A Quebec doctor amputated two healthy fingers off a man’s hand to affirm his identity.
The 20-year-old man reportedly struggled with body integrity dysphoria (BID), a mental disorder where a person desires to be physically disabled or feels discomfort with being able-bodied.
To alleviate the man from his mental anguish, a doctor agreed to chop off his fourth and fifth fingers.
This procedure came after the man attempted behavioral therapy, antidepressant medication, and exposure therapy. After these strategies, the man said that his distress only increased, prompting the doctor to proceed with surgery.
According to a case report written by Dr. Nadia Nadeau who works in the Department of psychiatry at Université Laval, the man said “he couldn’t imagine himself living for the years to come with those fingers.”
“He hides his fingers, keeps them flexed, leading to impaired dexterity, localized pain, irritability and anger,” she wrote.
The man was so distressed that he contemplated creating a smaller version of a guillotine to remove the fingers himself.
“He had contemplated asking a friend to watch over him and be prepared to call emergency services in case his attempt led to a need for resuscitation,” the case report stated.
A week following the surgery, the man said his distress immediately ceased, and “he was able to pursue the life he envisioned as a complete human being without those two fingers bothering him.”
Removing healthy limbs does not make you “crazy” according to a doctor
In a review following his research into BID, German neuropsychologist Erich Kasten wrote that the urge to remove healthy limbs does not make that person “crazy” or “insane.”
“The most naive, succinct popular explanation is that someone wishing to have an amputation or paralysis must be ‘crazy’ or ‘insane.’ Both are wrong,” Kasten said.
“BID-affected people can move their leg or arm, but it is not really a part of what they perceive as their own body,” he wrote.
Last year, the UK government announced an investigation into a school in England that accepted students who identify as cats.
