A young Quebec man has had two healthy fingers surgically removed reportedly as a result of a rare condition that produces an intense desire to amputate a healthy body part, such as an arm or a leg, or in this case, fingers.
The Canadian National Post reported that the man, 20, had experienced “incessant”, intrusive thoughts since childhood about his left hand’s fourth and fifth fingers. These included the feeling that they weren’t his, that they didn’t belong to his body and nightmares in which his fingers were burning or rotting.
Prior to securing surgery, the young man had become so desperate that he was considering the construction of a miniature guillotine to remove the hated digits himself.
However, his plans were put on ice when a surgeon at a local hospital agreed to amputate his fingers, in what is the first known case of “digits amputation” for the man’s condition, Body Integrity Dysphoria (BID).
Attempts at non-invasive treatment, including antidepressants and various forms of therapy, did nothing but increase the ambidextrous 20 year old’s distress.
Dr Nadia Nadeau of the department of psychiatry at Université Laval wrote in the journal Clinical Case Reports prior to the surgery that he “hides his fingers, keeps them flexed, leading to impaired dexterity, localized pain, irritability and anger”.
“He had contemplated asking a friend to watch over him and be prepared to call emergency services in case his attempt [at amputation] led to a need for resuscitation,” Dr Nadeau wrote.
After he underwent the surgery, Dr Nadeau shared that the young man’s nightmares and distress had ceased.
This is not the first time an amputation has been carried out as part of treatment for BID. In the 1990s, a surgeon in Scotland amputated one leg above the knee each for two men who had been turned away by other doctors but said they had a “desperate” need to be amputees.
Amid the ensuing scandal the amputations caused, Dr Robert Smith told a press conference that he had “no doubt” that he had done the correct thing for his patients.
In 2008, an Australian man stuck his right leg in a bucket of dry ice for six hours, which damaged the limb so badly it required amputation below the knee. Wired reported that the man, Robert Vickers, described experiencing “absolute ecstasy” when he woke up in hospital without his leg, which he had “hated” since childhood.
The similarity between BID and gender dysphoria has been observed by many, with the young Quebec man himself relating his condition to gender dysphoria following research.
Perhaps it’s a joke – he gave them the two fingers, and the Scotsmen in the story hadn’t a leg to stand on!!
👏🏻
Canada seems to be a case of lunatics in charge of the asylum. In my Catholic education of half a century ago, we were told about the sanctity of the body, and of life. A golden age compared to today’s money making madness.
And they used to call them the bad old days. Just imagine if we had a working crystal ball back then.
A right eejit
The logical progression for a medical industry that pathologised puberty into ‘gender dysphoria’,
and all the horror that has followed from it
And for a country that ‘cures’ depression with lethal injection
This has given me a brilliant idea! I can get my spare tyre and double chin removed as it’s causing me great distress to carry them around. Just give me that form and I’ll sign on the dotted line. Sorted. And for free I presume? Thanks a million.
Canada is gone full on white genocide. This song was for children, notice the lack of diversity. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=kaQn2jSd_Tc
Poor fellow. I read some time ago about a man who was so depressed he tried to commit suicide by hanging himself. He survived but the attempt caused him to be paralysed from the neck down. Now he lives in a care home. I bet he would give anything to be back in his previous life.
That really is beyond tragic. The poor man.
They should have removed his testicles as well to make sure he cannot reproduce.
It ought to be obvious by now that civilization is profoundly dysgenic, meaning it has isolated the human species from selection pressures normally present in the natural environment that result in ‘survival of the fittest.’
It’s sad that the healthcare system will accommodate a patient self destructive desires.
The healthcare professionals should be duty bound to ” do no harm” at the very least.
The healthcare in this case failed this man. Maybe they tried several forms of therapy but he is 20 !
Wild ideas occur to many a young man to do foolish things, and the rational adults ( nurses, doctors, surgeons, psychologists) should help and try to improve a patient’s condition.
Canada’s healthcare is certainly not an example to follow. Although I’m not holding the Irish “sickcare” service as a shiny light of hope either.