Becoming disabled by choice, not chance: ‘Transabled’ people

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Wanting to become disabled on purpose seems crazy to me. As in while there is nothing wrong with being disabled per se it doesn't seem like something that benefits your life so why would you want it?

I cannot wrap my head around this whatsoever.

Me neither.
 
of course. you trying to gotcha me with that?
Of course not, but I can see that being an angle people might not actually consider - one way or another these are people who may need some help from the state. And of course each case will be different, who's to say there aren't people for whom the best solution will be to live with that disability with the appropriate support?
 
Body Integrity Identity Disorder

In terms of treatment the reviewers found that selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) and cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) were sometimes effective in relieving the stress and depression associated with BIID, but they did not diminish BIID itself. The desire for amputation was unchanged. Further, in patients who did have the limb amputated, 70% had resolution of the desire for amputation, while 30% had a recurrence of the desire.

It is not yet clear what all this means, but there are some suggestions. Probably BIID is not one discrete disorder, but is the final result of several possible underlying causes that result in the brain-body mismatch.

The onset at young age and exposure to amputees is interesting, as these facts are compatible with the theory that body mapping occurs during young development and is partly due to experience. Perhaps, therefore, some people with BIID developed their internal body image based upon exposure to an amputee, and the missing limb therefore became the model of a whole body. It’s also possible that exposure to the amputee was simply a trigger but the predisposition has to be present already.

Regardless of how it develops, it will likely prove difficult to “cure” BIID. We do not yet have the technology to alter the brain’s wiring in a way that would be necessary to change the internal body image. The brain does have plasticity (the ability to change its wiring), but this plasticity is limited. Some basic functions can only develop at a young age, and once the window of development closes the wiring cannot be changed.

Perhaps brain plasticity may be able to reduce or correct BIID, but I could not find any research even attempting such an intervention.

Current treatments focus on reducing the negative consequences of BIID rather than BIID itself, namely the distress and depression. This seems like a reasonable approach, and should at least be tried prior to amputating a healthy limb, an intervention with only a 70% success rate.

The ethics of amputating a healthy limb to treat BIID are unclear. It is not unreasonable, however, based upon the principle of autonomy, and it does appear to improve the quality of life in most BIID patients who have an amputation. But this should be considered a last resort, only after serious attempts at non-invasive treatment have been made.

It is time, however, for BIID to come out of the shadows. It should not be stigmatized. It is simply a neurological disorder. Even though we do not yet have anything close to a cure, it can be addressed medically.

So yes, it's a disorder. But calling something a disorder isn't to further stigmatize those who have it.
 
I feel for the people that think they need to do this, but protecting behaviour like this is not healthy for the person or for society at large, and frankly I think labelling is as Transabled is a gross and massive slap to anyone going through serious and legitimate changes or thoughts of changes in the scope of what we traditionally would call "trans" issues (Gender, sexual preferences, etc)

Trans people have something in their brain that we can fix, assist or change (I'm not trying to be offensive with these terms, I actually don't know what term is better to use) to help them feel better in whatever body they can be in. "Trans-abled" people simply need mental help to fix up before they hurt themselves.

I'm usually not one to say this, in fact I usually recoil at it when it's said, but what is too far with this? Transabled, I don't want to walk, break my spine so I am a quadriplegic, I feel this is my natural state!! Transgendered individuals at least you can completely understand it's social constructs and how we live our lives, I mean who can really say "I had my awakening that I believed I didn't want my arms on my twelfth birthday".

What's next after this? Are we going to PC up people with suicidal tendencies and just let 18 year olds commit suicide after break ups? Are we going to let the people who "want" to get AIDS or HIV (bug chasing?) do this as well? I mean I just don't understand anyone who makes this comparison between Transgendered people and people who just want to physically hurt themselves. It's such a mockery of the former it's offensive.

It being called transabled is basically begging for the comparison. Whether the label started from satire or transabled people following the rise in acceptance of transexuality to make their claims seem legitimate. And it doesn't help that a lot of the wording in the article and arguments for and against can basically be used as ad-libs between the two. i.e. Literally your last paragraph beginning with "What's next after this?" has probably been said by Republicans about a range of topics. "What's next after this? People marrying animals?!" Etc.

It is. it reminds me of a great Nip/Tuck episode.

That episode still haunts me to this day. It's basically a reverse phantom limb.
 
With that logic homosexuality and transexuality are illnesses too? Just accepted by the public?

To relate this to homosexual acceptance is laughable, gays are attracted to the same sex, transgendered people feel they were born the wrong sex. This? This has no basis in ANYTHING rational regarding the human condition. Something is absolutely wrong with these people, and it's not that fact they were born physically whole.
 
Of course not, but I can see that being an angle people might not actually consider - one way or another these are people who may need some help from the state. Each case will be different, who's to say there aren't people for whom the best solution will be to live with that disability with the appropriate support?

i edited my post a few minutes ago.

that's fair, considering how far out there this disorder is. they'll still need significant psychiatric help, before or after they destroy themselves.
 
