Autocannibalism

Last updated

Autocannibalism, also known as self-cannibalism and autosarcophagy, is the practice of eating parts of one's own body. [1] [2] Generally, only the consumption of flesh (including organ meat such as heart or liver) by an individual of the same species is considered cannibalism. [3] In line with this usage, self-cannibalism means the consumption of flesh from one's own body. While some texts use this strict definition, [4] others use the term autocannibalism in a wider sense that includes the consumption of hair or nails from one's own body. [5]

Contents

Both humans and some animal species occasionally practice self-cannibalism. In humans, it can be a symptom of a mental disorder, but there are also a handful of people who have voluntarily consumed an amputated body part. In other cases, people were forced to eat parts of themselves as a form of torture.

A similar term that is applied differently is autophagy , which specifically denotes the normal process of self-degradation by cells. While typically used only for this specific process, autophagy has nonetheless occasionally been used as a general synonym for self-cannibalism. [6]

Humans

As a disorder or symptom thereof

Fingernail-biting that develops into fingernail-eating is a form of pica. Other forms of pica include dermatophagia, [7] and compulsion of eating one's own hair, which can form a hairball in the stomach. Left untreated, this can cause death due to excessive hair buildup. [8]

Self-cannibalism can be a form of self-harm and a symptom of a mental disorder. [4] Some also consider it a mental disorder in its own right, but it is not listed in the widely used DSM-5 (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition). [5]

As a choice

Some people will engage in self-cannibalism as an extreme form of body modification, for example, by ingesting parts of their own skin. [6] In very rare cases, people have eaten a part of their own body (such as a foot) that had to be amputated for medical reasons; such acts may be motivated by curiosity or a desire to attract attention. [9] [10] [11]

Some people drink their own blood, a practice called autovampirism, [12] but sucking blood from wounds is generally not considered cannibalism. [3] [5]

As a crime

Elizabeth Bathory may have forced some of her servants to eat their own flesh Alzbeta Bathory.jpg
Elizabeth Báthory may have forced some of her servants to eat their own flesh

Forced self-cannibalism as a form of torture or war crime has been reported. Elizabeth Báthory allegedly forced some of her servants to eat their own flesh in the early 17th century. [13] During the violence that followed the 1991 Haitian coup d'état, victims sometimes had to eat their own hacked-off body parts. [14] In the 1990s, young people in Uganda were forced to eat their own ears. [15]

Eating one's own placenta has a small following in Western cultures, [16] fostered by celebrities like January Jones. [17] Human placentophagy after childbirth is touted by some as a treatment for postpartum depression and fatigue, among other health benefits, [18] given its high protein, rich iron and nutrient content. [19] However, scientific research is inconclusive as to whether consuming the placenta has any health benefits, exceeding that of readily acquired meats. [20]

While the status of placentophagy as cannibalism is debated, Harriet Hall has pointed out that "placental tissue is mainly derived from the fertilized egg and carries the fetus's genome", suggesting that the placenta is a temporary organ of the fetus rather than of the mother. [21] Therefore, even if one considers placentophagy a form of cannibalism, a mother eating her baby's placenta after giving birth would not practice self-cannibalism.

Animals

The short-tailed cricket is known to eat its own wings. [22] There is evidence of certain animals digesting their own nervous tissue when they transition to a new phase of life. The sea squirt (with a tadpole-like shape) contains a ganglion "brain" in its head, which it digests after attaching itself to a rock and becoming stationary, forming an anemone-like organism. This has been used as evidence that the purpose of brain and nervous tissue is primarily to produce movement. Self-cannibalism behaviour has been documented in North American rat snakes: one captive snake attempted to consume itself twice, dying in the second attempt. Another wild rat snake was found having swallowed about two-thirds of its body. [23]

References in myths and legends

Ouroboros biting its own tail Ouroboros 1.jpg
Ouroboros biting its own tail

The ancient symbol Ouroboros depicts a serpent biting its own tail.

