Since being found out as a fraud, Belle Gibson has not apologised.
In fact, she’s shown no guilt or remorse. She has not explained her actions or given any indication that she regrets the impact her lies had on other people, particularly cancer sufferers.
Gibson grew a large online following after she claimed she had brain cancer that was cured through the alternative therapies plugged in her wellness app, The Whole Pantry.
Why people fake cancer online. Post continues after podcast.
Eventually her lies unravelled and it was discovered none of it was true. She was fined $410,000 by the Federal Court after duping her Australian consumers – many of whom did actually have cancer – out of half a million dollars. She had promised to donate the proceeds to multiple charities.
Since being issued the fine in 2017, the 27-year-old has not paid a single cent, even after facing several warnings for not paying the fine for breaches of consumer laws. She claims she simply cannot afford to.
Clinical Professor of Psychiatry Dr Marc Feldman is an expert in Munchausen syndrome and in 2000 he coined the term ‘Munchausen by internet’ – a condition where someone pretends to be sick in order to get sympathy from an online community.
The internet has a “cancer faking problem”, he told Mamamia‘s daily news podcast The Quicky.
“I think people now realise how easy it is to perpetrate a hoax online. People know that all they have to do to become an expert in whatever ailment they decide to fake, is to go to Wikipedia or some other website and read about it.”
Top Comments
Why should she apologise ? .. She got away with it .. Plenty of people have been gaoled for less outright fraud than hers and yet she's never faced any criminal charges and rubs it in by living the life of Riley with a smirk on her face
You know, I don’t think I can remember ever reading about a man doing this. Or a man making their kid sick Munchausen by proxy-style, either. A quick Google lead me to an article in the British Medical Journal about male Munchausen by proxy, it seems it does happen, but is much more likely to be committed by the mother. I wonder what it is that makes this sort of thing so much more likely to be done by a woman?
That is interesting Rush - maybe it's because men prefer to gain attention through success, accomplishments, perceived strength and power. Munchausen's is all about craving sympathy and attention for perceived suffering, or gaining admiration for emotional strength shown during tough times. Maybe a lot of men misconstrue sympathy for pity and would find that kind of attention a blow to their ego. I'm no psychologist though - this was just the first thing that popped into my head....
I think this is because women are more emotionally unstable than men - well usually.
Projecting much, champ?
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