A reflective suggestion for a small experiment on Body Integrity Dysphoria (BID) – inspired by current studies and personal lived experience –
Introduction What if you could no longer feel the body part that feels foreign or not truly yours for a while? This idea stems from the desire to better understand the strange feeling in BID – the perception that an arm or a leg does not belong to your own body. Perhaps this could open new ways to deal with BID – not just medically, but also on an emotional level.
Why even consider this thought ? Studies show that in BID, not only is the body image altered, but the feeling for one’s own body is processed differently. Especially touch at the “wrong” spot can feel unpleasant or even repulsive. That means: it’s not just about what you see – but above all about what and how you feel.
The core idea What happens when the affected body part is temporarily “quieted” – meaning no touch, no feeling at all? For example, through local anesthesia for two or three hours. Would that be a relief? Could you perhaps feel noticeably better during that time – or even sense what is actually missing?
Of course, this wouldn’t be a solution. But perhaps a small, careful step toward coming closer to your own experience.
How could this look in practice?
Who ? People with BID – for example, someone who wishes to no longer have a certain leg. Or who wishes to be paralyzed. What ? A temporary numbing of this body part – under medical supervision. Comparison ? Other participants would receive no treatment or undergo a placebo treatment. Why ? To observe how the feeling toward the body changes. And whether more inner calm emerges.
What would be observed ? You could speak with participants – for example, about how the numbed time felt. At the same time, body responses could be measured: heart rate, skin responses, or brain activity. This could show whether something truly shifts inside – without illusion. In my estimation, considerably more participants could be found for this than for other approaches.
Why do this at all ? Maybe BID is not just about the outer image of the body – but about a deep emotional contradiction. If you turn off the sensation that feels unnecessary, that might help make the inner conflict more tangible or visible. Not as a permanent solution – but as a moment of clarity. Like a mistuned instrument that suddenly stops resonating.
A thought on ethics The goal is not necessarily to justify an operation. Nor is it about working with “tricks.” Rather, it’s about better understanding what your own feeling does with the (perceived false) body – and how you might carry it a little better or interpret it for yourself. Because: those who feel, are right.
Final thought I am not writing this as a researcher or professional – but as someone who has lived with BID since childhood. And who has spent many, many years trying to better understand their individual, daily experience.
Maybe it’s all just a thought, a hope, or a possibility for self-understanding – But it’s a thought I wanted to share.
That is an interesting theory. Many do have a sensation in the affected limb. Some feel pain, some feel a tingling. Maybe that is your brain trying to do as you suggest. I think, though, BID is more than just a feeling, that it is also the look of, say, having a stump. One would also like to have a stump that is well-formed, nicely rounded, and bullet-shaped, let's say. One would like to look down and see that there is nothing there anymore. They would say yes, this is how I am supposed to be. I made it. So that is important too. Feeling it is missing might be good to try though. Might give one a sense of what it might be like to be an amputee.
Interesting idea – the notion that temporarily silencing bodily perception might offer some emotional or cognitive relief is compelling. I wonder if something like this has ever been attempted clinically or experimentally.
It would be great to hear what a medical professional has to say. I’m also curious whether Laura Lalee’s research touches on anything related. We just published her interview as part of our Expert Interview series: here
Would love to keep this thread going – thanks for sharing.
@leandro I have not finished Laura Lalee's full post, but you are not going to find any therapy that will get people to not want what they need. It is not going to work any more than therapy for a GD person to not want to change their gender. Not will it work any more than conversion therapy, pray the Gay away would work. BID is part of a person. The intensity of the dysphoria goes up and down in what we call The Wave. All are Neurodivergent problems. It is about how one's brain is wired. People need what they need as crazy as it might seem, and the ones who achieve their needs are very happy and accept the challenges of being disabled.
Speaking for myself, therapy helped in some aspects but not BID itself.Â
Therapeutic amputation is where studies have to go. Start cherry picking those who the experts are interested in. It’s the only way to get accurate information about this form of treatment. Continually waiting for some miracle cure or psychological procedure is unethical for those who have been through the “process”. As Leandro put it, it’s cruel to continue waiting for something that is yet to be discovered when this is so painful for us affected to live with.Â