Erysichthon from Greek mythology ate himself in insatiable hunger given him, as a punishment, by Demeter.

In an Arthurian tale, King Agrestes of Camelot goes mad after massacring the Christian disciples of Josephus within his city, and eats his own hands.

In 1679, Philip Rohr published a study of what he called "grave eating" or "the chewing dead". [24] [25] The book brought together a wealth of accounts of corpses thought to have "consumed their own shrouds and winding cloths, and even their own limbs and bowels". Rohr also described particular sounds supposedly heard from the graves when a corpse either "laps like some thirsty animal" or chews, grunts, and groans. [26] The 18th century also produced a considerable amount of literature on the subject. [27]

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ "Man-eaters: The Evidence for Coastal Tupi Cannibalism". mei(sh) dot org. Archived from the original on 25 June 2006. Retrieved 3 May 2007.
  2. ↑ Mikellides AP (October 1950). "Two cases of self-cannibalism (autosarcophagy)". Cyprus Med J. 3 (12): 498–500. PMID   14849189.
  3. 1 2 "Cannibalism Definition". Dictionary.com. Retrieved 17 July 2023.
  4. 1 2 Yilmaz, Atakan; Uyanik, Emrah; Şengül, Melike C. Balci; Yaylaci, Serpil; Karcioglu, Ozgur; Serinken, Mustafa (August 2014). "Self-Cannibalism: The Man Who Eats Himself". The Western Journal of Emergency Medicine. 15 (6): 701–2. doi:10.5811/westjem.2014.6.22705. PMC   4162732 . PMID   25247046.
  5. 1 2 3 Mbabazi, Joan (17 January 2021). "Auto-cannibalism; strange but real mental illness". The New Times. Retrieved 17 July 2023.
  6. 1 2 Benecke, Mark (25 August 2013). "Body Modification, Autophagy" . Retrieved 16 July 2023.
  7. ↑ Hayden, Danielle (5 November 2018). "What to Know About Dermatophagia, the 'Skin-Eating' Disorder That Causes Me to Gnaw at My Own Fingers".
  8. ↑ Sah, Deborah E; Koo, John; Price, Vera H (2008). "Trichotillomania". Dermatol Ther. 21 (1): 13–21. doi: 10.1111/j.1529-8019.2008.00165.x . PMID   18318881.
  9. ↑ "Conheça 10 histórias perturbadoras de canibalismo humano". R7 (in Brazilian Portuguese). 31 January 2016. Retrieved 19 July 2023.
  10. ↑ "This Guy Served His Friends Tacos Made from His Own Amputated Leg". Vice. 12 June 2018. Retrieved 24 November 2018.
  11. ↑ Kinsey, Joe (9 May 2023). "Instagram Model Paula Gonu Makes Spaghetti Bolognese out of Her Knee Cartilage". OutKick. Retrieved 21 May 2023.
  12. ↑ Bourguignon, A (February 1977). "[Status of vampirism and autovampirism]". Annales médico-psychologiques (in French). 1 (2): 181–196. PMID   883741 . Retrieved 17 July 2023.
  13. ↑ Adams, Cecil (21 February 1986). "Did Dracula really exist?". The Straight Dope . Retrieved 18 July 2023.
  14. ↑ Chin, Pat (6 April 1996). "Behind the Rockwood case". Workers World. Retrieved 18 July 2023.
  15. ↑ Cobbey, Nan; Currie, Nicola (6 August 1998). "Church challenged to new strides for human rights". The Lambeth Daily. Retrieved 4 May 2023.
  16. ↑ Beacock, Michelle (1 July 2012). "Does eating placenta offer postpartum health benefits?". British Journal of Midwifery. 20 (7): 464–469. doi:10.12968/bjom.2012.20.7.464. ISSN   0969-4900. S2CID   73326778.
  17. ↑ Conley, Mikaela (26 March 2012). "Mad Mom? January Jones Eats Her Own Placenta". ABC News. Retrieved 18 July 2023.
  18. ↑ Biermeier, Sarah. "The Placenta – an Unappreciated Organ". Geneabirth. Archived from the original on 11 January 2012. Retrieved 22 July 2023.
  19. ↑ Pratt, J.P.; Roderuck, Charlotte; Coryell, Margaret; Macy, Icie G. (1 November 1946). "Composition of the human placenta: III Vitamin content". American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology. 52 (5): 783–787. doi:10.1016/0002-9378(46)90185-8. ISSN   0002-9378. PMID   20273858.
  20. ↑ Lim, Robin (2015). Placenta: The Forgotten Chakra (rev. ed.). Bali: Half Angel Press. pp. 122, 128. ISBN   978-0-9762907-7-3. OCLC   951498666.
  21. ↑ Hall, Harriet (8 March 2011). "Eating Placentas: Cannibalism, Recycling, or Health Food?". Science-Based Medicine. Retrieved 17 July 2023.
  22. ↑ Taber, Stephen Welton; Scott B. Fleenor (2005). Invertebrates of Central Texas Wetlands. Texas Tech University Press. p. 200. ISBN   978-0-89672-550-8.
  23. ↑ Mattison, Chris (2007). The New Encyclopedia of Snakes. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press. p. 105. ISBN   978-0-691-13295-2.
  24. ↑ Rohr, Philippus (1679). Dissertatio ... de masticatione mortuorum, respondente Benjamin Frizschius (in Latin). Vogt.
  25. ↑ Rohr, Philip. "Of the Chewing Dead". Daily Doofus. Retrieved 22 July 2023.
  26. ↑ Luckhurst, Roger (2018). The Cambridge Companion to Dracula. Cambridge (UK): Cambridge University Press. p. 13. ISBN   978-1-107-15317-2.
  27. ↑ "BBC Radio 4 – In Our Time: Polidori's The Vampyre". BBC. 7 April 2022. Retrieved 22 July 2023.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Human cannibalism</span> Practice of humans eating other humans

