Apotemnophilia

Prevention Suggestions

There is no specific way to prevent it. People are normally born with this distorted image of their body

Treatment

Many people simply learn to accept their desire and manage to achieve gratification in an appropriate manner. Such as acting like they have a disability.

If the individual does seek treatment they have several options.

• Cognitive behavioral therapy
• Group therapy, similar to Alcoholics Anonymous
• Hypnosis
• Medications- Antidepressants, phenothiazine (mood stabilizers) (4)

Causes

Common warning signs

Most doctors and psychologists believe that people with apotemnophilia are born with it. Many people with it say that their desire to be an amputee became stronger after seeing an amputee at a very young age. It added to the "ideal" body image in their head.(2)

A majority of people who suffer from this disease will seek someone to amputate a specific limb, or limbs, to satisfy their desire. Some may self harm themselves so an emergency amputation is needed or they become deaf and or blind

• Showing interest in amputees, the deaf, the blind or paralyzed
• Getting sexual enjoyment from the idea of becoming or being an amputee, blind, or deaf (3)

Apotemnophilia

Body Integrity Identity Disorder

Characterized by the intense and long-standing desire for the amputation of a specific limb, being blind or deaf, or the desire to be paralyzed.

Science behind it

Works cited

Statistics

54 people with apotemnophilia, ages 18-76, were surveyed and indicated that the main reasoning behind their desire was to feel complete or to feel satisfied inside

• 79% were males
• 30% desired amputation
• 44% wished to be disabled in some other way
• 27% say their preferred body part changed overtime (5)

Facts

Apotemnophilia is caused by dysfunction of the right parietal lobe leading to a distorted body image and a desire for an amputation of one or more limbs. (1)

Fcats

• People with apotemnophilia can develop an erotic attraction to the desire or idea of being an amputee
• It develops at a young age
• Suffers often feel an invisible line on their desired limb of amputation. Which can cause pain and discomfort

Myths

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• 1. cbc.ucsd.edu/pdf/apotem.pdf
• 2. https://www.psych2go.net/apotemnophilia/
• 3. www.rightdiagnosis.com/a/ampotemnophilia/symptoms.htm
• 4. www.rightdiagnosis.com/a/ampotemnophilia/symptoms.htm
• 5.https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3326051/

• People who have this are crazy
• They're just doing it for attention
• Its an easy thing to cope with

How to help

There's no specific way to help someone with apotemnophilia. If you know someone with this disease the best way to help is to protect them from causing harm to themselves to feed their desire

Apotemnophilia

By:Maya Swanston Per.3