World’s Strangest Addictions: Body Integrity Identity Disorder

This is perhaps the most disturbing strange addiction I have come across. The word “compulsion” is probably the better phrase to use in reference to this, though I think plenty of time has been thus spent on this blog discussing the meaning of the word “addiction” and its myriad synonyms and related words and phrases, as well as their scientific, psychological and social significance.

Body Integrity Identity Disorder (BIID) is the overwhelming desire of an individual to self-amputate a part of their body, often leading to gruesome attempts – sometimes successful, other times not – to cut off their own healthy limbs. Sufferers of this rare affliction attest to a sense of great relief when they succeed in finally removing the offending limb. More often than not, they will then tell friends, family, coworkers or strangers that they lost the limb in an accident or it is a birth defect.

An online article in Newsweek explores this compulsion. It can be found at this link:
http://www.newsweek.com/id/138932 In the article, the author interviews “Josh,” a man who had a strong desire to cut off his left hand and finally succeeded. In the interview Josh, “says he was fully prepared when he amputated his left hand with a power tool. He says he had tried to cut it off before—once putting it underneath a truck and trying to crush it (the jack didn't collapse right); once attempting to saw it off with a table saw (he lost his nerve). He even spent countless miles driving around with his hand dangling out the window, hoping to get side-swiped. But this time he was determined to succeed. Josh, who insisted on anonymity because his family thinks he lost his hand in an accident, says he practiced on animal legs he got from a butcher, and he was equipped with bandages to stop the bleeding and a charged cell phone in case he got dizzy. Now, years later, Josh says he feels wonderful without his hand, that his amputation finally ended a ‘torment’ that had plagued him since middle school.”

Sufferers say the only safe, secure way to deal with this compulsion is to allow them the option of surgical amputation so that they may feel they live in the right body. This is not so different than transgender individuals changing sexes, a condition so common and well known I would not even bother to classify it as “strange.” There are two locations on the web that address the issue of BIID: one is transabled.org; the other is a Yahoo Web group of BIID sufferers, many of whom say they are “resisting” the urge to amputate.