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Cure vs. Treatment - Protocol
Written by Sean on Sunday, September 10, 2006
First, I should point out that I don’t think that transabled folks should be "cured" of their Body Identity Integrity Disorder (BIID). In and of itself, as unusual as it is, I am not distressed because I am transabled, but because I cannot achieve the paralysis I believe I should have. So this post isn’t about curing transabled folks, as much as offering treatment options for those who desire it.
So what do I mean by treatment?
I mean any device(s), procedure(s) or action(s) that assist someone who is transabled in feeling better. I don’t believe that the optimal result of treatment would be the eradication of the transabled feelings, but I do not reject that possibility.
Self-treatment as opposed to medically accepted treatment
At the moment, most treatment courses must be self-administered as there are no medically recognised or accepted treatment protocols. Ideally the medical community, both medical doctors and psychotherapists, would be able to follow an established set of options, and people who have BIID would be able to be handled appropriately by the medical community (as opposed to the repeated anecdotal evidence we have of transabled people being ignored, abused, mistreated, and refused treatment).
Relationship to the gender community
It is no secret that I believe there are many similarities between transabled and transgendered folks. As such, I draw many parralels in a suggested treatment course.
Relationship to depression
In treating transability, it is important to acknowledge that many transabled individuals also have to deal with depression, and that treating transability does not in and of itself remove depression, nor that handling depression removes BIID. That said, it is usually the case that when depression and BIID are both present in an individual, they aggravate one another. Depression must be addressed in the course of treating BIID.
Treatment protocol
In looking at treatment, there are several main "tools" or steps that may be effective. A combination of each "tool" may have successful result for different people to different degree. Some of the tools may have no effect at all. Some other may raise other unrelated issues. Each step may be followed/used in any order desired, except for surgery, which always should be a last resort.
- Medication
- Psychotherapy
- "Pretending" (full or part time)
- Surgery
Medication
While I have had no success in using medication to mitigate BIID, it is possible that some other people would have success. Medication may also be successful in reducing the effect of depression on transability, and as such could prove useful in focusing an individual on the issues of transability.
Psychotherapy
Psychotherapy is important for the individual to gain a better understanding of themselves. It is not unusual for transgendered individuals to embark upon therapy with the goal of undergoing sex reassignment surgery only to discover that they don’t really believe this is the option for them. I have met many transabled individuals whom I think would discover that an actual impairment is not the answer for them, and this could be found during therapy.
I also know of someone who has succesfully managed her transability just through therapy, and went from needing to be a DAK to being quite happy being AB and not have a disability.
Pretending
I use the word "pretending" rather losely here. Perhaps the concept of "real life test" would be more appropriate. Using a wheelchair or blindsimming may be a good outlet to release frustrations or to feel better, and as such, can be a valuable technique. Some people report that using a wheelchair full time while not being disabled evokes greater frustration as they feel they can almost touch "it", yet it is always just out of reach. Others report that they feel much better when wheeling, pretending to be an amputee or blindsimming.
It is my opinion that before going for surgery, someone should experience disability as near as possible through long term "pretending". While it is not possible to fully know what it will be like, it gives a greater insight than would otherwise be possible, and I think many people would have a change of heart.
It is also possible that people would decide that this would be enough for them, that they don’t need to go for surgery in the end. This also happens regularly in the gender community, where people end up living full time in their gender "of choice" without actually going for SRS.
This is a difficulty for those who wish to be amputees. Obviously, it is easier to sit in a wheelchair and be perceived as a paraplegic or put opaque contact lenses and go out blind than it is to hide a limb. There might be options to create restrictive braces that may simulate a mobility impairment. This wouldn’t be anywhere near the real thing, but might be an option.
Surgery
Finally, the option of surgery. I don’t believe that surgery is the answer for everyone, but certainly for some. And because it is so irreversible, the decision to do surgery must be arrived at after careful (and guided) consideration.
Successful result?
How is success measured? As I already said, I don’t think that the eradication of the transabled feeling should be the benchmark, but this may be success for some people. To me, success would come when the individual is finally at peace with themselves and their feelings as it relates to transability. They may still feel depression to some level, but transability would be kept at bay, or "resolved".
Once transabled, always transabled.
I firmly believe that one remains transabled even once they have resolved the issues in whichever manner that worked for them, whether it’s therapy, surgery, or full-time pretending. I think the transabled feelings don’t leave you, they just leave you in peace. Yes, you may have undergone surgery and now be an amputee, but you still have BIID.
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7 Comments
2 On 10 September, 2006, Sean said:
Cost is most definitely something of a problem. But even if such costs aren’t picked up by insurance, at least it would be an option. If you tell me it would be $40,000 for me to have surgery, even if I don’t have it, at least I can save towards it.
Again, relating things to the gender community, some insurance companies pick up cost of hormone/srs, some don’t, but everyone knows they have that option to work towards.
Sean,
I have grown to deeply respect your out look and your opinions. I\’ll never forget the first time I found this website and saw the word \”transabled\”. I think the floor actually shook and lights became brighter. It was like \”yes, yes, yes, that\’s it\” The perfect word to describe us.
