"People suffering from Body Integrity Identity Disorder (BIID) feel the intensive wish for an amputation of one limp or another kind of handicap." Sarah Noll and Erich Kasten interviewed 21 operated BIID-people with the result: "A realization of the wish of a person affected by BIID could be a possible form of therapy for patients, when other therapies have shown no effects."
The psychologists observed: "Psychological therapy, psychopharmacological medication, and relaxation techniques have had a little effect and sometimes increased the desire. None of the patients regretted the surgery and a change for the better was seen in almost all areas of life. There were several problems regarding the quality of life, but they were estimated as bearable in contrast to the happiness to have fulfilled the wish.
Phantom limb feelings were reported, what contradicts the theory of BIID as a limb not embedded in the brain´s body-schema. After the operation most of the participants dreamed of themselves with an amputated body. The majority of the interviewee did not want further restrictions," Noll and Kasten report.
The surgeon Robert C. Smith comments: "For the BIID patient amputation is a doorway to a new and enriched life in which the perceived body image matches the ideal. If one considers the four pillars of the medical ethics - autonomy, beneficience, non-malificience and justice - the BIID patient regards that amputation is compatible with all of these ..."
Literature on the subject:
Body Integrity Identity Disorder: Psychological, Neurobiological, Ethical and Legal Aspects
Stirn, A.; Thiel, A.; Oddo, S. (Eds.)
