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A young girl is perched on the cold chrome of yet another doctor’s examining table, missing yet another day of school. Just twelve, she’s tall, skinny, and weak. It’s four o’clock, and she hasn’t been allowed to eat anything all day. Her mother, on the other hand, seems curiously excited. She's about to suggest open-heart surgery on her child to "get to the bottom of this." She checks her teeth for lipstick and, as the doctor enters, shoots the girl a warning glance. This child will not ruin her plans.
Sickened From early childhood, Julie Gregory was continually X-rayed, medicated, and operated on—in the vain pursuit of an illness that was created in her mother’s mind. Munchausen by proxy (MBP) is the world’s most hidden and dangerous form of child abuse, in which the caretaker—almost always the mother—invents or induces symptoms in her child because she craves the attention of medical professionals. Many MBP children die, but Julie Gregory not only survived, she escaped the powerful orbit of her mother's madness and rebuilt her identity as a vibrant, healthy young woman. Sickened is a remarkable memoir that speaks in an original and distinctive Midwestern voice, rising to indelible scenes in prose of scathing beauty and fierce humor. Punctuated with Julie's actual medical records, it re-creates the bizarre cocoon of her family's isolated double-wide trailer, their wild shopping sprees and gun-waving confrontations, the astonishing naïveté of medical professionals and social workers. It also exposes the twisted bonds of terror and love that roped Julie's family together—including the love that made a child willing to sacrifice herself to win her mother's happiness. The realization that the sickness lay in her mother, not in herself, would not come to Julie until adulthood. But when it did, it would strike like lightning. Through her painful metamorphosis, she discovered the courage to save her own life—and, ultimately, the life of the girl her mother had found to replace her. Sickened takes us to new places in the human heart and spirit. It is an unforgettable story, unforgettably told. Author: Julie Gregory
Author: Marc D. Feldman
Publisher: Bantam
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Publisher: Turbo Recordings
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The Coen brothers (Raising Arizona, Fargo) have become the most consistently original filmmakers in the land. In a salute/reworking of the fast-talking comedies of the '40s, we follow Norville Barnes (Tim Robbins) and his amazing rise to the top. But he's only a puppet for the evil Sidney J. Mussburger (Paul Newman), who wants the company for himself. The Coens' design is the real star, and their first big-budget film will stimulate movie fans. The story weakens in the middle, but you will find very few films that move with this much imagination. As a Kate Hepburn hybrid, Jennifer Jason Leigh is wonderful in an almost unplayable role. The less you know about the film, the better it plays, so just think of it as How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying mixed with Brazil and every journalistic drama made before 1960. Cowritten by Sam Raimi. --Doug Thomas
Publisher: Warner Home Video
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When a person fakes illness or injury to satisfy emotional needs, doctors and family members are lured into a costly, frustrating, and potentially deadly web of deceit.
Taken from bizarre cases of real patients, Playing Sick? is the first book to chronicle the devastating impact of phony illnesses--factitious disorders and Munchausen syndrome--on patients and caregivers alike. Psychiatrist Marc Feldman describes patients' strange motivations, from malingerers who invent chronic back pain to avoid work to mothers who demand major abdominal surgery for their healthy children because they derive perverse pleasure from medical attention. Self-induced bleeding, fake fevers, and even a bogus asthma attack so convincing that doctors rush the patient to ICU are the stock in trade of patients with these disorders. Practitioners are deeply disturbed by these patients, angry about the time and resources they consume but nervous about confronting them with the truth. Based on years of research and clinical practice, Playing Sick? provides the clues that can help practitioners and family members recognize these disorders, avoid invasive procedures, and sort out the motives that drive people to hurt themselves and deceive others. With insight and years of hands-on experience, Feldman shows how to get these emotionally ill patients the psychiatric help they need. Author: Marc Feldman
Publisher: Routledge
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Publisher: Varese Sarabande
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This step-by-step guide will help you identify and manage cases of this unique form of child maltreatment!
