Voluntary Amputations

Don't know if this is the right forum. If not, feel free to relocate

Ok...
Well, for those who think branding, etc., is bad. Here's something new!
Voluntary amputation. Initial reaction? WOW.
I just don't understand this. Why would someone want to cut off a finger, a toe, an earlobe? Much less an arm or a leg.
I don't suppose this is extremely common, but you never know.
What do you think of this? Is it going too far?
Was the Doctor right in performing amputations for no medical reasons? Should this be regulated?

The phenomenon is not as rare as one might think: healthy people deliberately setting out to rid themselves of one or more of their limbs, with or without a surgeon's help. Why do pathologies sometimes arise as if from nowhere? Can the mere description of a condition make it contagious?

by Carl Elliott

IN January of this year British newspapers began running articles about Robert Smith, a surgeon at Falkirk and District Royal Infirmary, in Scotland. Smith had amputated the legs of two patients at their request, and he was planning to carry out a third amputation when the trust that runs his hospital stopped him. These patients were not physically sick. Their legs did not need to be amputated for any medical reason. Nor were they incompetent, according to the psychiatrists who examined them. They simply wanted to have their legs cut off. In fact, both the men whose limbs Smith amputated have declared in public interviews how much happier they are, now that they have finally had their legs removed

Healthy people seeking amputations are nowhere near as rare as one might think. In May of 1998 a seventy-nine-year-old man from New York traveled to Mexico and paid $10,000 for a black-market leg amputation; he died of gangrene in a motel. In October of 1999 a mentally competent man in Milwaukee severed his arm with a homemade guillotine, and then threatened to sever it again if surgeons reattached it. That same month a legal investigator for the California state bar, after being refused a hospital amputation, tied off her legs with tourniquets and began to pack them in ice, hoping that gangrene would set in, necessitating an amputation. She passed out and ultimately gave up. Now she says she will probably have to lie under a train, or shoot her legs off with a shotgun.

MORE HERE

More articles to look through...
www.modifiedmind.com...

www.accessibility.com.au...

There story of a wannabe amputee:
www.overground.be...


Some photos of voluntary amputations.. fingers, toes.. SOME GRAPHIC stuff.

www.bmezine.com...

[Edited on 3-5-2004 by parrhesia]

Well...I really just don't know what to say to this.

I think it would be essential if someone wanted this doing that they receive deep psycho therapy before it was granted. If they are deemed sane then hell...why not? It's their body. But Jesus! Why would you want to?

I agree. There should be some form of therapy prior to having the procedure done, I guess. I can't imagine anyone doing it on a whim, though, and I'm sure it's well thought out.

Like I said, I don't understand why anyone would want to do this.

Unbelievable. These people have some serious issues.

I remember reading about a man that took out an advertisement in the local newspaper looking for people willing to amputate parts of their body. He wanted to saut� the body parts and consumes them. He had many responses to the advertisement and chose one of them. They proceeded to cut off his penis fry it with a little garlic butter, sat down at the table and the two of them shared the meal. It�s almost too weird to believe.

The German canibalism case, correct?
Volunteering to be killed, AND consuming your penis with the killer.
Man. Again, I just don't get it.

anyone willing to give up a body part voluntarily is insane.

I'm sure they've never seen a REAL amputee before, and they lack the knowledge of the procedure- which involves, in the least graphic way i can describe it, continually stretching and suturing the skin surrounding the site so that it completely covers the "stump".

amputees often have severe addictions to pain killers, and experience phantom pains in the are where the limb used to be, not to mention running the risk of severe infection and possible further amputations if the infection spreads.

not smart, to say the least.

Originally posted by parrhesia
Volunteering to be killed, AND consuming your penis with the killer.

I don't believe the man was killed.

It's not pleasant, to say the least.

This site: www.overground.be...

has a bunch of testimonies from amputees, wannabes, as well as those sexually attracted to amputees for that reason.

The whole 'Fantom Limb' thing is really interesting, as well.

there is a thread here on ats. The dude let him cut it off and they ate it together then the one guy let the other man kill him and eat him. Dude it was teh scariest thing i have ever heard

Originally posted by kinglizard

Originally posted by parrhesia
Volunteering to be killed, AND consuming your penis with the killer.

