Bodies Under Siege
Armando R. Favazza
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Synopsis
This work analyzes the complex issues surrounding self-mutilation, drawing on case studies from clinical psychiatry and cultural anthropology to show that the phenomenon is deeply embedded culturally, and far more common than is often thought. Although body modification and blood rituals are shown to be common in many religions, rites-of- passage ceremonies, and therapeutic procedures, deviant self-mutilation, the author argues, is a distinct syndrome of impulse dyscontrol beginning in adolescence and often associated with eating disorders. According to the author, up to half of all female chronic self-mutilators have a history of anorexia or bulimia. This edition contains new information on the diagnosis and treatment of self-mutilation; the link between self-mutilation and eating disorders; and new research on the neurotransmitter serotonin, and associated advances in drug therapy.
From the Cover
Skin cutting and burning, biting off fingertips, even castration and eye enucleation are acts of self-mutilation generally associated with mental illness. But, according to Dr. Armando Favazza, these horrifying behaviors have important parallels to culturally sanctioned practices such as body piercing, tattooing, branding, and other forms of body modification.
When it was published in 1987, Bodies Under Siege received wide attention as the first comprehensive look at self-mutilation, a complex and often disturbing phenomenon. In this expanded second edition, Dr. Favazza draws on the latest case studies from clinical psychiatry and cultural anthropology to broaden our understanding of self-mutilation and body modifcation and to explore their surprising connections to the elemental experiences of healing, religion and social balance.
Favazza offers important new information on the diagnosis and treatment of self-mutilation, on the link between self-mutilation and eating disorders, and on major new research on the neurotransmitter serotonin and related advances in drug therapy. A new epilogue by Fakir Musafar, the founder of the Modern Primitives movement, describes his role in influencing a new generation to “experiment with the previously forbidden ‘body side’ of life” through body piercing, blood rituals, scarification, and body sculpting in order to attain a state of grace.
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