Captain, I'm sorry to contradict you, but your understanding is innacurate. BIID sufferers want to get to one point, and one point only. We want to align our psyche with our bodies. Unfortunately, the psyche isn't responding to any methods, we are therefore left with changing the body. It is not a question of identifying with an outside group, it is a question of internal identity and body-image.
Firstly, welcome to the forum. Your input is helpful in this issue. As a treating psychotherapist I have not worked with anyone with BIID, but I have read much of the research, including visiting your site, previously.
From what I understand, what you say above is only part of the picture. There is also a component of envy of the disabled and desire to identify with someone they feel like. From your website, one of the symptoms that will, probably, be included as diagnostic criteria for BIID in the DSM-V:
A feeling of intense jealousy at the sight of someone who has the impairment required.
My comment was showing a differential between GID and BIID. GID sufferers do not have a similar symptom.
Yeah, but... The only reason that there is no such data is because the research hasn't been done. I'm not saying that there necessarily *is* genetic component, but I'm saying you can't argue that there is NOT. We simply do not have the data to state categorically one way or the other.
For what it's worth, Dr. V.S.Ramachandran (a world reknown neurologist) and Dr. P. McGeoch at the University of San Diego in California have uncovered incongruities in the MRI brain scan of several individuals with BIID that they studied. The research has not been released yet that I am aware of, but having participated in the study myself, I know that they've found something.
That is certainly interesting to know.
This statement shows a misunderstanding both of BIID and of the experience of living with a disability. BIID sufferers want to be whole, and the only way to accomplish that at this point is by removing limbs, doing spinal cord transections, etc. We are not after "illness", nor even "disability". We are after having an impairment. If society makes that impairment disabling, then, we have to put up with that, but becoming "disabled" is not the goal. I made the previous statement assuming that you are aware of the differences between social models and medical models of disabilities. If not, a primer can be found on my site:
Impairment vs. Disability - BIID-Info.org
I am aware of the difference, and misspoke. Impaired is the accurate word. Penned the post after an insomniatic night. Thank you.
I'm not sure what you're trying to say here... What we gain is a feeling of wholeness, of rightness. When it comes to interacting with other people, we can do it from a position of internal and emotional strength.
A BIID sufferer gains the experience of being impaired, understanding what being impaired is, and, feeling whole because of being impaired. A GID already is the gender that SRT will accomplish for them. A BIID sufferer is not impaired prior to any surgery.
Well, not really. We do not seek body alteration. We seek to align our psyche with our body. The fact that the only way to currently do this involves body alteration is nearly irrelevant.
You're mixing and matching stuff here Captain, don't confuse the issue. People who have OCD don't do the things they do because of a need for acceptance.
That's not completely true. Unconscious motivations and anxieties that create rituals and OCD can, certainly be caused by a need/desire for acceptance. This could be the "trigger" point or the deep motivation, but is often lost through years of ritualistic behavior. It's like Pavlov's Dog. If the behavior is repeated for a long enough time, the trigger is often so buried that it is no longer the direct trigger.
Self-injurers are repeaters of actions.
There is
far more to self-injury then that. The repetitive nature of self injury is a minor component. Self-injurers, self-harm for several reasons: mood modulation, control, suicide prevention, affective creation, and/or a response to self-loathing. Often, similar to OCD, if the behavior continues, a Pavlovian reaction will occur; the trigger may be unconscious or unknown, but the behavior will occur, anyway. Cessation of the behavior, reproduces the triggering feelings, often with intensity, which can dislodge the triggers and generate understanding of them. +30% of my practice is made up of self-injurers, and I give workshops on the issue, so I can, certainly provide more information on it if you'd like.
Those of us with BIID who have managed to acquire the impairment they needed saw their anguish and need gone overnight. They state, almost universally that the only thing they regret is to not have done it sooner.
I hear this. My only issue with it is that it still differs from GID in the sense that it is a created body alteration, whereas GID matches brain biology to body structure. I have a hard time understanding how someone can be born with brain/neuro biology that defines them as impaired. We know that gender biology is rooted in several core biological constructs. Impairment is not.
I'll give you that BIID might *look* like other conditions, such as BDD (anorexia for example), but there are some quite distinct differences.
I would agree with this.
As stated earlier, there is evidence of neurological changes in the brain of people who have BIID. There is also changes in skin conductivity above the required level of amputation/injury and below it - something that apparently can't be faked...
This is interesting. Are these changes noted before or after an impairment occurs?
That is, indeed, one of the strongest arguments here "against" BIID. There is no "natural biological state of being an amputee or paraplegic". But then, there are many congenital conditions that have people born paralysed (CP, Spina Bifida), or amputees (technically not amputees, but missing limbs). It is not inconceivable that our brain's body map has something screwy, for whatever reason, that makes us see ourselves the way we do. The fact that "disability is not a natural state" (even if you buy that argument) doesn't make the condition any less real or disabling.
I can agree with all of this. Our own self-perception can be very confusing and, often does not match how other see us, or with the reality of our bodies.
And, in no way, am I diminishing the disabling effect of BIID.
Of course there is a political bend to the research into BIID. Researchers need to be funded, funders have political leanings. Doh! Doesn't mean that research is not appropriate.
I agree. I have read some questionable research, and have read some that seems quite valid. I suppose that is par for the course, especially with new research.
If you're serious about reading up on BIID, I invite you to spend some time on biid-info.org. If there are papers there that you can't get your hands on, or papers that have not yet been uploaded, please feel free to contact me directly and I'll pass them on to you.
I invite anyone who is genuinely interested in learning more about BIID to come by my blog,
transabled.org Blogging about BIID and read up there, and contact me by email
Contact transabled.org Blogging about BIID
I've been to the first site and several others. I saw a documentary that chronicled the disorder some time ago and it got me interested. I haven't done much research, though, and you have been quite informative.
Cheers
