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The Body Has a Mind of Its Own
Written by Chloe on Wednesday, January 28, 2009
One of my closest friends is a psychotherapist. She is on the psychology faculty at a university, is a yoga instructor, and is trained in martial arts. As one might imagine from all that she has a keen interest in the connection between mind and body. There are no secrets between us. I trust her with everything, and she seems to be quite entertained by my BIID. She recently lent me a book she was reading, the title of which is the title of this post.
As soon as I saw that the foreword was written by V.S. Ramachandran (who has done research on BIID), I had a good feeling about the book. The authors are science writers, Sandra Blakeslee and Matthew Blakeslee. The book was published in 2007.
One of the chapters is titled "Broken Body Maps". That’s us, folks! I was pleased to see two pages devoted to BIID. Of course I would like to see more, but there’s a whole variety of interesting stuff in this book. Two of the sentences regarding BIID struck me: "Called body integrity identity disorder, the condition does not respond to any kind of psychological intervention, psychiatric treatment, or drug therapy". The other sentence comes at the end of a discussion on possible causes, including various psychological explanations: "A much more plausible explanation lies in some sort of miswiring within the brain’s parietal circuits and primary body maps". It is nice to see this kind of stuff reaching a general audience. My criticism is that it was all about amputations, without any hint that there could be other manifestations. Oh well.
Immediately following the BIID section there was a section called "Supernumerary Limbs". This is where the brain of a person with a "normal" body tells them that they have an extra limb. The case of a woman was elaborated. She felt that she had three arms, specifically two left arms. I found it very interesting to read about a variety of body map miswirings. It made me feel that we, with BIID, are not alone. There are others; like us, yet not like us.
Another part of the book was about how objects that are more or less attached to us become wired into the brain’s body map. Effectively they become incorporated into our self image; part of us. An example is prosthetics for amputees. This does not happen for all amputees, but it does for some. The other day I was listening to the classical music station on the way into work. There were some biographical comments about a famous violinist. Another musician had said of him "His violin belonged to his body no less than his arms and legs". This kind of thing becomes literally true as far as the brain is concerned. I have heard of rock guitarists who sleep with their guitars. The guitar has become so much a part of them that they don’t feel whole without it. My only experience of this is in regard to wheels. I am far from being a full time wheelchair user. However, it is apparently enough that when I am in a chair (without wheels) I frequently reach for the non-existent wheels in order to go somewhere. My brain tells me that I have wheels when I am sitting down.
I loved reading this book. It made me feel more at ease about having BIID. It’s just one of the many interesting things that can happen to the way one’s body is mapped to the brain.
Tags: Amputations, BIID, Body Integrity Identity Disorder, Brain, Wheelchair
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3 Comments
Hi- Interesting…
I found that Oliver Sacks books- particularly ‘The Man who mistook his wife for a hat’ fascinating as regards strange body/ brain ‘wirings’ (not the technical term- I know!) Though a product of their times, and maybe sounding a little outdated today, they are very interesting books, and show some of the multitude of very strange things that can occur in the human mind! There is an interesting chapter on Phantom Limbs, and how they help to ‘animate’ a prosthetic.
Ana
x
Ana: I remember hearing about that book back in high school. Isn’t it interesting that with conditions that are even weirder than BIID, people still react more negatively and repulsively to BIID than most other conditions?
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1 On 28 January, 2009, Ronald said:
That’s interesting, a person who feels like they have and extra limb. Quite logical, and I would guess such a condition does not get the general reaction that wanting to loose a limb normally gets. if this is a manifestation of BIID perhaps the medical community will be more willing to legitimize us.
As far as objects becoming a natural extension of the body, I can see that with an amputee using an artificail limb, as it is a substitute for what was once there. A mobility device, nobody is ever born with one. I think the natural reaction to use them even when not needed is part of the desire we have.