Citation

Conde E, Santos T, Leite R, Vicente C, Figueiredo AM. J. Sex Marital Ther. 2016; 43(6): 560-566.

Affiliation

Department of Psychiatry and Mental Health , Baixo-Vouga Hospital Centre , Aveiro , Portugal.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2016, Informa - Taylor and Francis Group)

DOI

10.1080/0092623X.2016.1208699

PMID

27400166

Abstract

Self-mutilation is understood as any willful gesture or alteration of the body tissue, without a suicidal intent. The commonest self-mutilating gestures are, to a great extent, those that are superficial or moderate, such as cuts, burns or bites. The most severe, as is the case of genital self-mutilation (GSM), are extremely rare and, in most cases, observed in patients suffering from psychosis. Furthermore, they are mostly reported from a surgical standpoint. Here, we report the case of a 20-year-old female patient who resorted to the emergency department (ED) after having amputated her clitoris with a surgical scissor. This dramatic gesture, coupled with the patient's narrative, prompted for differential diagnosis between a psychotic syndrome and a severe personality disorder. We propose that, albeit the magnitude of the self-harm, it is possible to conceptualize this GSM within a disturbed personality with significant sexuality issues and, therefore, this case report aims to broaden the limits that have been associated to the self-mutilating gestures in borderline personality disorder (BPD).

Language: en