India Uncut
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Friday, February 02, 2007
On losing a limb
Via Boing Boing, I read about Susan Smith, whose lifelong dream to have a limb amputated came true recently. She has what is known as body integrity identity disorder (BIID), about which she writes:
I think BIID will stay taboo until people get together and bring it out. A hundred years ago, it was taboo to be gay in many societies, and 50 years ago the idea of transsexuals was abhorrent to most. I have tried to make the condition more understood but it is difficult to get a case out in the open by yourself. My psychiatrist went to a meeting last year in Paris, and many doctors there told her that they had operated on people who needed an amputation under mysterious circumstances, and how happy the person was when they woke up. It led them to believe that perhaps BIID is more prevalent than people think.I'm staggered, but what the hell, if people want to cut their limbs off, they should be allowed to do whatever makes them happy. Why be judgmental about people's desires when they don't affect anyone else? No?
