Trans-FUCKING-everything

[Longhorn]

Well, to be fair, she actually is blind now, so she's not faking.

Quite frankly, though I have done some reading on this disorder, I still have yet to imagine exactly WHY someone would want to be blind. Granted, this is coming from a man who reads, watches movies, and uses the computer most of his waking hours, all of which require (at least for me, since I can't read Braille) heavy ocular input, but still.

Also, I'm reminded of Flannery O'Connor's Wise Blood; there's a preacher who claimed he would blind himself for Jesus (but didn't do it), but, eventually, Hazel Motes, his protege, eventually does blind himself for real for reasons that make little to no sense to the common man.

At any rate, WHY THE FUCK DOES THIS HAPPEN?

Our species is characteristic in that our offspring stays with the parents for a much longer time than other animals, even mammals. This is likely mostly because a huge portion of our development happens after birth, rather than all of it occurring in the womb.
Our brains continue to develop for a long time. We reach the ability to reason logically only at around 7-11, and the ability to perform abstract thinking at about 12 and up. Because the process of development is so long, multiple 'errors' can occur. That is where most of mental disorders come from - either a chemical imbalance, or a flaw in the building of the brain, or some sort of error in the process of different brain parts synchronizing, which is what happens during puberty and most of adolescence. The exact cause is, alas, unknown in this case.

Though if you're expecting a perfectly valid, logical reason for wanting to be blind, there isn't behind her actions. She can't control the desire.

[Longhorn]

I can understand if someone wants to end their life. There is no misery after you are dead. I can't understand why someone would choose to make their life more miserable.

The only thing that makes sense is that they want attention. Screw that.

Of course you can't understand what it's like to have that particular mental disorder, because you don't have that particular mental disorder.

There is no logic behind it. It's an oppressive urge to harm yourself likely caused by a neurological flaw of one sort or the other. How hard is it to understand that she has no control over this desire?

[I_am_not_mafia]

Quite frankly, though I have done some reading on this disorder, I still have yet to imagine exactly WHY someone would want to be blind.

I can sort of imagine it.

Sensory signals from her eyes may have felt extremely intrusive. Personally I'm extremely sensitive to sensory input and if I am in a busy street with very a multitude of very loud noises, bright lights and lots of sensory information then I find it extremely stressful. I'm also quite tactile defensive. I can't wear wool for example because I find it too rough. Tactile defensiveness is often a symptom of people on the autistic spectrum. Not that I am autistic but my father and uncle have undiagnosed aspergers and I can see it running in the family.

As for the limbs, imagine having something growing out of you which you were always extremely aware of. Imagine the beginnings of a third leg from your thigh or a second nose from your forehead. Or even a very large benign lump on your face. It's still a part of your body.

Or take Ranulph Fiennes the famous explorer who does not suffer from BIID. He had reason to cut off his finger tips.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ranulph_Fiennes

In 2000 he attempted to walk solo and unsupported to the North Pole. The expedition failed when his sleds fell through weak ice and Fiennes was forced to pull them out by hand. He sustained severe frostbite to the tips of all the fingers on his left hand, forcing him to abandon the attempt. On returning home, his surgeon insisted the necrotic fingertips be retained for several months before amputation, to allow regrowth of the remaining healthy tissue. Impatient at the pain the dying fingertips caused, Fiennes cut them off himself with a fretsaw,[3] just above where the blood and the soreness was.[2][4]

[KUSA]

The stupid woman could have just worn a couple of eye patches.

[Losty]

The stupid woman could have just worn a couple of eye patches.

You already told us you're incapable of understanding...we get it.

[Edwardo Piet]

Unfeeling person is unfeeling.

[Longhorn]

The stupid woman could have just worn a couple of eye patches.

Oh hai.

[Edwardo Piet]

KUSA has feelings, I wish I could relate to them - I guess I just can't understand the guy, should I assume he's a stupid person?

[KUSA]

KUSA has feelings, I wish I could relate to them - I guess I just can't understand the guy, should I assume he's a stupid person?

You can assume what you want. Perhaps my disability is to not be able to understand someone that chemically burns their eyes out. Where is your sympathy for me? Where is my disability check?

[Edwardo Piet]

Last I checked it wasn't a disability.

I do sympathize, I feel sorry for you that you lack the empathy that - *holds hand to heart smugly* - I, myself, have.

Poor unfeeling little sausage.