(October 3, 2015 at 10:27 pm)Rev. Rye Wrote: 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.
