24 year old Gypsy stood in her bathroom, hands cupping her ears, desperate to block out the sickening sounds of her mother being stabbed to death in her living room.
Cut to 24 years ago; The sounds of a wailing healthy baby girl filled the hospital air. Gypsy Rose Blanchard was a healthy baby girl born to Rod and Dee Dee Blanchard. Shortly before Gypsy’s birth, the couple separated. It all started when Gypsy turned five and ‘had’ to use a heart monitor, due to her fragile heart condition. Or that was what her mother told her.
Not more than five years later, Gypsy couldn’t walk anymore owing to her muscular dystrophy and epilepsy. Or that was what her mother told her.
Not too soon after, came along a list of other ailments like leukaemia and respiratory. Or at least that was what her mother told her.
The recurring theme here is that Gypsy’s mother cooked up stories about fake illnesses, confined her to a wheelchair and fed her lies throughout her life.
It wasn’t long before Gypsy caught on to this string of lies, consulted her secret boyfriend and formulated a plan. In place of a loving parental figure she once adored, now stood a heinous beast. At this point, she was yearning for a life lacking restrictions and one brimming with hope and a shot at a better future. Next thing you know, Nick Godejohn, the boyfriend, snuck into their house and put the plan into action. The plan ended with blood, shrieks and a terrified Gypsy. With hands tightly covering her ears. Determined to block out all sound.
This is the story of Gypsy Rose Blanchard.
Every year hundreds of such victims are disillusioned into believing they’re patients with serious illnesses. Munchausen Syndrome by Proxy is a disorder in which a caregiver of a child (or anyone vulnerable, for that matter) makes up fake symptoms to make it seem like the child is sick. People with MSP could also resort to food poisoning, or reducing the child’s food intake.
Although, Deedee couldn’t formally be diagnosed with MSP, she was said to have been suffering for a while.
Cause: Many believe that the existence of this disorder has stemmed from a history of abuse or neglect as a child. Some evidence points towards major stress, such as marital problems that can trigger it. It is, however, hard to pin down the exact cause of this disorder.
Victims: As a result, victims undergo deep psychological trauma because of all the testing, invasive procedures, and injuries at the hands of their caretaker. Victims of MBP May suffer from fear, pain, loss of normal attachment and trust issues apart from PTSD, depression, anxiety and other problems differentiating between reality and fantasy. In some cases, the power of the abuser is so absolute that they convince their victims to collaborate with them. Dr. George Deimel of the Mayo Clinic described the phenomenon as a type of Stockholm Syndrome, a psychological phenomenon in which victims empathize with, defend, and work with their abusers.
Healing: Although many victims are reluctant to seek help due to their negative history with medical personnel and clinical settings, several comprehensive mental health programmes have helped victims relieve themselves from their suffering. The idea of these programmes is to listen to the victims, help them process their difficult history and address symptoms that are currently interfering with the way they want to live. By gaining self-awareness and real solutions to psychological distress, victims try to recover from the emotional effects of their abuse, attempt at, re-connecting with their body, and enhance their ability to form meaningful relationships with others. This entire episode doesn’t just take a toll on the mental health of those involved, but also complicates relationships. Both, ones from the past and ones that are yet to come. Several interviews and recordings of Gypsy reflect this very side of the trauma, how she detested and dreaded the violence and barbarity, but couldn’t let go of that part of herself.
There are some times that I’m angry at her," Gypsy says in an interview.. "There are times I think, 'She's so manipulative and how could you do that to your child?!' And then I think about other times, she was just so desperate for somebody to love her. Regardless of all of that, I still love her and I still miss her. Because she was my mother.”
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