"The groundwork of all happiness is health." - Leigh Hunt

Body Integrity Identity Disorder: A Rare Condition

Body integrity identity disorder is a really rare disorder. It occurs when your mental body image doesn’t match your physical body. If you’ve got body integrity disorder (BIID), you could feel a powerful desire to amputate a limb or strive to turn into paralyzed.

Body integrity identity disorder has been found to start in early childhood. This condition makes you’re feeling like your body needs to alter to ensure that you to feel complete and satisfied.

When you don't feel good in your body, you could experience depressive symptoms and mood disorders. These coincide with the stressful and emotional toll BIID has in your mental health.

BIID is taken into account an identity disorder and a few research suggests it might be congenital.

People with BIID wish to be their “true selves,” which regularly comes with a desire for amputation or disability in order that they will feel “complete” inside. Recent research has begun to link this sense to specific psychiatric and neurological reasons. There are strong similarities between BIID and other identity disorders corresponding to transsexualism and gender identity disorder.

BIID is related to chronic dysphoria, whereby victims feel that their body isn’t what it needs to be. In severe cases, individuals with BIID go to extreme lengths to amputate or disable themselves without medical assistance.

The compulsive urge to amputate a limb could be fatal if the amputation isn’t done appropriately, and unfortunately individuals with BIID can resort to self-mutilation in the event that they don’t find appropriate help.

If someone has BIID, you could notice repeated, unexplained injuries to the identical body part.

Body integrity identity disorder isn’t well understood. There isn’t any specific reason for BIID, but there are theories about its origin.

Some researchers imagine the next aspects could cause BIID:

However, psychologists and neurologists have a primary working theory: BIID is brought on by your brain not properly mapping your body. Your brain believes your body needs to be and feel different than it does.

Body mapping occurs in adolescence, when many individuals with BIID report their first discomfort with their body.

However, BIID is such a rare condition that there isn’t enough research into the condition.

People with a body integrity disorder feel that a selected limb doesn’t belong to them. They can have a healthy arm or leg that they feel doesn’t fit their body and that they would really like to have amputated. For some patients, holding the limb with which they don’t discover causes intense emotional pain.

With body integrity dysphoria, people feel overcomplete of their bodies. In one study, individuals with BIID couldn’t accurately describe the leg they wanted removed. The study's leaders asked them to evaluate the dimensions and shape of their legs based on vision, touch and the perceived feel of their leg.

However, the will to chop off a limb isn’t just an empty wish. individuals with BID have a compulsive must do away with the alien appendage on their body.

People with a body integrity disorder have distressing thoughts that may interfere with their social, personal, and skilled lives. People who can't afford surgery or can't discover a surgeon willing to perform the amputation might attempt to remove the limb themselves. This self-mutilation can have fatal consequences.

Body integrity identity disorder is difficult to diagnose. The desire for amputation has a reputation, however the diagnosis requires those affected to speak in confidence to their doctor.

If you’re feeling disconnected out of your body, your doctor may first examine activity in your brain. They will try to find out whether a benign brain tumor or one other underlying disease is the reason for this disconnect between mind and body.

Treatment of disorders of body integrity. The most difficult thing about this condition is that there isn’t any cure. Treatments corresponding to cognitive behavioral therapy and selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) help ease the distress and depression related to the condition. However, they don’t completely eliminate the will to do away with the appendage.

In some cases, amputation may end up in remission of BIID. This can improve quality of life if done safely. If you’ve got BIID, you could find a way to see a physician psychiatrist willing to acknowledge your desire for amputation. This can assist you to receive medical care and reduce your emotional distress.

Body integrity identity disorder is a really rare disorder. However, it will probably be difficult to evaluate the precise number of individuals affected because some may hide their condition. People with BIID may distance themselves from their physical body parts that they feel will not be connected to them and avoid discussing the issue.

Body integrity dysphoria can result in lifelong suffering, possibly starting in childhood. However, recognizing this condition and contacting a physician or psychiatrist can assist you to begin treating the symptoms.

Talking to a trusted friend or member of the family can even assist you to understand your condition. This opens up conversations about finding the best treatment or symptom management. In certain cases, amputation might help relieve the pain of the condition. However, this should be performed in a legitimate and secure environment by a licensed surgeon, after appropriate psychiatric consultation and assessment.

BIID isn’t currently recognized as a mental illness or listed within the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM). But some doctors are attempting to advocate for broader recognition. Adding BIID to the handbook would help increase interest within the condition, encourage more research, and develop higher treatment options than are currently available.

If you or a loved one suffers from BIID, talking to a physician is step one. Seeking appropriate and secure help can prevent self-harm or worsening depression. Although this condition could be very rare, there are others who experience these feelings.