Rare Diseases 101: Apotemnophilia

24.04.2021
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Rare Diseases 101: Apotemnophilia

Apotemnophilia

Apotemnophilia

The thought of losing an organ is horrifying for almost everyone. But there are many people who live with this dream, even though they are a minority. Apotemnophilia or body integrity identity disorder (BIID), is a condition in which a person is uncomfortable with any limb and wants to get rid of it. People suffering from this syndrome may feel that the organ which they are disturbed by/uncomfortable with, makes them look ugly. They even claim to look like they are disabled. So, they have a severe and uncontrollable desire to amputate healthy limbs, which they do not feel like their own. It is so severe that this impulse has increased the number of self-requested amputations in recent years. However, very few doctors agree to fulfil this request. For this reason, many patients try to amputate themselves on their own.

In the past, scientists thought of this rare syndrome as a psychological disorder. Scientists believed that the patients desire was to attract attention, and be loved more. However, it is now assumed that such a situation may arise as a result of a neurological dysfunction in the patient’s superior parietal lobule. This dysfunction may explain the disconnect of the form of one’s body image, from how it physically is. Moreover, MRI scans of people with body integrity dysphoria attached to their left leg, revealed less grey matter on the right side of their superior parietal lobules. The missing amount of grey matter, correlated with the patients’ desire to remove their leg.

There is currently no proven treatment for the syndrome. Yet, treatments such as cognitive behavioural therapy and antidepressants, can often reduce the distress and depression associated with apotemnophilia.

Woman Who Blinded Herself With Drain Cleaner

Saying that she wanted to be blind since the age of 6-7, Jewel Shuping states that in her youth, she pretended to be blind, and wore thick dark-coloured glasses. She was so committed to being blind, that at the age of 20 she could use Braille quite fluently.

In 2006, Shuping finally found a psychologist who wanted to help her go blind. The psychologist put drugs and a few drops of drain cleaner into her eyes. She states that while writhing in the pain of the drain cleaner, she was comforting herself by knowing that she will be blind at the end of the pain. After a period of six months, one of her eyes had to be removed and the other had glaucoma and cataracts.

“I really feel this is the way I was supposed to be born, that I should have been blind from birth,” Shuping said. “When there’s nobody around you who feels the same way, you start to think that you’re crazy. But I don’t think I’m crazy, I just have a disorder.” — Jewel Shuping

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AUTHOR INFO
Ebrar Dikmen
Hi, I am Ebrar from Turkey. I am a student of Translation and Interpreting and International Trade and Logistics. I am interested in astronomy, psychology, art, culture, and history. I love to gain knowledge from different fields and to share it with people around me.
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