Human cannibalism is the act or practice of humans eating the flesh or internal organs of other human beings. A person who practices cannibalism is called a cannibal. The meaning of "cannibalism" has been extended into zoology to describe animals consuming parts of individuals of the same species as food.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pica (disorder)</span> Compulsive eating of non-food items

Pica is the craving or consumption of objects that are not normally intended to be consumed. It is classified as an eating disorder but can also be the result of an existing mental disorder. The ingested or craved substance may be biological, natural or manmade. The term was drawn directly from the medieval Latin word for magpie, a bird subject to much folklore regarding its opportunistic feeding behaviors.

Anthropophagy may refer to:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vorarephilia</span> Sexual fetish

Vorarephilia is a paraphilia characterized by the erotic desire to be consumed by, or to personally consume, another person or creature, or an erotic attraction to the process of eating in general practice. Soft vore fantasies are separated from sexual fantasies of cannibalism, also referred to as "hard vore", because the soft vore victim is normally swallowed alive and whole. The word vorarephilia is derived from the Latin vorare, and Ancient Greek φιλία.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Placentophagy</span> Act of mammals eating the placenta of their young after childbirth

Placentophagy, also known as placentophagia, is the act of consuming part or all of the afterbirth following parturition in mammals. Parturition involves the delivery of the neonate, as well as the placenta and fetal membranes. The placenta is a critical organ that develops in the maternal uterus during pregnancy to support the fetus. It connects to the fetus via the umbilical cord in order to allow nutrient transport, waste excretion and gas exchange between mother and fetus. The morphological features of the placenta differ among species, but the function is universal. The behaviour is characteristic to the mother of the majority of placental mammals. Significant documentation has been provided on placentophagy in a range of animals.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Child cannibalism</span> Practice of eating a child or fetus

Child cannibalism or fetal cannibalism is the act of eating a child or fetus. Children who are eaten or at risk of being eaten are a recurrent topic in myths, legends, and folktales from many parts of the world. False accusations of the murder and consumption of children were made repeatedly against minorities and groups considered suspicious, especially against Jews as part of blood libel accusations.