I don't believe the man was killed.

Did this occur in Germany?
If so, I believe the man who volunteered was killed.

news.bbc.co.uk...

Originally posted by parrhesia
Did this occur in Germany?
If so, I believe the man who volunteered was killed.

We must be talking about the same incident. I can�t imagine this being a common occurrence. For some reason I had it in my head that he wasn�t killed, obviously I was wrong. The story is just that much more insane, he agrees to being killed and eaten. WTF, just unreal.

I you're talking about the Germany case then the man was indeed killed, and he volunteered for it.

Originally posted by John Nada
I you're talking about the Germany case then the man was indeed killed, and he volunteered for it.

The one I was referring to was in Germany. Thanks John

I, too, have had similar thoughts as in "why the hell...?" but the answer is this:

a lot of people have had accidents or incidents that made them lost the ability to use such an appendage. since they were told by their doc that they would never regain the use of that arm, they think the best course of action is to amputate it for scientific research.

i still don't think it's a great idea, as they never know whether or not they can have some kind of unconventional form of treatment that would return the use of such an appendage.

what, am i confusing some of you?

That may well be the reason behind some of this, however, many of the stories I've read, and some incuded here in the original post, addressed those who had no other reason than the desire to be limbless and wanted something amputated, or trying to do it themselves.

To get in front of the lines at amusement parks, duh... j/k.

Those people have some serious issues... Not to sound mean, but they should do some kind of mental check or something before cutting the limbs off because they might have some kind of psychological problem.

reply to post by Bobbo


I think you need to study the subject more...

reply to post by parrhesia


Holy bloody hell, I was just googleing BME to tell someone about it who thinks its fake, and viola..

on a forum, is a link here.

MASSIVE BUMP!

sorry about that, but holy crap, wtf????

There are a number of factors that could drive a person to amputate a limb.

Sometimes it's money. Running an insurance or workman's comp scam. Or selling body parts.

Sometimes it's phantom pain syndrome. They have chronic pain in the limb which can't be diagnosed. So they want it cut off.

Sometimes it's a mental condition in which they believe the limb is possessed or otherwise out of their control. A few years back, we had a guy cut his arm off at the elbow with a table saw because he thought his arm was evil.

reply to post by allenidaho


seriously? we're reviving a 7 year old thread here? well alright then, guess ill weigh in with my opinion, before the thread continues to get all those atypical close minded "bash the guy whose weird because i dont understand him" type posts that are so very common


it could also just be a fetish

Apotemnophilia

en.wikipedia.org...

this is a form of body integrity identity disorder which is the same disorder that a transvestite/transsexual has in which they dont feel like they are the person they want to be or ought to be, they feel disconnected from themselves, and believe that undergoing the change will make them happier and in almost all cases it does,

if it makes them happier, then why should we judge? and tell them there is something wrong with them?

the reason a doctor would perform an amputation on someone who medically doesn't need it is the thought that they psychologically do! if someone is depressed and tormented for years and years on end because they just want to get rid of that arm, and they finally have it done, they likely (as is most cases) are far happier and depression leaves them, thus it is thought that to live without the arm but happy is far more healthy then to live with the arm and sad.

and the reason you dont hear about it to much is cause the obviously dont want people to know these feeling of theirs, gee i wonder why, maybe the judging criticizing lack of understanding the people here in this thread have expressed is a good example, "these people are sick" "definitely something wrong with that person" "they need help" "must have some screws loose" etc etc these are very common insults thrown at people who are not understood by others,

all i have to say is, why do you give a fcK? if it does not harm others then it is none of your business if someone wishes to harm themselves, everyone owns their own bodies and ought to have the right to do whatever the hell they want with it,

same reasoning why i think suicide being made illegal is idiotic and not the mark of a free country/society,

its my life ill do what i want with it, shame on anyone who would judge and say what others ought to do with their own lives, who are you to judge such things? all that ought to be kept in check is harm against others, if it does not harm others then no one should judge you for harming yourself out of desire, whatever brings you happiness, do it, no matter how odd it may seem to be to all those that "dont understand"