Amputees By Choice Summary

AMPUTEES BY CHOICE
BY
CARL ELLIOTT
Today I am going to talk about the article “Amputees by Choice” by Carl Elliott. This topic is not about amputees in general but by people who want to cut off a healthy part of their body. Now you may ask, who in their right mind would want to do such a thing. Believe it or not, there is a condition called Body Integrity Identity Disorder (BIID). This is a mental disorder in which a person wants to amputate one or more of their healthy limbs. We then should ask, what motivates a person to want to amputate a healthy limb? There are couples of reasons or explanations for this disorder. First is that they are suffering from Body Dysmorphic Disorder, a condition in which the person believes that part of their body is diseased or ugly. The second explanation is psychosexual disorder call Acrotomophilia. This is a sexual attraction to an amputee. The last explanation is a mismatch between their bodies as they experience it.

There are two types of individuals that suffer from Body Integrity Identity Disorder (BIID).

On the internet through blogs, forums or chat rooms call they are referred to as “Wannabees” and “Devotees”. The medical tern for Devotees is Acrotomophili. The medical term for Wannabees is Apotemnopholi. As I previously mentioned Devotees are sexually attracted to people with amputated limbs. On the other hand, Wannabees want to amputate their healthy limbs.
I am going to explain the difference between the two disorders. With Wannabees their issue is more related to body image. For example: POWER POINT. Nevertheless, Devotees have a strong sexual preference for amputees. For example: POWER POINT.
Strange as that this may sound, when a Wannabee person lose a limb they are actually gaining so much more of who they felt they are. As one Amputee said to his doctor “you have made me the happiest of all men by taking away from me a limb which put an invincible obstacle to my

happiness.
Note, that Wannabees are going to persist in getting one or more of their limbs amputated even when it is rejected by a surgeon by any means necessary. For example, in the article there are cases of self-mutilation. One was an old gentlemen that paid $10,000 to get his legs cut off in a motel in Mexico. Sadly, he died later from gangrene. Another case involved a woman who tried to have both of her legs amputated by tying them with tourniquets and after this did not work, she then said, she will either shoot off her legs with a shotgun or lie under a train.
Although Wannabees desire to have a limb amputated those who do not do through with getting a limb cut off suffer from body alienation. For some Wannabees the limbs that they want to amputate is not as healthy to them as it may appear to an outside person. From an ethical stand point there are numerous debates and questions regarding how to deal with people suffering from Body Integrity Identity Disorder (BIID).
One could argue if there is plastic surgery for enhancing different parts of the body like Elliott said. Then why not amputate a limb for someone who desires and is willing to pay for the surgery. Yes, it is a difficult question whether surgery is right or wrong. On the other hand,
rightfully it is their body and their wishes must be respected once. Only time will tell if this becomes the norm as an option for Wannabees.