- How Body Identity and Integrity Disorder arises
- How the treatment is done
- How to live with people with Identity Disorder and Body Integrity
Some healthy people want to be amputated because they have a syndrome called Disorder of identity and body integrity, although it is not recognized by DSM-V.
This psychological disorder can be associated with apotemnophilia, in which people, despite being apparently healthy, are not happy with their own body or feel that a certain part of the body is not part of themselves, therefore wanting the amputation of an arm or a leg, or even wishing to go blind.
These people show dissatisfaction with their own body since childhood and this can lead them to cause accidents to lose the part of the body that they feel is 'left over'.
How Body Identity and Integrity Disorder arises
This disorder shows the first signs in childhood or early adolescence, when the individual starts talking about his dissatisfaction, pretending that the member does not exist or feeling attracted to people with disabilities. There is still no cause for this problem, but it seems to be linked to childhood affective disorders and the need to draw attention. It can also be associated with some neurological failure that is responsible for body mapping inside the brain, being located in the right parietal lobe.
As the brain of these people does not recognize the existence of any part of the body, such as a hand or a leg, for example, they end up rejecting the member and wishing it to disappear. People with this disorder usually practice extreme sports or cause accidents to try to lose the unwanted part of the body, and some individuals even do the amputation of the limb alone, which carries high risks of bleeding, infections and death.
How the treatment is done
Initially, treatment for this disorder involves therapy with the psychologist and psychiatrist, and the use of medications to try to control anxiety and identify the problem. However, this disorder has no cure and patients continue with the desire to lose a specific part of the body until this happens.
Although surgical treatment is not recognized, some doctors support the decision and amputate healthy members of the body of these people, who say they are performed after surgery.
How to live with people with Identity Disorder and Body Integrity
Family members and friends of people with the Identity and Body Integrity Disorder need to understand the disease and learn to live with the patient. Like individuals who wish to change sex, these people believe that only a limb removal surgery is the solution to the problem.
However, it is necessary to be careful that individuals with this disorder do not cause accidents in themselves or have the limb amputated without medical help. In addition, it is important to note that some people after amputation surgery have the same problem in other parts of the body.
