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Written by 
- Format: Trade Paperback, 256 pages
- Publisher: Bantam
- On Sale: September 28, 2004
- Price: $15.00
- ISBN: 978-0-553-38197-9 (0-553-38197-0)
about this book
Munchausen By Proxy (MBP), a psychiatric disorder in which a person (almost always the mother) invents or induces symptoms in her child in order to attract the interest and attention of medical professionals, is an oft-misunderstood and seldomly discussed affliction.
In Sickened, Julie Gregory has written a powerful and searing memoir of a childhood filled with bizarre and painful medical procedures in pursuit of phantom diseases—and of a mother who made them all necessary. As a child, Julie was continually X-rayed, medicated, and operated on, in the vain pursuit of an illness that was only in her mother's mind. Julie not only survived these serious procedures, she also escaped the powerful orbit of her mother's madness and rebuilt her identity as a vibrant, healthy young woman.
Sickened will be of invaluable use to students discussing MBP, psychiatric disorders, and the psychology of the family.
"Born of one of the darkest and most intractable forms of child abuse, this searing and beautiful memoir represents a genuine triumph of the human spirit." —Marc Feldman, M.D.
“A painful but wonderfully written memoir that should create greater awareness of a bizarre disorder… Keen self-awareness, a sharp eye for details, and an original, poetic voice.” -Kirkus Reviews
