Thread: Australians Cutting off healthy limbs OK, says Dr

Cutting off healthy limbs OK, says Dr Christopher Ryan

TO most the thought of amputating a perfectly healthy limb is unimaginable.
But for at least three Australians, possibly dozens more, cutting off their leg has felt perfectly normal.

These so-called "amputee wannabes" have a very rare condition in which they feel one of their limbs is not truly their own, and they become obsessed with cutting it off.

And people suffering from the bizarre body image disorder should be able to opt for amputation, a Sydney psychiatrist says.

Dr Christopher Ryan, a psychiatrist at the University of Sydney, says there is a good argument for allowing patients with body integrity identity disorder (BIID) to have their unwanted limb removed.
"I am not saying we should unthinkingly cut off people's legs," Dr Ryan said.
"I realise that the idea strikes almost everyone as lunatic when they first hear it. However, there are a small number of people who see themselves, and have always seen themselves, as amputees," he said.
"They are often miserable their whole lives because of their 'extra limb', and we know that at least some of them feel much better if it is removed."

The disorder hit news headlines in 2000 when it was revealed that a surgeon in Scotland had amputated a healthy leg from two patients with the disorder.

At the time, appalled Scottish politicians called the procedure "obscene" and tried to ban such operations.

Cutting off healthy limbs OK, says Dr Christopher Ryan | News.com.au Top stories | News.com.au

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