BIID

After reading just the first paragraph, I was very surprised that someone would try and cut their own hand off on purpose. I have never heard of this disorder, Body Integrity Identity Disorder (BIID), before so it was kind of interesting to know that there was such a thing. It is scary to think about how someone would "[freeze their] leg off with dry ice" and how "another blew one off with a shotgun". There was even a situation where a sixty year old BIID sufferer had flown all the way to Asia and paid $10,000 to have his leg amputated, saying that "the only regret I have is that I wasn't able to do it 30 years ago". In a way, it kind of makes me a little uncomfortable that someone would choose to be disabled. It makes me a little uncomfortable because the idea of having a limb cut off does not really settle in my stomach but I do understand that because of this disorder, people feel that that limb does not belong. I think if I was a surgeon and someone came up to me and asked me to amputate their leg, I would be very surprised and would decline it because I do not think I would be able to focus since I would not be able to wrap my head around the idea that it is a functioning body part. However, having the limb they want removed, amputated, makes them happy, and even though I would not do it, as a surgeon, I would not discourage them from what they want to do with their body. A man that had forced a surgeon to amputate his leg, later, sent a thank you note stating that "you have made me the happiest of all men by taking away from me a limb". I think it's weird that the article asserts that the people with this disorder are middle class white men. I am not really sure why the article states that most people with BIID seem to be middle class white men, but it does mention that the majority, who refute the idea that this disorder can be treated like a mental illness with talk therapy and or medication, are middle-aged white males. This disorder is about how a person does not feel like one of their limbs belong and that it is "a persistent, torturous chasm between their mind's image of their own body and the physical body they inhabit", I do not know if I can think of or suggest any treatment since it was also mentioned that nothing other than surgery works, not psychotherapy, and not psychiatry. This disorder, or more the idea of purposefully becoming disabled, has come across as offensive to some disabled advocacy groups. Many were repulsed that someone would intentionally disable themselves but these people with BIID, "every minute of [their] life [they] feel like something is wrong". The first step that is being taking in helping the people with BIID, is for the disorder's inclusion in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM), and being included in this, Dr. Michael First believes, could help lead the way in figuring out a treatment for the people. "He thinks that inclusion in the DSM could help pave the way".