Autophagia is the practice of biting/consuming one's body. It is a sub category of self-injurious behavior (SIB). Commonly, it manifests in humans as nail biting and hair pulling. In rarer circumstances, it manifests as serious self mutilative behavior such as biting off one's fingers. Autophagia affects both humans and non humans. Human autophagia typically occurs in parts of the body that are sensitive to pain, such as fingers. Human autophagia is not motivated by suicidal intent, but may be related to the desire to seek pain.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dermatophagia</span> Compulsion towards biting ones own skin

Dermatophagia or dermatodaxia is a compulsion disorder of gnawing or biting one's own skin, most commonly at the fingers. This action can either be conscious or unconscious and it is considered to be a type of pica. Those affected with dermatophagia typically bite the skin around the nails, leading to bleeding and discoloration over time. Some people also bite on their skin on their finger knuckles which can lead to pain and bleeding just by moving their fingers.

Endocannibalism is a practice of cannibalism in one's own locality or community. In most cases this refers to the consumption of the remains of the deceased in a mortuary context.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Exocannibalism</span> Eating the flesh of humans that do not belong to ones community

Exocannibalism, as opposed to endocannibalism, is the consumption of flesh from humans that do not belong to one's close social group—for example, eating one's enemies. It has been interpreted as an attempt to acquire desired qualities of the victim and as "ultimate form of humiliation and domination" of a vanquished enemy in warfare. Such practices have been documented in various cultures, including the Aztecs in Mexico and the Caribs and Tupinambá in South America.

Consumer–resource interactions are the core motif of ecological food chains or food webs, and are an umbrella term for a variety of more specialized types of biological species interactions including prey-predator, host-parasite, plant-herbivore and victim-exploiter systems. These kinds of interactions have been studied and modeled by population ecologists for nearly a century. Species at the bottom of the food chain, such as algae and other autotrophs, consume non-biological resources, such as minerals and nutrients of various kinds, and they derive their energy from light (photons) or chemical sources. Species higher up in the food chain survive by consuming other species and can be classified by what they eat and how they obtain or find their food.

Filial cannibalism occurs when an adult individual of a species consumes all or part of the young of its own species or immediate offspring. Filial cannibalism occurs in many species ranging from mammals to insects, and is especially prevalent in various types of fish species with males that engage in egg guardianship. The exact evolutionary purpose of the practice in those species is unclear and debated among zoologists, though there is consensus that it may have, or may have had at some point in species' evolutionary history, certain evolutionary and ecological implications.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Human placentophagy</span> Postpartum eating of human placenta

Human placentophagy, or consumption of the placenta, is defined as "the ingestion of a human placenta postpartum, at any time, by any person, either in raw or altered form". Placentophagy can be divided into two categories, maternal placentophagy and non-maternal placentophagy.

Cannibalism is the act of one individual of a species consuming all or part of another individual of the same species as food.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Medical cannibalism</span> Consumption of parts of the human body to treat or prevent diseases

Medical or medicinal cannibalism is the consumption of parts of the human body, dead or alive, to treat or prevent diseases. The medical trade and pharmacological use of human body parts and fluids often arose from the belief that because the human body is able to heal itself, it can also help heal another human body. Much of medical cannibalism applied the principles of sympathetic magic, for example that powdered blood helps bleeding, human fat helps bruising, and powdered skulls help with migraines or dizziness. Medical cannibalism has been documented especially for Europe and China.

Cannibalism is depicted in literary and other imaginative works across history. Homer's Odyssey, Beowulf, Shakespeare's Titus Andronicus, Flaubert's Salammbo, Conrad's Heart of Darkness, and Melville's Moby Dick are prominent examples.

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.