Jillio,
You are working from many assumptions that are just that. Preconcieved notions. This is not bad per se, but it is also fairly representative of the uphill battle people with BIID have to fight.
There are no real studies to back me up on this, though it has been mentionned in several studies (which you can find listed on
Main Page - BIID-Info.org if you can be bothered). Treating people with BIID with OCD therapies does NOT work. This is of course based on anecdotal evidence, experience gathered from a number of individuals with BIID. There's also cognitive behavioural therapy that's been tried on many people with BIID, and to a person, they all report that the CBT has helped them in many ways, but has left the BIID completely untouched. I find your claim that CBT is not effective just because we don't want to change quite offensive, really. I would MUCH rather not suffer from BIID.
You're right, BIID isn't in the DSM. As Robin and Claire said, this is likely to change. The fact that a condition is not currently in the DSM does not mean that it does not exist, and does not mean you can explain the condition by trying to pigeonholing it into currently listed conditions in the DSM.
My transsexual friends will forgive me here, but... Pretending and eventually surgery are actually the recommended treatment options for Gender Identity Disorder. If you argue that GID is a mental illness (as shown by the fact it's in the DSM), then your argument doesn't stand. If you say that GID isn't a mental illness, then, BIID is also not a mental illness, as both conditions are so closely related (again, according to Dr. Michael First, it's not just me saying this, but a recognised expert in the field of psychiatry. Actually, several experts in that field).
BIID is not quite the same as Body Dysmorphic Disorder either. A major difference here is that in BDD, people generally perceive their attribute as being wrong, when in fact it's not, it's just a question of erroneous perception from the BDD sufferer (obviously grossly generalised). In BIID, we are fully aware that our limbs and body are perfectly normal, they just don't fit in with our body image.
Are they? Are they really? It's interesting you say that. There has actually been a fair bit of writing on the topic of "ethics" as it relates to BIID. Bain & Levy (again, found on
Main Page - BIID-Info.org) suggest that it is actually inethical to let people with BIID suffer.
The way *I* see it, it's a bit like chopping a leg off for someone who has cancer. On the face of it, it's doing damage to the body to remove the limb, but it's in fact saving the patient's life. BIID is like a cancer, it eats us up inside. And while the only evidence that surgery works is anecdotal, that evidence is in fact pretty solid. It is not our fault that researchers have opted NOT to actually study those invididuals who have successfully achieved their desired body image.
And I find it extremely difficult to accept that so many people are so deadset against us becoming what we need to be. Granted, for many people with BIID, they have no real clue of what it's like to have such an impairment. But then again, for many of us, we do. I have lived well over a decade as a full time wheelchair user. I was married to a paraplegic woman who knew about me (before you ask, we didn't split up, she died). I worked with and for people with disabilities. oh, abd BTW, I sign, too, not because I want/need to be deaf, but because many of my friends are. I'm FULLY aware of what it is I'm after, as aware as anyone without an SCI can be, and probably better aware than many people in the medical field.
What is it about disabilities and impairments that society fights so hard to prevent? Isn't such denial of surgery as a treatment option a way of saying "disabilities are negative"?? But I digress.
As for the medical professionals who recognise the condition but have no treatment option to offer... The majority of medical professionals are completely out of their depth with BIID. Then there have been those who tried different treatments, but nothing's worked. The conclusion is: the only form of treatment that we know for a fact works is surgery. But we get denied that. So since nothing works but one thing, and that one thing isn't being offered, the medicos have nothing to offer.
I've tried many things to "get rid" of BIID. I've been on a variety of drugs (a list too long and boring to list here), with no result. I've been in therapy for years, and yes, I do have a real desire to understand where my "booboo" comes from, but understanding doesn't heal, doesn't solve. I've tried a variety of therapy styles. NOTHING WORKS.
So please, Jillio, check your professional assumptions at the door and make your sweeping statements once you're better informed, and keep an open mind about it. Because until then, there's no point continuing talking. It's like having a discussion with a brick wall otherwise.