Quote Originally Posted by English assassin
OK, that title was in very bad taste, as you will shortly discover.

Here http://society.guardian.co.uk/health...000991,00.html is the story of a woman with body identity integrity disorder. To sum up, she had two normal healthy legs, but she wanted to be a double amputee.

I thought it was an interesting story. What to take from it? One thing is clear, BIID is real. No one repeatedly tries to freeze their legs off without having somethign wrong with them. But what I am left wondering is why the solution is in the body, and not the mind? Is it a reflection on the west's fetishising of self expression and identity that we do not treat women like this as mentally ill? Is it latent guilt for a time not so long ago when other, far lesst disturbing, behaviour was seen as aberrant (its only about 50 years since they stoped trying to "cure" homosexuals, after all).

And, if they are her legs, and she can support herself (sorry) as a double amputee, should we allow personal autonomy to go so far as deliberate self mutilation?
Hmm there was an episode of Nip/Tuck (called Ben White) about a guy with this kind of disorder. A googling later and what was described on that episode is mostly true. That right now it's considered a psychological disorder and the medical community try to treat it as such. And try and prevent them from doing DIY amputations, or hurting themself into needing one. Problem is that like being transgendered, or having BDD (body dismorphic disorder), the only real solution is the physical change.