Body integrity dysphoria: Inside the baffling physiological condition that makes some people want to amputate their healthy limbs

An Australian man suffering from a rare neurological condition has pleaded with a surgeon to amputate his healthy hand.

The Sydney man, a married father of two who does not want to be identified, suffers from body integrity dysphoria (BID) and feels like his hand does not belong to his body.

BID sees that someone intensely wants to remove a healthy part of their body, seemingly for no reason, and that there is no remedy other than amputation.

“My left hand doesn’t belong, it’s been that way all my life,” the father told The Project on Wednesday.

“Even the wind blowing in my hand keeps me from doing what I do… I forged notes from my mother to quit sports (at school) if I had to use my hand.”

The intense discomfort of his healthy hand once caused him to self-harm in an attempt to amputate it.

‘Self-harm has always been on my mind. “I took a knife and tried to cut the skin around my wrists,” he said.

“I only got halfway before the pain became too much.”

Although the disease is rare and not covered by the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS), the Sydney man’s case is not the first to be documented in Australia.

Doctor Chris Ryan said he first came across BID when Australian man Robert Vickers appeared on the ABC.

Mr Vickers told Australia how, from the age of ten, he knew his left leg did not belong with the rest of his body, especially below the knee.

When he was thirty, he first tried to irreparably damage his left leg by putting it in dry ice, but to his dismay, doctors were able to save the leg.

Mr Vickers was diagnosed as ‘psychotic’ and placed on a mental health plan.

It wasn’t until he was 41 and managed to destroy his left leg beyond repair, again with dry ice, that he felt healed.

Doctor Chris Ryan (above) treated Sydney man for body integrity dysphoria after learning he wanted to amputate his healthy hand

“I no longer felt like I was pretending,” he told the ABC.

‘All my life I had to pretend that everything was normal. Suddenly it was normal.’

Dr. Ryan has since treated ten cases of BID and was able to diagnose the neurological condition in the Sydney man.

“The striking thing is that they are all normal people, there is nothing unusual about them except that they really feel like they need an amputation,” Dr. Ryan said of his BID patients.

The Sydney man said BID has made him feel ‘disabled’ all his life because he cannot use his hand.

Although he cannot now receive BID financial support, an amputation means he could qualify for NDIS payments.

About three years ago, his case was brought before the ethics board of Dr.’s hospital. Ryan and was approved for an amputation until Covid struck.

Intense lockdowns in Sydney saw all non-essential operations cancelled.

Australian man Robert Vickers (above) famously suffered from BIID and twice used dry ice to irreparably damage his leg so doctors were forced to amputate it

In the time that has passed, the surgeon who was willing to perform the amputation has retired, meaning the man’s only option is to spend thousands of dollars to have the surgery privately.

“I would appreciate if a surgeon or hospital in the Sydney area could come forward and possibly offer me their services,” he said.

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