I saw a documentary on this disorder once. It was one of the strangest things I ever saw. Body Integrity Identity Disorder is a rare affliction that causes people to cut off their own healthy limbs. Some of those who have succeeded feel a huge sense of relief – and feel their body is better – more normal – now that the unwanted limbs have been removed.
This disorder is so odd – so strange and counter-intuitive – that sufferer’s hide it. They tell friends and family that they lost their limb in an accident or were born that way. But with the advent of the Internet, Body Integrity Identity Disorder (BIID) support groups have sprouted up online and membership is growing.
(http://www.newsweek.com/id/138932)
Many sufferers from this disorder believe that professional amputation is the best option, rather than leaving people to their own devices, and risking death in the process. And most interestingly, like members of the transgendered community who believe they were born into the wrong body, sufferers of BIID believe they were born with the wrong amount of limbs and only with amputation will they feel normal.
How many people have BIID? It is such a secretive disorder that it’s difficult to even estimate but according to Newsweek’s research, “transabled.org claims 1,500 visitors per day, while a Yahoo Web group of BIID suffers who say they are resisting the urge to amputate has 1,700 members.) They are most often white middle-aged males who refute the idea that the disorder can be treated like a mental illness with talk therapy and medication. They describe a persistent, torturous chasm between their mind's image of their own body, and the physical body they inhabit. They say their urge to "right" themselves is overwhelming. Controversially, some people who say they suffer from BIID draw parallels to the transgender community. They point out that it took years for people who felt they were born into the wrong gender to convince the medical and psychiatric professions to recognize their plight, and that transgender individuals are now protected by anti-discrimination laws in many cities and states.”
(http://www.newsweek.com/id/138932)
Tell Us-
What do you think of this story? Do you believe sufferers of BIID should go ahead and ‘right’ their bodies by deliberately becoming disabled or do you think they are more in need of psychological counseling? Do you have any ‘strange’ compulsions that you’d like to share?
All user-generated information on this site is the opinion of its author only and is not a substitute for medical advice or treatment for any medical conditions. Members and guests are responsible for their own posts and the potential consequences of those posts detailed in our Terms of Service.
Add a Comment4 Comments
Thank you for sharing your insight, especially from your own perspective.
Wishing you well.
August 14, 2008 - 7:39pmThis Comment
I've had quite a bit of exposure to those with BIID lately thanks to some blog articles I wrote about my feelings on BIID. As someone in a wheelchair with an actual disability (I have Spinal Muscular Atrophy covered under Muscular Dystrophy and can no longer walk or stand), I find those with BIID to have more mental problems then they seem to be able to deal with, and there may be an underlying cause that makes them feel that they need to have their leg amputated, become paralyzed or even make themselves deaf.
From their own personal stories, many of these individuals were abused in their childhood and teenage years (sexually, physically and/or psychologically). Some have either alcoholic or drug addicted parents. Many are loners, though they might not be loners intentionally and most have self-confidence issues and depression. They get it in their mind that hacking off a limb or paralyzing themselves is the only way to make themselves better and though they may receive treatment, I don't believe that they are into that treatment, especially if a doctor doesn't tell them "yes, the only answer is amputation or paralysis". It is so ingrained in their mind that they are right in wanting to be disabled that there is no help for them until they actually want to try other methods.
What may be little known is that many of these individuals also get sexual gratification from the pretending of being disabled. One man writes about wearing diapers, because he dreams of being paralyzed. Since one of the side effects of paralysis is inability to control the bladder and bowels, this is something he does regularly while pretending. It also makes him sexually aroused to wear these diapers. His words, not mine.
Additionally, nearly every story of a BIID sufferer going out and pretending to be disabled by wheeling around in a wheelchair has them desperately seeking out people to see them and acknowledge them in the chair. They want to be seen as disabled, to have people in wheelchairs acknowledge them and accept them and if they don't get that their experience isn't as good. They crave it more and desire a better reaction and more acknowledgement the next time they're out in public in their chair.
With this in mind, it seems as though those with BIID find their pretending (and need to be disabled) as a way to fit in, be excepted, perhaps even fill a void in their life and they associate that void with wanting to be disabled, so they think their only "cure" is to make themselves that way.
August 14, 2008 - 6:25pmThis Comment
This weekend, I had the good fortune to participate in a distance runner's workshop led by a popular former Olympian and still active marathoner. One of the participants is an amputee who runs with that really cool looking prosthetic that acts like a shock absorber and causes her to bounce a little on the strike. She was asking for resources to help her train with others like her for her first half marathon (that we're doing together in November), and she was concerned about the imbalance that she is still feeling with her prosthetic.
Our workshop leader related a story about a runner he knows who had his good leg purposefully amputated so that he could have the prosthetics on both sides. The prosthetics actually give the runner a certain advantage of not feeling the same amount of impact that non-amputee runners feel (which is why the fellow who tried to get the IOC to let him qualify for the Olympics was turned down). The point of the story was to discourage the young woman from even entertaining the thought.
It struck me as totally nuts for someone to even think about an unnecessary amputation. Then again, the human mind is still a very mysterious world.
June 9, 2008 - 5:36pmThis Comment
I'd not heard of this disorder, but the wild thing is that I knew someone who I think had it. At least this would totally explain what happened to him. This person (want to keep him anonymous)actually amputated one of his feet. From what I know, he'd been depressed for much of his life and in and out of mental health facilities. He told everyone that he'd been in a car accident, and that's how he lost his foot. A few years after the so-called "accident" he committed suicide.
Personally, I don't believe that sufferers of this disorder should change their bodies in such a horrible and drastic way. This seems like a mental disorder that requires serious therapy, through counseling, medication, shock therapy or whatever works best for this disorder. It sounds to me like the limb amputation is more of a symptom of the greater issue. I mean, people with bullimia shouldn't continue to purge simply because they want to "right" their bodies. Why would we turn the other way while people amputate their limbs?
June 6, 2008 - 10:35pmIt's called intervention!
This Comment