Imagine waking up every day with the feeling that part of your body does not belong to you. Not because it is damaged, but because it works too well.
That is what some people with body integrity dysphoria experience, a condition included by the World Health Organization in its disease classification, ICD-11. Some identify with the term “transabled”: they feel a persistent desire to have a physical disability, even though their bodies function perfectly normally. In some cases, they want an amputation; in others, to lose their sight or acquire another impairment.
Science is still investigating, but there is not yet a definitive explanation for its causes or a treatment accepted by everyone. The topic was covered in a 2015 report by National Post and remains under study today. Specialists warn that this desire can cause immense suffering, and that trying to cause a disability can have serious and irreversible consequences. How can something like this be understood from the outside?
