Is social media becoming a catalyst for mothers with Munchausen’s Syndrome by proxy to gain the sympathy and attention of people around the world? Mothers with Munchausen’s Syndrome by proxy\u00a0are believed to cause or fake illnesses in their children and to seek out otherwise unneeded medical care. They have been known to withhold food, falsify fevers\u00a0and\u00a0give their children drugs to cause vomiting and diarrhea. \u00a0The children are often hospitalized with a baffling bunch of symptoms, that just don’t fit any known disease.<\/p>\n

The children are subject to multiple tests and procedures with the mother being very attentive, even gaining the appreciation of the nursing staff for her dedication and help in caring for her child. \u00a0This is the very reason it’s not suspected that this caring, devoted and self-sacrificing mother could be causing her child to be sick. \u00a0Staying close by \u00a0during hospitalizations gives the mother the ability to induce further symptoms and some go so far as to nearly suffocate their child that set off\u00a0monitors signaling the child was not breathing.<\/p>\n

As the medical team rushes in, the mother will react \u00a0like any distraught mother wanting to know why her child stopped breathing and if they’re okay. \u00a0The behavior of the mother can make it hard for staff to recognize that she is intentionally harming her child out of a desire for attention for herself and sympathy for what she is going through. \u00a0In cases where it’s recognized that the mother may be suffering from Munchausen’s\u00a0Syndrome by proxy the child needs to be removed from the mother’s\u00a0care. \u00a0The results of separating the child and mother often bring about a return to health for the child.<\/p>\n

Since the parent is seeking attention, and it’s that sympathy\u00a0and admiration she receives that has her harming her child, \u00a0should we be alarmed that social media could be a constant source of gasoline\u00a0for an\u00a0already raging fire? \u00a0Think about it, blogs, tweets, Facebook posts, Instagram and Pinterest are social networks that can help sick\u00a0mothers gain the accolades, adoration and sympathy from people all over the world. \u00a0Now she has a fan base that is devoted to her and her sick child and\u00a0waiting for every update.<\/p>\n

Yesterday, in my home state of New York, one mother, a blogger, was\u00a0charged with fatally poisoning her son Garnett. \u00a0Lacey Spears appeared to be a devoted mother to her son Garnett and chronicled about the five-year old’s many hospitalizations and his constant battle with illness. \u00a0She even captured the last moments of her son’s life, as he lay gravely ill in the hospital in photos she then posted to her Facebook page. \u00a0She would talk about her son’s incredible courage and referred to him as “Garnett the Great” on her blog. \u00a0The little boy died in January from what doctors said was acute sodium poisoning.<\/p>\n

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People from all over followed her updates, posts and tweets and a huge outpouring of support, sympathy and prayers were offered to this mother and her son. \u00a0Now formally charged, she \u00a0is believed to have poisoned her son with sodium through a feeding tube in his abdomen. \u00a0As Garnett lay dying in the hospital, a Chestnut Ridge neighbor said Spears called and told her to dispose of a bag Spears used to feed the boy\u00a0through a tube. Police later recovered the bag which had extremely high levels of sodium.His killing, police said, was the final act of a\u00a0<\/span>deranged mother\u00a0who, fueled by attention on social media, medically tortured her child for years.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Lacey Spears pleaded not guilty Tuesday to murder and manslaughter charges in the poisoning death of her five-year-old son, Garnett. She was ordered held without bail at Westchester County jail and is due back in court July 2. \u00a0The only words the 26-year-old Alabama native uttered in state Supreme Court in White Plains were “Yes, sir,” when Justice Barry Warhit asked if she was Lacey Spears.<\/p>\n

It seems that Lacey lived a life of lies and it’s all coming out now. \u00a0Besides sharing her son’s nearly lifelong medical battles on social media she wrote about the loss of her soul mate, Garnett’s father who she said was a police officer killed in a car crash. \u00a0It’s now apparent this was a lie along with so \u00a0many others that seem to keep surfacing.<\/p>\n

This homicide case may be one of the first involving\u00a0Munchausen by proxy\u00a0 in the era of social media. \u00a0I keep reading\u00a0\u00a0that last sentence, now that this has all come out, so many people are coming forward saying things about the mother and yet no one was able to prevent Garnett’s death. \u00a0This may be the first homicide case involving Munchausen by proxy that has come this far, but do you truly think it’s the only one?<\/p>\n

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Do you think it’s possible that other mothers with this syndrome are right now updating statuses about their sick child, fueled by the comments and likes that are peppering their pages. \u00a0Are any of us guilty of supporting a mother who is\u00a0doing the unthinkable? \u00a0Scary thought for sure and one that will cause us all to look just a little deeper into the lives we follow through social media.<\/p>\n

And in closing, I turn my thoughts to a beautiful blond-haired\u00a0boy that walked the beach on Honeymoon Island where I vacationed with my children and who lived in my state. \u00a0This beautiful little boy should be playing with trucks, chasing butterflies and looking forward to a full and happy life. \u00a0Instead his life on Earth is over and those of us that believe in God will pray that he is in the arms of Jesus and will forever be loved and cherished. \u00a0God Bless you Garnett and may you rest in peace.<\/p>\n

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