Guilty or Ill

A strange case indeed.Why did the police not realise that she had made the very same kind of claims many times?
What evidence I wonder, for the man to be jailed in the first place, if a made up crime? Something very wrong, both with her and also the police inquiries.

Oriel, the point you make resonates with me. I sympathise with individuals who have personality problems or disorders but the impact those individuals have on their loved ones, never mind those in their target range defies description. I don't wish to sound harsh because I realise how tough life is for those with personality problems or disorders but the effect they have on those how love them, or those who fall for their charms is never good.

Yes, but whether by proxy or not it is feigning illness or trauma to gain sympathy. That is not what she did she accused a number of men of raping her. Quite different!

Yes M syndrome, not by proxy does sound more suitable as a possible diagnosis than MBP.

You're confusing Münchausen's with Münchausen by proxy.

I suggested Münchausen syndrome (not by proxy) : "Münchausen syndrome is a disorder wherein those affected feign disease, illness, or psychological trauma to draw attention, sympathy, or reassurance to themselves."
From Wikipedia. Wikipedia is not guaranteed to be totally accurate of course.
By proxy is when they cause a child or someone else to have symptoms in order to seek attention themselves, often as a parent.

Oriel is right, this isn't Munchausen by proxy. It's some kind of personality disorder or personality problem. I absolutely agree that prisoners (and everyone else) need to have their mental health needs met. Many people with PD also have anxiety or depression which is much more easily treated than the underlying personality problems.

No Munchausen's doesn't fit....

Munchausen syndrome by proxy (MSBP) is a mental health problem in which a caregiver makes up or causes an illness or injury in a person under his or her care, such as a child, an elderly adult, or a person who has a disability. Because vulnerable people are the victims, MSBP is a form of child abuse or elder abuse. (Webmed)

I don't pretend to be an expert on psychiatric disorders but it does sound a bit like Münchausen syndrome as Miss Adventure says. She feigns trauma (rape in this case) to gain attention and sympathy.
It's obviously had a major affect on the lives of many innocent people, but she probably needs a secure psychiatric hospital in order to receive treatment rather than prison.

maryeliza Good point, I should have used worded differently... replace sympathy with empathy.

I don't think she deserves empathy.

I think there's a lot more to this case than we're told. So the case against the man who has served 2 years in jail, was heard in court, where there would be medical reports and a lawyer presumably to represent her, and they jointly managed to convince the judge and jury that this particular man had raped her. That takes some doing. There would have been interview after interview and medical examinations. Then there were the police officers and detectives, all fooled by this one woman? I find that very hard to believe. So many others have been duped in the procedings against this one man alone.

She clearly has a lot of issues, but it seems to me she was allowed to perpetrate the lies through the incompetence of others. There must have been someone who noticed the pattern of accusations. Her actions will make it very difficult for real victims of such crimes to be believed.

Who is giving her sympathy?

From what has been reported it seems clear what her motives were - the judge was very clear that she was a serial liar and enjoyed playing the victim. As well as costing hundreds of thousands of pounds in legal and policing fees, she herself was also paid £11,000 by the criminal injuries board for the 'trauma' she suffered.

I don't think she deserves any sympathy. My sympathy lies with those who have had their lives wrecked by her wickedness.

There are far worse prisoners than her but that's actually irrelevant I feel. Once someone is in prison, whatever they've done, then they should have access to healthcare (both physical and mental). In fact the evidence of the state of prison healthcare is that it is not overall adequate. And again I would say, there is a difference between trying to understand why someone behaved as they did and making excuses for them.

I am not saying that prisoners should not be treated, If you read my thread properly you would see I was talking in the singular, meaning her.
What she did was vindictive. I have not the slightest interest in finding excuses for her.

Do you really mean prisoners shouldn't have their health care needs met? That if they are suicidal we should let them kill themselves? That if they have appendicitis we should let them die in agony? That would make us collectively as a state worse than the prisoners themselves. And excessive and wanton lying can be ( not saying it always us) but can be a form of mental illness. And yes prison is a punishment, refusing to meet prisoners' health needs is definitely not part of the punishment.

Going to prison is a punishment. One which she richly deserves.
I don't think time or money should be wasted in her dealing with her mental health problems. Also being mentally Ill, does not make you a liar like she is.

I think the same maryeliza

Well we have no way of knowing really do we? All I can say is that I still think her behaviour demonstrates that she is not mentally healthy and there will probably be no resolution to her problems in prison.

Yes, many prisoners do have mental health problems but those problems might not have caused them to commit the crime which led to their imprisonment.

I would have thought that if this woman suffered from a personality disorder or other form of mental illness her defence lawyers would have argued this case very forcefully. It appears they did not.

I suspect BlueBelle is correct in suggesting this young woman has a personality disorder of some type. As a younger woman I'd feel it was unfair when psychiatrists diagnosed someone with a PD and said they didn't have a treatable m.h. condition. Life and professional experience led me to a position where I now accept that diagnosis. It's also true that whilst adverse experiences in childhood won't help a vulnerable personality, some people develop a PD despite having been loved and cared for in childhood.
Psychological treatments are available but there is no guarantee of success, they're expensive and take a good period of time. The patient needs to recognise they have a problem and be motivated to cooperate with treatments.

I can't recall the figures but a large number of prisoners, particularly female prisoners, have mental health problems.

I don't agree it's clear 'Oriel' at all. As someone said upthread, many many prisoners have a range of mental health problems. Assessment beforehand would be about capacity and competence to be tried not the wider issues of mental health unless she was of course obviously bipolar or schizophrenic and noone's suggested that. We simply haven't got the range of mental health provision that is needed to cope with the range of mental health needs in the general population, let alone prisoners.

I feel sure that she will have undergone exhaustive tests prior to sentencing to ascertain whether she was ill or not. From what we are told it is clear that she isn't mentally ill.

Fair point, Maryeliza.
I would assume the girl has some issue with needing attention - a bit like munchausans, or something?

No one is saying I think that she should be let off the hook at all but trying to understand what is frankly extraordinary behaviour - as I said earlier, trying to understand is not condoning or excusing