Have you ever heard of a person having a burning desire to be an amputee???
Yes, You heard it right be an amputee!!!
What inspired me to write about BIID is a program in NGC- Taboo. A person from Sydney,Australia was suffering from BIID and went to extreme levels to amputate his left leg below his knees.
When there is a mismatch between the mental body image and physical body of a person, this makes the person feel that their hand/leg should not be the part of their body, it is alien and thus has a burning desire to amputate it. This neurological disorder is called Body Integrity Identity Disorder (BIID).
In a layman's language its, "When a person's idea of how they should look does not match their actual physical form, it can be caused by Body Integrity Identity Disorder". Strange!
This condition effects very small percentage of population and its cause is unknown it is rare, infrequently studied and highly secretive condition. The person suffering from BIID feels isolated, cannot express his feelings to anyone not even to their close or loved ones as people think they are crazy. This creates a feeling of loneliness and less social life. They generally are ashamed of their thoughts and try to hide them from others, including therapists and health care professionals.The urge can be so severe that they they may try to injure themselves that may require an amputation of that limb.
The very thought of amputation makes a normal person scare, doesn't it? But for BIID person its a pleasure of being complete.
People often confuse BIID with a similar mental illness called Body Dysmorphic Disorder (BDD) in which sufferers become fixated on a perceived flaw in their appearance or some slight physical abnormality. In BIID there is no flaw with the limbs, its a desire to amputate their healthy, functional limb.
Many psychologists and neurologists have ventured theories into what causes this type of thought.The most accepted theory states that it is a neuro-psychological condition on the right side of the brain and could be related to somatoparaphrenia. The common leading idea is that Body Integrity Identity Disorder, or BIID, occurs when the brain is not able to provide an accurate plan of the body.
The only treatment so far known is a surgery.
In 2000, Dr. Robert C. Smith, a surgeon from Scotland, made headlines when he amputated the healthy legs of two patients with BIID He said he was following the Hippocratic Oath by preventing his patients from resorting to more life-threatening options — but the medical community did not agree. Since then, it’s been virtually impossible for a person to find a surgeon willing to do the elective surgery, and many people with BIID have resorted to drastic and dangerous measures to induce amputation.
There are many such mental disorders which are rare, infrequently studied. The more science advances, the more nature creates challenges for it to solve.
To know more about BIID log on to www.biid.org and to know the story of John, BIID patient, log on to http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,520811,00.html
Yes, You heard it right be an amputee!!!
What inspired me to write about BIID is a program in NGC- Taboo. A person from Sydney,Australia was suffering from BIID and went to extreme levels to amputate his left leg below his knees.
When there is a mismatch between the mental body image and physical body of a person, this makes the person feel that their hand/leg should not be the part of their body, it is alien and thus has a burning desire to amputate it. This neurological disorder is called Body Integrity Identity Disorder (BIID).
In a layman's language its, "When a person's idea of how they should look does not match their actual physical form, it can be caused by Body Integrity Identity Disorder". Strange!
This condition effects very small percentage of population and its cause is unknown it is rare, infrequently studied and highly secretive condition. The person suffering from BIID feels isolated, cannot express his feelings to anyone not even to their close or loved ones as people think they are crazy. This creates a feeling of loneliness and less social life. They generally are ashamed of their thoughts and try to hide them from others, including therapists and health care professionals.The urge can be so severe that they they may try to injure themselves that may require an amputation of that limb.
The very thought of amputation makes a normal person scare, doesn't it? But for BIID person its a pleasure of being complete.
People often confuse BIID with a similar mental illness called Body Dysmorphic Disorder (BDD) in which sufferers become fixated on a perceived flaw in their appearance or some slight physical abnormality. In BIID there is no flaw with the limbs, its a desire to amputate their healthy, functional limb.
Many psychologists and neurologists have ventured theories into what causes this type of thought.The most accepted theory states that it is a neuro-psychological condition on the right side of the brain and could be related to somatoparaphrenia. The common leading idea is that Body Integrity Identity Disorder, or BIID, occurs when the brain is not able to provide an accurate plan of the body.
The only treatment so far known is a surgery.
In 2000, Dr. Robert C. Smith, a surgeon from Scotland, made headlines when he amputated the healthy legs of two patients with BIID He said he was following the Hippocratic Oath by preventing his patients from resorting to more life-threatening options — but the medical community did not agree. Since then, it’s been virtually impossible for a person to find a surgeon willing to do the elective surgery, and many people with BIID have resorted to drastic and dangerous measures to induce amputation.
There are many such mental disorders which are rare, infrequently studied. The more science advances, the more nature creates challenges for it to solve.
To know more about BIID log on to www.biid.org and to know the story of John, BIID patient, log on to http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,520811,00.html
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