BIID (Body integrity identity disorder)
QUESTION: Masters I did a psychology paper on BIID and have a theory behind it but would love to know what you think. It’s when the mapping of a person’s body in their brain doesn’t match their physical body, like the opposite of phantom pain. They know it’s healthy but still feel like they would be more complete with an appendage or an ability like sight, gone. I feel they were an amputee in a past life and their energy in that area dispersed and is no longer in that area of their body so they feel it should not physically be there. ~Megan, USA
ANSWER: For those who may not be familiar with BIID, the condition can lead to people’s voluntarily having a body part amputated because they feel they would be better off without it. Or they might feel they should be blind, so they have their eyes removed.
Your supposition is right, but only in under twenty percent of the cases. All these souls are dealing with life lessons they chose, but few of the urges are continuations from a past life.
The past-life carryovers generally result from not completing a lesson surrounding a birth or the accidental loss of a body part – understanding why it happened; letting go of the anger, grief, and guilt; and learning not to lean on the condition to get what is wanted from others.
Examples of lessons not from past lives could be: an involvement with shaping self-image, a need to be a victim, an excuse for not being able to perform in a normal manner, a test of ingenuity, a desire to feel total dependence or lack of control, wanting to be different or distinctive, or even a feeling that the targeted limb is interfering with the progress of the body through its life cycle.
Most of these people become fanatically convinced they have no other choice than to rid themselves of this evil appendage. They amputate and then proudly display their “stump.” Sympathy is one of the sought-after reactions; they of course never disclose to sympathizers that there was nothing wrong with the missing part.
For many this desire is as strong as a physical addiction to nicotine, drugs, or food. It is a mental and emotional compulsion that blocks out all rational thoughts until it is acted upon. Most have no control over the intensity of the urge and can do nothing concrete to change their actions.