Apotemnophilia - Classifications

Classifications

Patients diagnosed with Apotemnophilia are sometimes classified as being patients of Body integrity identity disorder (BIID). Apotemnophilia is usually classified under BIID because patients feel discontented with their bodies and want to remove an otherwise healthy limb. An apotemnophile becomes fixated on carrying out a self-contrived amputation, or obtaining one in a hospital. Until recently, any desire for amputation was classified as this "disorder", but recently, the psychiatric community has begun to differentiate between this condition and Body Integrity Identity Disorder, in which an individual desires an amputation without an accompanying sexual component to this desire.

An individual with true apotemnophilia may be chronically unsatisfied with their sexual relationships, or even completely sexually dysfunctional until their desire for amputation is realized. Apotemnophilia condition is similar to Acrotomophilia but is differentiated by the desire for oneself to be an amputee as opposed to one's partner having an amputation.