I just want to say to this article….I believe that this cannot be cured. It can not be cured anymore than someone can be cured for having white skin or red hair. It is not about being cured, it is about being who we are, how we were made. Before I found all of you out there, I thought something was wrong with me….I thought I had this deep dark secret that I could never ever share with anyone, I know these feelings were the cause of my total lack of self-esteem when I was younger….I could look in the mirror and see a pretty girl with a nice body….but I could not look her in the eyes….these feelings inside would build and build until you have to do some kind of pretending just so you don\’t explode, but my God the guilt I felt afterwards. I just knew that there was a glitch somewhere in my makeup. Somewhere along the line I learned a little about sexual fantasies and fetishes….I started thinkin that maybe that is all this is, but I knew it was more, this was a need. It has been about 4 years now since I first decided to take the plunge, find out how to erase the history from my computer and start searching. I know each and every one of you knows the feeling of elation and relief I felt when I saw that I was not alone. There were only a few sites then and most were on amputees, but they were there…I am so happy with the way we have grown, online at least if not yet mainstream. The one thing that I know now with absolute certainty is that we were all born this way….gays, lesbians, transgendered, transabled. It is there, it has always been there and it is not going away. We may need help dealing with it or accomplishing it, but it is there to stay.
That said, I am going to take it one step further, and this is where I may get into trouble….but not only did I think I was a freak for needing to sit in a wheelchair, but I also am attracted to blind men, and have even done some blind pretending myself, although, I know that was done out of curiousity and not need. I believe that these \”devotee\” feelings go hand in hand with being \”transabled\” I have encountered many people that were just one or the other, but alot that were both. These feelings are just there as well, they are part of our programming and can also not be cured. One thing that I have struggled with immensely is that all of the philia\’s are the same way. They are there, they are not going anywhere…some of them are very very bad…but I have to apply the same rules to all. People cannot be cured of pedophilia any more than they could be cured of amaurophilia, and as much as I don\’t like to be put in the same category, I can only say that we need to have a harmless and harmful category for the philia\’s. I guess we could take this information of knowing that this can\’t be cured into account when we think about releasing \”reformed pedophiles\” CANT BE DONE There is no reform…..there is no cure….it is what it is. Here is where I struggle as a mom, as a christian and as a amaurophile, these people are like us. They might be totally normal people except for this urge they can\’t shake. I would be willing to bet that 95% of us are just normal everyday people with normal everyday problems and not monsters….some may percieve us that way even, but we aren\’t….what about those others?? Now that is some difficult stuff to think about.
4 On 17 September, 2006, Sean said:
Hello Alyndra, thanks for taking the time to share your thoughts :)
First, I agree, this cannot be cured. It’s part of who we are. Doesn’t mean it can’t be treated. This is why I’m discussing treatment options. Not to cure, but to help dealing with it. As you know, being transabled affects different people differently, but a majority of us are unhappy.
Second, I must disagree with you on devotee and wannabe going hand in hand. Yes, they often occur in the same people and have some degree of relationship (in that it focuses on disabilities), but I think it’s a mistake to say they go hand in hand. It would be a little bit like thinking that HIV/AIDS and gay guys go hand in hand. It’s not because you have HIV that you’re gay, nor because you’re gay you’ll automatically get aids. Same thing for wannabes. You may or may not be a devotee as well, but one doesn’t automatically mean you’ll be the other as well.
Finally, while I understand your comparison to paedophilia, I think it’s a very dangerous analogy. The problem is that a majority of us who understand the issues behind being transabled and/or devotee can see the single most biggest difference: We are not dangerous to others. But for others who aren’t transabled, and don’t know about devs and our world, this comparison is entirely too easy, and as it is wrong, it isn’t something I tend to suggest.
It’s one of the reasons I don’t like to think of this in terms of a “philia”, which gives the idea of *deviance*. There may be devs who are sexually deviant, but I don’t think that in and of itself devs are perverts. And there may be some wannabes who get turned on at the idea of being an amputee, blind or paralysed, but that’s not the majority of the people I have contact with (incidentally, those wannabes who are sexually turned on at the idea of being disabled have tended to be, in my experience, individuals who were also devotees).
Observations:
Medication/Psychotherapy assuming the medical personnel have an understanding of BIID symptoms and contraindications. Too many people out there have been assumed psychotic or schizophrenic over BIID.
Pretending: Dunno if the world is ready for this yet. If people decide they DON’T want it, will the pretending episode mark them for life as outcasts. I guess it already does for GID people. Anyone have any experience? Until the world accepts people with BIID, and THEN accepts they could get it wrong and want to back out, could see reasons to make a good cover story for why one was in the chair/blind/deaf/limb restricted.
Pretending the difficulty of being an amputee would be relatively easy with a plaster cast. if anything it’s more difficult to get around with a stiff, straight leg than with a stump or a decent prosthetic. Would certainly make the ‘pretender’ appreciate what being on crutches is really like. And if they don’t like it, the cast comes off, in a ‘plausibly deniable’ way. All that assumed leg amputee, I’m sure similar can be done for arm amp.
Hi Sean,
could you please tell us more about the person you mentioned in this sentence of yours:
“The author also knows of someone who has succesfully managed her transability just through therapy, and went from needing to be a DAK to being quite happy being AB and not have a disability.”
How did she do it? What kind of therapy? How is she now?
Thank you, best wishes
Phil
7 On 14 October, 2007, Sean said:
Phil, I can’t get you much more info than that. I’ve lost touch with her several years ago, and she seems to be very busy indeed. I suspect that she’s just keeping so busy she doesn’t have time to think about it, but that might just be the cynical part of me speaking.
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1 On 10 September, 2006, Ramona said:
This sounds like somewhere to start. I wonder though what the cost of such treatment might be and if medical insurance would cover it. If not the costs involved might be enough to restrict some people from going this route.