Self-enucleation

Self-enucleation also known as autoenucleation or oedipism is the self-inflicted enucleation (removal) of the eye. It is considered a form of self-mutilation and is normally caused by psychosis, paranoid delusions or drugs.[1] Between 1968 and 2018 there were more than 50 documented cases of "complete or partial self-enucleation in English medical journals".[2] According to a 2012 study published in the British Journal of Ophthalmology, self-enucleation may be "considered to be the result of psycho-sexual conflicts" even if psychosis is a more likely cause.[3] A particularly extreme form of self-mutilation, self-enucleations are rarely reported.[4][5]

History

A famous case of self-enucleation can be found in Greek mythology: Oedipus, according to Sophocles tragedy Oedipus Rex, gouged his own eyes out after discovering he had married his mother.

In the 13th century, Marco Polo witnessed a pious Baghdad carpenter who enucleated his right eye for sinful thoughts of a young female customer.

In the 19th century, Jews in the Pale of Settlement in eastern Europe sometimes resorted to self-mutilation, including blinding themselves in one eye, to avoid the Russian empire's onerous regime of military conscription.[6]

On February 6, 2018, a 20-year old American Kaylee Muthart received national attention after she gouged both her eyes out while high on methamphetamine believing "sacrificing her eyes [would] save the world".[2] Muthart is now permanently blind, though she said "I'm happier now than I was before all this happened".[7][8][9]

In March 2019, Tanya Suarez removed her own eyes in a San Diego, California county jail while under the influence of methamphetamine. She is currently suing the county, alleging that a Sheriff's deputy watched her from outside her cell door but did nothing; video footage to that effect has reportedly been seen in court, but not released to the public.[10]

References

  1. ↑ NP Jones (1990-09-01). "Self-enucleation and psychosis". The British Journal of Ophthalmology. 74 (9): 571–573. doi:10.1136/bjo.74.9.571. PMC 1042215. PMID 2393650.
  2. 1 2 Kee, Caroline (2018-03-14). "A 20-Year-Old Gouged Out Her Own Eyes While In A Drug-Induced Psychosis". BuzzFeed. Retrieved 2018-03-15.
  3. ↑ Matthew Michael Large, Olav B Nielssen (24 July 2012). "Self-enucleation: forget Freud and Oedipus, it's all about untreated psychosis". British Journal of Ophthalmology. 96 (8): 1056–1057. doi:10.1136/bjophthalmol-2012-301531. PMID 22373824. Retrieved 2018-03-15.
  4. ↑ K.N. Rao and Shamshad Begum (1996). "Self-enucleation in depression: A case report". Indian Journal of Psychiatry. 38 (4): 269–270. PMC 2970886. PMID 21584146.
  5. ↑ BB Patil (2004-04-07). "Bilateral self-enucleation of eyes". Nature. 18 (4): 431–432. doi:10.1038/sj.eye.6700667. PMID 15069443.
  6. ↑ Taylor, Sharon. "Dodging the Draft in the Old Country". The Librarians. National Library of Israel. Retrieved 9 November 2021.
  7. ↑ Narins, Elizabeth (2018-03-09). "Kaylee Muthart Talks About Gouging Out Her Own Eyes On Crystal Meth". Cosmopolitan. Retrieved 2018-03-16.
  8. ↑ Feit, Noah (2018-02-22). "Mom of woman who gouged eyes out tells 'People' she was going to have her committed". thestate. Retrieved 2018-03-15.
  9. ↑ Feit, Noah (2018-03-18). "'The world just got darker,' SC woman who gouged out her eyes talks about ordeal". thestate. Retrieved 2018-03-15.
  10. ↑ Davis, Kelly (12 September 2021). "Lawsuit: Jail video shows deputy watched as inmate blinded herself". San Diego Union Tribune. Retrieved 7 November 2021.
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