Originally Posted by jillio

That could be hypochondria. With hypochondria, people really believe that there is something wrong with their health. With Munchausen's Syndrome, they know there is nothing wrong, but they fake it just to gain attention. Someone who has hypochondria might have a headache from stress, but they believe that it is a brain tumor....they take little symptoms and blow them out of proportion. Someone with Munchausen's won't even have a headache, but will learn about the symtpoms of a brain tumor and fake them. Or they will purposely do things like inject fecal material into their blood stream to create symptoms of an illness.

With your friend, if it is just hypochondria, she could be teaching her daughters the same behavior by the way that she treats them when they are sick with any little thing. But, if she is actually doing something to them to make them sick, then it would be Munchausen's by Proxy. Sometimes it is hard to tell the difference between the two. The biggest difference is the hypochondriac usually does have an illness, but they beleive it is much worse than it is......and someone with Muchausen's doesn't have an illness, but does something to themselves to make themselves sick. (Or to their children like Munchausen's by Proxy). And, Munchausen's can often lead to death unintentionally, so it is much more serious. People with hypochondria are just generally annoying with their constant complaints of not feeling well.