There is no one person named Bonypink. I dont knoe who the asian girls are but the person who shot the photos is Bonypink. Hope that clears up things. I don't know the name of the person in the pornos with that name is though
I absolutely agree with you about affiliate marketing. I host a series of websites, but hands down, I make more money through Google and I do very little work to put the Google Ads on my website. I'm currently considering removing Clickbank from my websites, as I believe they're one of the reasons my stats have decreased.
It is also true what you wrote of earnings on HubPages - write one really good hub (usually one that isn't written for marketing purposes) and the money will follow!
BonyPink, not her real name but I would NEVER publish her real name, is a dear friend of mine and the comments you are making are disgusting and totally incorrect.
BonyPink is NOT dead. She is very much alive. Struggling to stay alive but yet alive. She really does not have much longer before her suffering will stop and I will loose a precious friend.
She NEVER took ANY PHOTOS of herself. She still doesn't. Nor was she ever in ANY movies. Especially porn! A sick prick took the photos of her and her friend.
BonyPink IS an Anorexic and is dying due to malnutrition and severe complications to the disease wrecking her body.
Yes a LOT of women who claim to be Anorexic, especially over the internet, are not. BonyPink is.
BonyPink is a Doctor but of course no longer practices.
BonyPink has been through the most upsetting, horrific time from not only people like you but the Sicko who held her and her friend captive. Taking these sick photos, which with my help are pulled off the Net ASAP. She didn't put them there. People have stolen them from the original site that Bastard put them on.
BonyPink just want's to be left alone.
These comments you have made will also be reported and erased. I know as does she, that you make these stupid, cruel and pathetic comments to get people to bite. Why don't you fucking grow up?!
Why does she still call herself bonypink than if that is in fact the name of the photographer who took the pictures? Even if it isn't why would she still want to be associated with that time in her life? Seems odd...
BonyPink placed her name across ALL pictures that she finds on the Net about her or the one's she tracks down.
The pupose of putting her name on her own photographs is so when a picture appears with that name on it, she will go after the Poster with the law.
These photos, although she can not bear to look at them, below to her and are constantly being stolen.
The photographer is NOT BonyPink.
I had something similar happen to me not too long ago. We became fast friends and our "personailites" were a great match. It was surreal and that personality reached out to others via live journal, fan-fiction, twitter, g-chat, the whole nine yards. He was so kind and generous that many never stopped to question if this guy was for real or not.
Too much of a listener and I used to question in my head if it was a real person or something made up. But at the same time the wool got my eyes the most.
I was the targeted one who met all his "RL friends" via e-mail. We even had drama and this, that, and the other. It all felt so real. So when he died...I was devestated. And his RL friend told me first...then got online and had people send e-mails to his family and friends via his e-mail that he was still signed into.
That's when it got weird. The RL friend who told me of his death developed really odd behavior that had me questioning it all. Turns out, the guy didn't exist. (No public license listed in his profession, no property owned in that name where he "lived", no nothing!)
I confronted the RL friend (and his e-mail that has never responded) and she told me she was mad at me because he is dead and had a piece of his heart that I don't appreicate. Oh, best part, she admitted he lied to everyone and asked me what good it would do for people to know, he never hurt them. She never denied his name but said she'd never tell me where they live because it's dangerous for me to go there.
I think it was the hardest lesson in life to learn. It's human nature to want to trust someone. And why would someone so nice lie about something like that? What does it accomplish? Besides breaking hearts...
I think it's incredibly hilarious that someone appears to be playing Munchausen by Internet on the very hubpage about the disease. The Internet is better than any fiction sometimes!
No she's not playing at it, but she's definitely becoming a victim of others playing at it, the way she gets abused just by having her say and making a very valid point. dissapointed in people here who are so judging without knowing the facts at ALL. Ignorance like yours is why those who really ARE putting it on get away with it.
