An unusual condition known as Body Integrity Identity Disorder plagues sufferers with tormenting compulsions to amputate or to seek out ways to paralyze healthy limbs. Some scientists compare this condition to body identity disorders like anorexia and gender identity (transgender). Persons with the BIID condition report feeling as if something is amiss with the body and need to resort to desperate measures to correct it. BIID persons resort to sawing off limbs, paying for surgeries, and staging accidents to remove the limb or to become paraplegic. Those desiring to become paraplegic will sometimes confine themselves to a wheelchair in an effort to end the torment. But most BIID sufferers claim that legalizing surgery to allow them to achieve their goal is the only safe option.
Currently there is some debate over whether the BIID condition is medical with a genetic link or if it is a mental health issue. There is a campaign to add BIID to the psychology bible, the DSM. Some individuals living with BIID have tried various forms of therapy but to no avail. There are reports that many of those afflicted with BIID have reportedly felt the compulsion to amputate or paralyze the limbs as early as childhood. Those that have successfully amputated a limb claim that doing so has ended the torture and has resulted in a happier life.
BIID is considered a rare condition, but it is more prevalent than you might expect. There are several websites and online communities dedicated to BIID. The condition seems to be specific to the male gender. Studies performed on BIID persons found them to be normal, regular people. The only ‘abnormal’ characteristic of BIID sufferers is the compelling urge to amputate or paralyze their limbs. Scientists, neurologists, and psychiatrists are among the professionals studying this unusual condition with the hope that with better understanding will come an answer to how to treat this condition.