Citation

Sirota P, Megged S, Stein D, Benatov R. Harefuah 1994; 126(4): 186-8, 240, 239.

Affiliation

Abarbanel Mental Health Center, Bat-Yam Sackler School of Medicine, Tel Aviv University.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1994, Israel Medical Association)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

8168758

Abstract

Self-castration has been described in different eras and societies. It usually occurs in transsexualism, serious personality disorders and psychosis. It is not impulsive, but the result of long-standing conflicts, usually involving difficulties with male identity and inability to cope with sexual drives. Schizophrenics usually act under the influence of delusions and hallucinations. The medical and social attitudes to self-castration are never unequivocal. There are 60 case reports in the psychiatric literature. We describe a 35-year-old schizophrenic who castrated himself.

Language: he