Munchausen by proxy (MBP) is a dangerous kind of maltreatment in which a caretaker deliberately and repeatedly exaggerates, fabricates, and/or induces a health problem or problems in someone under his or her care. Munchausen by Proxy: Identification, Intervention, and Case Management is the first book to walk you step-by-step through a suspected MBP maltreatment case from suspicion onward. This skills-based, practical book contains a thorough, up-to-date overview of MBP and includes suggestions for identifying and reporting to child protection agencies, investigating and gathering evidence, and legal and court procedures. Its easy readability and immediate applicability make this text a valuable tool in identifying and preventing this form of child abuse. Munchausen by Proxy is divided into three parts. The first covers the definition of MBP, the role of the perpetrator and victim, and the ethical issues affecting professionals, patients, and family. Part two addresses case work from initial suspicions through the investigative and confirmation/disconfirmation process. The third section is dedicated to case planning and case management once MBP has been confirmed, including intervention, immediate child protection, and legal activities. Those involved in a suspected or confirmed MBP case will learn about: the limits of the DSM-IV as applied to MBP perpetrator-consistent characteristics the MBP situational suspicion indicators the inappropriateness of risk assessment tools developed for other forms of maltreatment the danger when MBP perpetrators realize they are under suspicion and more! This volume is generously enhanced with case examples, sample forms, figures, and representative management plans. In Munchausen by Proxy, authors Lasher and Sheridan—experts in MBP and child protection—have come together to fill the gap in the libraries of anyone who may become involved with a MBP case. This includes child welfare professionals and staff, law enforcement, school personnel, health care practitioners, judges and lawyers, and social workers. Author: Louisa Lasher
Author: Mary S Sheridan
Publisher: Routledge
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Publisher: Turbo Recordings
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Publisher: Microsoft Software
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Children's welfare is the driving force behind Dr. Laura Schlessinger's mission. A devoted mother to her son, Deryk, she identifies herself as "her kid's mom" because that's her most important job. Never one to shy away from tough truths, Dr. Laura marshalls compelling evidence for the widespread neglect of America's children and convincingly condemns the numerous rationalizations to excuse it. Parents, special interest groups, and professionals in education and psychology all contribute to a dangerous trend that places adult fulfillment above obligation to children. Parenthood by Proxy addresses the serious causes and effects of this national crisis, among them the high rate of divorce, serial marriages, single parenting, the premature sexualization of children, dual-career families, disdain for religion, the redefinition of immoral behavior as lifestyle choices, and societal intolerance for the concept of judgment. In Parenthood by Proxy, Dr. Laura exhorts parents to make their own children their top priority and, if necessary, to change their lives to do so. In her inimitable, straight-shooting style, Dr. Laura entreats parents to involve themselves in their children's hearts, minds, and souls, to cherish and protect them, and to commit to the essential task of teaching them right from wrong. She acknowledges that parents no longer get much support from neighbors or public and private institutions, but she urges mothers and fathers to work even harder to counteract the prevailing culture of selfishness and irresponsibility. Parenthood by Proxy covers all aspects of parenting, from childbearing to discipline, from multiple families to being role models. Dr. Laura also tackles such cultural and societal concerns as abortion, modern sexuality, drug and alcohol use, violence, discipline, and a child's right to privacy. Parenthood by Proxy is a passionate and provocative summation of the perils of parenting and a road map to safety for America's families. Author: Dr. Laura, Schlessinger
Publisher: HarperCollins e-books
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Never before released in complete boxset form!
The domed city of Romd is an impenetrable would-be utopia where humans and robots coexist, and everything is under complete government control, or so it appears. While working on a mysterious murder case, Re-l Mayer, a female detective from the Civilian Intelligence Office, receives a foreboding message that something is going to "awaken." That night, she's attacked by a deformed super-being...what was this unidentified monster that attacked her, and who was the figure that came in between them? As Re-l attempts to unlock this spiraling mystery, a metaphysical battle cry leads her to the unknown outside world... Ending theme song, "Paranoid Android" performed by Radiohead Publisher: Funimation Prod
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