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Autoenucleation

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The mythical Oedipus gouged his eyes out.

Autoenucleation, also known as 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 was previously "considered to be the result of psycho-sexual conflicts" even if psychosis is a more likely cause.[3]

History

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A famous case of autoenucleation can be found in Greek mythology: Oedipus, according to Sophocles's 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.[4]

On April 1, 2004, Andre Thomas removed his right eye with his bare hands whilst he was in jail awaiting trial for fatally stabbing his estranged wife and her two children.[5] Thomas was later diagnosed with schizophrenia.[6] On December 9, 2008, whilst on death row after being convicted of capital murder, Thomas removed his left eye and ate it.[7] Thomas said he ingested his eye to prevent the federal government of the United States from reading his thoughts.[8]

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 that "sacrificing her eyes [would] save the world".[9] The incident left Muthart permanently blind, though she later said "I'm happier now than I was before all this happened".[10][11][12]

In March 2019, Tanya Suárez removed her own eyes in a San Diego, California, county jail while under the influence of methamphetamine. She sued San Diego 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.[13] In October 2022, she settled with the county for $4.35m.[14]

References

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  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. ^ Large, Matthew Michael; Nielssen, Olav B. (28 February 2012). "Self-enucleation: forget Freud and Oedipus, it's all about untreated psychosis". British Journal of Ophthamology. 96 (9): 1056–57. doi:10.1136/bjophthalmol-2012-301531. PMID 22373824 – via BMJ Journals.
  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. S2CID 20826549. Archived from the original on 2018-03-16. Retrieved 2018-03-15.
  4. ^ Taylor, Sharon (7 September 2020). "Dodging the Draft in the Old Country". The Librarians. National Library of Israel. Archived from the original on 9 November 2021. Retrieved 9 November 2021.
  5. ^ Grissom, Brandi (2013-02-24). "Andre Thomas: Gaps in the Mental Health Code". The Texas Tribune. Archived from the original on 2021-08-04. Retrieved 2024-07-19.
  6. ^ Grissom, Brandi (2013-02-26). "Andre Thomas: Questions of Competence, Justice". The Texas Tribune. Archived from the original on 2021-08-05. Retrieved 2024-07-19.
  7. ^ Quatrino, Nina (2020-02-08). "Sherman man on death row wants new trial". KXII. Archived from the original on 2021-08-04. Retrieved 2024-07-19.
  8. ^ Associated Press (2023-02-19). "Death row inmate Andre Thomas who cut out eyes, ate one seeks clemency". New York Post. Archived from the original on 2024-07-19. Retrieved 2024-07-19.
  9. ^ Kee, Caroline (2018-03-14). "A 20-Year-Old Gouged Out Her Own Eyes While In A Drug-Induced Psychosis". BuzzFeed. Archived from the original on 2018-03-14. Retrieved 2018-03-15.
  10. ^ Narins, Elizabeth (2018-03-09). "Kaylee Muthart Talks About Gouging Out Her Own Eyes On Crystal Meth". Cosmopolitan. Archived from the original on 2018-03-15. Retrieved 2018-03-16.
  11. ^ Feit, Noah (2018-02-22). "Mom of woman who gouged eyes out tells "People" she was going to have her committed". thestate. Archived from the original on 2018-03-16. Retrieved 2018-03-15.
  12. ^ Feit, Noah (2018-03-18). ""The world just got darker," SC woman who gouged out her eyes talks about ordeal". thestate. Archived from the original on 2018-03-14. Retrieved 2018-03-15.
  13. ^ Davis, Kelly (12 September 2021). "Lawsuit: Jail video shows deputy watched as inmate blinded herself". San Diego Union Tribune. Archived from the original on 7 November 2021. Retrieved 7 November 2021.
  14. ^ Davis, Kelly (19 October 2022). "San Diego County will pay $4.35 million to woman who blinded herself in jail". Retrieved 1 November 2022.
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