THATS ALL...ROFLMFAO! Hey If there was really a woman named BonyPink and she actually went through all of the crapola she's talking about....wouldn't you think she'd change her name for Christ sake...Oh Lord some kid is going through real lengths to keep up this charade. I saw the photos and you can bet dollars to donuts that the woman in those photos has been dead for quite some time now. Nobody who is that malnourished can not exist very long at that weight even if she was being treated in a hospice. If this was NOT a sham then that woman BonyPink would have had to have gained quite some weight and start taking care of herself a long time ago in order to still be alive right now. Cmon, those photos have to be at least 15 years old, you can tell by the type film that was used to take those photos so even if those photos were taken 5 years ago, no one can live at that weight for that long. Unless she got her health back a long time ago you can safely say there is a kid posing as her, maybe even an adult but her writings and blogs do not resemble the writings of a woman that would have to be AT LEAST 50 or old by now. As for the people who say they know her, let me ask you this, have you ever met BonyPink in person? most likely not since she has claimed to be in a hospice as she writes this stuff. Seems to me you have been scammed too, sorry to say that but people are NOT who they say they are on the internet so yeah unless you have met and witnessed how bad she says her health is, you have been duped! Give it up already the photos are old and the woman in those photos has to be an elderly very sick miracle to still be alive now think about it, this whole BonyPink thing has been going on since the world wide web started, windows 95 and you guys think she's still alive, think of something new like maybe posing as someone who is more positive, maybe pose as a famous athlete or something. If there was a BonyPink, she would have not wanted to be associated with that name, would you if you went through all that stuff she claims to be involved in, kidnapping and all that jazz?
I have a very good friend who has met a woman via farm story who now says she has cancer and is asking for emotional and financial support to come from America to Australia to meet him....has anyone had or heard of a similar experience. Her user ID is kaage?
You guys...I think BonyPink actually does exist. I mean, I thought she didn't exist either and I found her facebook and wrote her a nasty worded message, but she actually took the time to write a long, civil message to me. Plus, I'm sure she has a blog or something where you could find and ask her. Or just search bonypink on facebook and send her a message. She isn't that bad to talk to you, and I'm sure if you asked she would gladly provide some prove of her existence. Don't be an ignorant fuck if you don't know about her yet.
You guys...I think BonyPink actually does exist. I mean, I thought she didn't exist either and I found her facebook and wrote her a nasty worded message, but she actually took the time to write a long, civil message to me. Plus, I'm sure she has a blog or something where you could find and ask her. Or just search bonypink on facebook and send her a message. She isn't that bad to talk to you, and I'm sure if you asked she would gladly provide some prove of her existence. Don't be an ignorant fuck if you don't know about her yet.
I had contact with that user id and she uses southern belle, up to the time we were going to meet she was in contact with me daily. She said i had helped her leave an abusive marriage and sister dying on chrstmas day. We had a very strong connection spending hours each day on Skype with her becoming very familiar with my family and details of my life. We were to meet in august and Teresa put me off until eventually I realized that her friends I were talking to were her via another email address. She had convinced me that her husband wouldn't leave her alone and that she needed money to get away from him and come to start a new life in New Zealand with me. Be very careful with this person. She listens very carefully to what is happening in your life while she is in contact and uses it to keep you coming back.
Bonypink does exist, and is still alive. She has a running blog and Facebook account and is very ANTI pro-anorexia.
The photos circulating the Internet of her naked were taken by a sick man who abused her vulnerable state of mind, due to the extent of her illness, and she is fighting to have them removed.
This "BonyPink" blogger a.k.a. TheStrawberryNinja a.k.a. rednecks is just a seriously messed up anti-pro-ana attention whore who thinks that it's fun to use legal threats, impersonation, multiple identities and other similarly juvenile tactics to attempt to censor the internet and get attention. Get a life, it's bloody obvious that all your posts as rednecks are you since you never even bother to change your posting style AT ALL.
Nion Kokesu 4 years ago
I read a rant about internet drama earlier and it included a part about scenario #3 exactly. I frequent deviantART, and there are so many people there who constantly spew stories and suicide threats to get attention. The worst part about it is the fact that it works. I've never heard of Munchausen by Internet, but it definitely seems like a viable disorder these days, though I think some people are just drama whores.