This is one of the first things that makes me ask if there's such a thing as being 'too accepting' and 'too understanding' of something. I've always rolled my eyes hard at the "gay marriage will lead to men marrying dogs" argument, but treating 'transableism' with the same understanding and import as LGBT issues really does feel like a slippery slope to me.
 
Every time some compares to trans, god kills a kitten.

But I do acept that, since we can't remap the brain, the person can cut the limb to feel better.
Like removing an organ because of cancer. IDEALY, you would cure cancer, but since you can you take the organ out to stop the "suffering"


...but the girl that is in a whellchair even being able to walk can go fuck herself =P
 
i edited my post a few minutes ago.

that's fair, considering how far out there this disorder is.

I could see where you were coming from. It's a complicated issue and it's depressing, but sadly not surprising, that many people aren't even going to attempt to understand or empathise with it.
 
Maybe? But who cares? It's going to be something like 1e-10000000000000th of your tax dollar. As I said before, such an insignificant amount that it's a waste of time to even consider.
Unless you know someone that is actually disabled and see how underfunded these departments already are. Or how many people already park on handicapped spots because they see other people abusing them/feel they need them more.
 
I don't see why someone couldn't identify as trans-abled. It is an expression of self that requires a great deal of courage and probably results in lots of backlash in the wake of misunderstanding.
 
Unless you know someone that is actually disabled and see how underfunded these departments already are.

I work in a school serving primarily severely disabled children. Trust me, I know. But getting into the debate of 'are these people abusing government funds?!' is only going to result in less funding for everyone.
 
If people are intentionally harming themselves to become disabled... that's self-harm taken to a pretty horrifying extreme and these people need help, in my opinion.

I also don't get the transgender comparison. A transgender person wishes to fix what is broken, not break what isn't.

The comparison stems from a person's mind not matching their body in both cases. I agree that the cases differ crucially in that in one case the person is becoming less able, doing objective and demonstrable physical self-harm (though the mental benefits might make up for it), while gender/sex reassignment surgery merely moves you into another (equal) category. That's putting aside society's reaction, of course, which makes being transgender difficult. That will eventually improve, we can hope.

We still have a ton to learn about the brain and body, and what is innate/prepared and what is environmental, and if we can accept that a person can be born with a trans gender identity, they might be able to be born with the sense that they shouldn't have 2 arms. Both cases are rare, and I'm assuming transability cases are rarer even than transgender cases, but we can't just call it mental illness without serious analysis on a case by case basis.

edit: All that said, since we know so little at this point, it seems reasonable to mandate counseling, and do some brain scans on these transabled people before removing their limbs or doing irreversible damage to them. As some mentions below, a regional analysis of the prevalence of the condition might also be illuminating. Does this condition exist all over the world? That suggests a biological component. Is it just in a few cultures? Might be environmental, in which case perhaps intervention is warranted.
 
I love how people with obvious issues with transgender people are taking this is a crusade worth defending so they can themselves create their own narrative, but still go about it in such a salty, dishonest way. "WhAAAT? I see no problem with this? Isnt this what you liberal tumblr people wanted lolz?!". This are people in need of help, not props.
 
This is one of the first things that makes me ask if there's such a thing as being 'too accepting' and 'too understanding' of something. I've always rolled my eyes hard at the "gay marriage will lead to men marrying dogs" argument, but treating 'transableism' with the same understanding and import as LGBT issues really does feel like a slippery slope to me.

I'm pretty sure these people deserve just as much help as anyone. Understanding and import doesn't mean we break out the bone saws.
 
I'm getting chills imagining waking up one day missing an arm or leg. I think, and I might be wrong but I vaguely remember watching a 20/20 on this and there was a woman on there who wanted all four limbs cut off, or maybe just both her legs.
 
A few years back I had feels like this. I felt my left arm wasn't part of my body, it felt like it was some one elses arm just randomly attached to me this went on for a few months on and off. It freaked me out big time. I can see why people who have a worse condition get to the stage that they want a limb etc removed, even if I don't agree with it.

Did the feeling just go away eventually?
 
The actual fault here doesn't really lie with the individuals though, does it?

Well one of the people in the article has working legs but uses a wheelchair and can walk no problem. Is it fine they have the same privileges in public facilities as those that are actually disabled? I don't see how that is right nor acceptable when you can stand up and walk out of the wheelchair.
 
Now that just has to be a mental illness. That's self-mutilation, isnt it?
Don't see a problem with this. Being transgender is classified as a mental illness as well. Does not mean the treatment is wrong, especially when it doesn't hurt anyone ekse.
 
That wheelchair girl should have no access to facilities meant for people who are actually in need of a wheelchair (i.e. there's a wheel chair parking spot she takes up and a person who legitimately needs that spot now can't have it).
 
Only explanation is having a serious mental condition.

This is not something to accept. It's disgusting.
 
No, this is crazy or some far fetched plan to get disability benefits.

If you want to be in a wheelchair, get in a wheelchair.
 
