The concept of having Body Integrity Disorder (BIID) is rather fascinating and somewhat scary. A person with BIID is not satisfied with their god given body and has the desire to become an amputee. For them having say, a right hand, just never felt right and caused intense anxiety. For this person, not having their right hand makes their body the way “it should have been”. This article is a very fascinating interview with “Jason”, a middle aged man who underwent a self amputation in order to rid himself of his right hand. Jason had to stage an accident involving massive power tools in order for his wife, insurance, and everyone in his life to believe that losing his hand was not intentional (and also done in a way that was non-repairable). To this day, nobody knows the truth about Jason’s “accident” and people have even gone as far as raising money for him, which causes him immense guilt. This whole idea and BIID plays into the idea of stigma as a desire and choice. Generally, most people do not want to be stigmatized, especially the way people with missing limbs are. However, this man has taken his desire for what he deems normalcy (missing a hand) to a whole new level that is hard for me to comprehend. While I understand there is some type of mental disorder behind this action, I still think the entire idea of wanting to be stigmatized and wanting to be part of a sub-group in society bizarre. I almost feel bad for “Jason” who must live a double life, but then I realize this was his doing, and that this is what he wanted overall.
Wow. This is the first time I have ever heard about BIID and I am a bit disturbed. I am really trying to put myself in Jason’s shoes and understand the frustration and anxiety that his right hand had caused him. Suffering from any type of anxiety is a horrible feeling and causes much distress, so I can understand why he wanted to rid himself of this anxiety. The human body is so beautifully and wonderfully made and every limb serves an essential purpose for survival. A deformity or disability inhibits an individuals ability to survive on their own and makes that individual more dependent upon others. Of course, there are people who are born this way, had accidents and are disabled by no will of their own and yet there is still a stigma attached to these individuals. As Goffman mentions there are three types of stigmas: physical, personal and tribal. I believe Jason and others who suffer from BIID would be stigmatized for both physical deformity and mental illness for wanting to be amputated. As a nation of progress, we look down upon those who can’t keep up and will probably never accept a sort of backwards type of thinking and action that BIID suggests. Jason grew up feeling anxiety about wanting to cut off his right hand and knew that it was not accepted. Jason understood the stigma attached to people with amputations and the stigma attached to his thoughts about wanting to be an amputee. Jason also mentioned that he did not want to tell anyone about wanting to cut off his right hand because he did not want anyone to talk him out of it. I believe if there wasn’t this stigma attached to it, people suffering from BIID might come out and talk to people about it and potentially get help. However, in Jason’s case, it would have been much safer if a licensed doctor had removed his hand for him. In a world obsessed with plastic surgery and augmentations, removing one’s hand should not be that far-fetched. People are constantly changing their normal, natural state to something they want, which is essentially unnatural. Also, the whole boom of plastic surgery is due to society and the media making it that women in particular need to look perfect. Women feel anxiety about their bodies and get breast augmentations and butt lifts, etc. It’s just the stigma that is attached to amputee’s and disabilities that makes it not acceptable to society. My heart goes out to Jason and others suffering from BIID and I hope one day they will be able to walk into a doctor’s office and get amputated safely and respectfully.
I was absolutely shocked when I read post on Body Integrity Disorder. I never heard of an obsession to this magnitude. A few years ago, I watched a documentary on female and male transsexuals expressing the fact that they do feel trapped in the wrong body. Many outsiders (heterosexuals and homosexuals) initially perceive them as being gay- that is of course before their transformation. However, a few transsexuals in the documentary made it clear that they are straight individuals and do not consider themselves to be gay or lesbian. I found it fascinating to learn about this community and I do believe it is possible to have those feelings. However, I am a bit perplexed about Jason’s case as to the reason he has made a change to his body- a change that society at large would consider a disability. Many would consider his body is not completely functional and hence render himself to being stigmatized.
In the case of transsexuals, there is either a complete or partial transformation to that of the opposite sex while keeping body parts intact- limbs and genetalia. Nonetheless, they are still stigmatized; the majority are abandoned by family and friends and as a consequence resort to living in the transsexual subculture.
Jocelyn Wildenstein is another individual who is similar to Jason. One would think that she would have had plastic surgery to beautify her body, but something clearly went wrong. Maybe she wanted to look like a cat or has a mental disability. It is really hard to understand what provokes people make these drastic changes to their body. Although Jocelyn is happy to show off her face, she is now labeled as one of the ugliest women in the world.
Cepeda
Here are some links pertaining to my previous comment.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?annotation_id=annotation_860155&v=EhmFayIPLa4&feature=iv
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gD-I8omPcVs&feature=related