Monstrous disease of those who want to remove their limbs

People with an identity disorder of the body are always obsessed that they have a certain part of their body, legs or eyes, so they have to find a way to eliminate it.

Vietnam has just recorded a case where a medical worker who has a disorder of identity of the body should cut his leg. On the evening of November 11, 47-year-old Khanh worked at a Can Tho hospital telling him that he was sleeping when he was cut off by one leg. Police claimed Khanh cut his leg. The determined man did not resume his legs.

Mr. Khanh said he had a Body Integrity Identity Disorder (BIID) and always wanted to be disabled from childhood but did not tell anyone. When studying medicine, Khanh learns about his disease. The disease could not be cured, so he thought of a way to remove a leg that was considered to be redundant by the brain.

According to specialist 2 Lam Hieu Minh, Ho Chi Minh City Medical and Palliative Care Clinic, many psychologists and neurologists in the world have made great efforts to find out the root cause. Roots leading to the disorder of identification of body integrity, but there is still much controversy. In fact, there are many reasons that motivate a person to amputate their limbs or a part of their body, including the causes of mental illness.

The most common cause of mental illness is schizophrenia and psychotic disorders. While there are paranoia and hallucinations, the patients self-amputation, genitals or sensory organs because it does not belong to them or is caused by illusion. BIID is also known for the medical term Xenomelia. Despite this controversy, the ICD 10 of the World Health Organization (WHO) does not recognize this disorder as a separate pathology.

According to Dr. Minh, BIID patients just want to cut off the body parts that they consider to be superfluous, but do not want to do the same thing with the people nearby. After hurting the body, the patient still feels pain, so go to the medical center to ask the doctor to intervene. The first signs of this disease usually appear from puberty and persist for a lifetime. That behavior can repeat many times and cause the next injury. Therefore, the doctor advised the community to see if a person has signs of this disease should be taken to a psychiatrist to be examined and consulted appropriate intervention measures to avoid serious consequences.

According to Health, the disorder of identifying body integrity is a rare disease. Some experts believe that the disease is caused by a neurological error, in which the "map" system of the brain cannot see a part of the body.

World medicine has noted that 58-year-old Chloe Jennings-White in the United States always wanted to have a leg amputation to live the life of the disabled. The woman always believed that both legs did not belong to her, so she wanted paralysis from the waist down."There's something that motivates me that my legs aren't working , " she said.

Chloe was happy to sit in a wheelchair even though she was not disabled.(Photo: Health).

For the first time Chloe realized that her body was different from those around 4 years old when visiting an aunt who had an accident, she had to use a splint to bandage her leg."I want to be like that. I wonder why I'm not born like that," Chloe said. Since then, Chloe often pretended to be crippled when she was alone. She played extreme sports and climbed tall trees in the hope of breaking her leg.

Michael First, a psychiatrist in New York, diagnosed Chloe with a body disorder identity disorder. In 2010, Chloe went to see a doctor to help her become disabled by cutting the hip joint and the femoral nerves. However, there is not enough money to pay for the surgery up to 22,600 USD (nearly 500 million VND) so the woman restrains the "dream".

Recently Dr. Michael First suggested Mrs. Chloe should use a wheelchair to be satisfied with the desire to live in a sense of disability."At first I only dared to be in a wheelchair when I was alone but later I courageously revealed that secret to my friends and colleagues. Currently I spend most of my time on a wheelchair. Sometimes I step out "I am really happy," Chloe said. "I'm really happy."

Jewel Shuping, 30 years old in Carolina, also had the disease. She always wanted to be blind. Jewel told her mother often caught her walking in the dark room with an interest from 3 years old. At the age of 6, she showed a sense of happiness when she was posed as a blind person. At the age of 16, Jewel started wearing thick black glasses, 18 years of age, using a cane for the blind, 20 years of age to read braille skillfully. Since then, Jewel has tried to remove his eyes.

In 2006, a Canadian psychologist sympathized and helped Jewel realize his dream by putting bleach into his eyes that blinded her."I was in great pain to feel that my eyes were burning, my cheeks also burned. But I was happy to think that I would become a blind person," Jewel said.

More than 6 months later, Jewel's eyes were completely blind and accompanied by diseases such as cataracts, glaucoma and corneal damage. Jewel said: "A lot of people get sick like me and they need help. Many patients risk jumping from the cliffs just because they want to destroy their feet, this is very dangerous."