To relate this to homosexual acceptance is laughable, gays are attracted to the same sex, transgendered people feel they were born the wrong sex. This? This has no basis in ANYTHING rational regarding the human condition. Something is absolutely wrong with these people, and it's not that fact they were born physically whole.
That something is wrong with them is a subjective view.

Aren't they born the way they are? Don't they feel that they need to be disabled?

I think this is definitely some point at which the medical/psychological community needs to draw a line or not. When is something deemed to be an illness that needs fixing? When do we accept people as they are?

This is highly controversial but we should not forget that also homosexuality and transsexuality were 'disorders' at some point in time. There was a moment scientists said 'we accept them now for who they are'.
 
Honestly I'd like to see cases in other countries, poorer, even, because this sounds like those "wacky american/bored first world guy" stories you read every day.

If there /was/ a scientific basis, I'm sure this is an illness where people mutilate themselves, there's no accepting to that, there's trying to cure them. Do I sound like those conservatives. Yes I do, this is /serious/ and affects them and the society, in this case it's applicable.
 
If they are applying - which to be fair, we don't know - yes.

Well one of the people in the article has working legs but uses a wheelchair and can walk no problem. Is it fine they have the same privileges in public facilities as those that are actually disabled? I don't see how that is right nor acceptable when you can stand up and walk out of the wheelchair.

Is it her fault that she has this condition?
 
Y'know, I really can't accept this. My right arm is partially paralyzed due to an nerve injury I incurred at birth. I wouldn't wish a physical disability on anyone, and for someone to do this to their body willingly seems like a pretty clear cut form of mental illness.
 
Maybe? But who cares? It's going to be something like 1e-10000000000000th of your tax dollar. As I said before, such an insignificant amount that it's a waste of time to even consider.

There are disabled people who don't receive enough (or nothing at all) who actually need it. So yes, I do care.
 
I'm pretty sure these people deserve just as much help as anyone. Understanding and import doesn't mean we break out the bone saws.

Anyone with mental illness is deserving of help and compassion. I can certainly understand that they hurt, and that their lives are miserable. I just think this seems like a condition that should be corrected rather than enabled.
 
Trans people have something in their brain that we can fix, assist or change (I'm not trying to be offensive with these terms, I actually don't know what term is better to use) to help them feel better in whatever body they can be in. "Trans-abled" people simply need mental help to fix up before they hurt themselves.

I'm usually not one to say this, in fact I usually recoil at it when it's said, but what is too far with this? Transabled, I don't want to walk, break my spine so I am a quadriplegic, I feel this is my natural state!! Transgendered individuals at least you can completely understand it's social constructs and how we live our lives, I mean who can really say "I had my awakening that I believed I didn't want my arms on my twelfth birthday".
Please at least make a token effort to understand some of the disorders at play here before making comments like that. There is a conversation to be had here about whether it's ethical to use resources to help ease these people's pain, but "they just need a shrink" doesn't help.

Paul McGeoch of the Brain and Perceptual Process Laboratory at UCSD and his colleagues therefore postulated that the desire to have an otherwise healthy limb amputated occurs as a result of abnormal activity in the right superior parietal lobule, and recruited four male BIID sufferers (or apotemnophiles) from internet support groups to test their hypothesis. Three of these expressed a desire to have their left leg amputated, while the fourth wanted both legs removed. For their study, the researchers simply tapped the participants’ feet with a bundle of fibre-optic filaments, and at the same time, recorded the electrical activity of their brains using magnetoencephalography (MEG). Their responses to the tactile stimulation were compared to those of four controls.

In all four controls, tapping either foot caused an almost instantaneous activation of the right SPL. In the three apotemnophiles who wanted one leg amputated, tapping the unaffected foot evoked a response in the right SPL, but tapping the affected one did not, and in the fourth apotemnophile, who sought amputation of both legs, neither foot evoked a response. These findings confirm the researchers’ hypothesis that BIID arises as a result of abnormal function in the right parietal lobe. The brain does not register the limb as a part of the body, and contains no representation of it, so it is not incorporated into the body image. As a result, the apotemnophile has no sense of ownership over the limb, and feels strongly that it does not “belong” to him. It feels extraneous or redundant, so he wishes to have it removed.
http://scienceblogs.com/neurophilosophy/2009/03/27/voluntary-amputation-extra-phantom-limbs/
 
As someone born with a disability, who is already repelled by how many "normal" people waste their health and wellness, this idea just leaves me stunned.

I can't and won't ever support this, and though I try to show respect to any form of otherness I encounter, this just falls under bat-fuck-crazy.

If I could spare anyone else some of the stuff I have gone through, at the expense of myself, I always would, so to think people willingly want to be disabled... fuck 'em.
 
There are disabled people who don't receive enough (or nothing at all) who actually need it. So yes, I do care.

And pray tell me how raising a fuss about this is going to result in MORE funding and not less? Have you missed the way politicians use this sort of thing to attack social benefits, not expand them?
 
My limbs were a mistake, they are nothing but trash.
 
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