autoenucleation
{{Short description|Self-inflicted removal of one's own eye}}
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.{{Cite journal| title = Self-enucleation and psychosis.| journal = The British Journal of Ophthalmology| volume = 74| issue = 9| pages = 571–573| author = NP Jones| date = 1990-09-01| pmc = 1042215| pmid = 2393650| doi = 10.1136/bjo.74.9.571}} Between 1968 and 2018, there were more than 50 documented cases of "complete or partial self-enucleation in English medical journals".{{Cite journal |last1=Large |first1=Matthew Michael |last2=Nielssen |first2=Olav B. |date=28 February 2012 |title=Self-enucleation: forget Freud and Oedipus, it's all about untreated psychosis |url=https://bjo.bmj.com/content/96/8/1056 |journal=British Journal of Ophthamology |volume=96 |issue=9 |pages=1056–57 |doi=10.1136/bjophthalmol-2012-301531 |pmid=22373824 |via=BMJ Journals|url-access=subscription }} 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.{{Cite journal| title = Self-enucleation: forget Freud and Oedipus, it's all about untreated psychosis| author = Matthew Michael Large, Olav B Nielssen| journal = British Journal of Ophthalmology| volume = 96| issue = 8| pages = 1056–1057| date = 24 July 2012| accessdate = 2018-03-15| url = http://bjo.bmj.com/content/96/8/1056| doi = 10.1136/bjophthalmol-2012-301531| pmid = 22373824| s2cid = 20826549| archive-date = 2018-03-16| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20180316024939/http://bjo.bmj.com/content/96/8/1056| url-status = live| url-access = subscription}}
History
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.{{cite web |last1=Taylor |first1=Sharon |title=Dodging the Draft in the Old Country |url=https://blog.nli.org.il/en/lbh-dodging-the-draft/ |website=The Librarians |date=7 September 2020 |publisher=National Library of Israel |access-date=9 November 2021 |archive-date=9 November 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211109172611/https://blog.nli.org.il/en/lbh-dodging-the-draft/ |url-status=live }}
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.{{Cite web |last=Grissom |first=Brandi |date=2013-02-24 |title=Andre Thomas: Gaps in the Mental Health Code |url=https://www.texastribune.org/2013/02/24/andre-thomas-gaps-30-year-old-mental-health-code/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210804104723/https://www.texastribune.org/2013/02/24/andre-thomas-gaps-30-year-old-mental-health-code/ |archive-date=2021-08-04 |access-date=2024-07-19 |website=The Texas Tribune |language=en}} Thomas was later diagnosed with schizophrenia.{{Cite web |last=Grissom |first=Brandi |date=2013-02-26 |title=Andre Thomas: Questions of Competence, Justice |url=https://www.texastribune.org/2013/02/26/andre-thomas-questions-competency/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210805023725/https://www.texastribune.org/2013/02/26/andre-thomas-questions-competency/ |archive-date=2021-08-05 |access-date=2024-07-19 |website=The Texas Tribune |language=en}} On December 9, 2008, whilst on death row after being convicted of capital murder, Thomas removed his left eye and ate it.{{Cite web |last=Quatrino |first=Nina |date=2020-02-08 |title=Sherman man on death row wants new trial |url=https://www.kxii.com/content/news/Sherman-man-on-death-row-wants-new-trial-567697091.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210804084921/https://www.kxii.com/content/news/Sherman-man-on-death-row-wants-new-trial-567697091.html |archive-date=2021-08-04 |access-date=2024-07-19 |website=KXII |language=en}} Thomas said he ingested his eye to prevent the federal government of the United States from reading his thoughts.{{Cite web |last=Associated Press |date=2023-02-19 |title=Death row inmate Andre Thomas who cut out eyes, ate one seeks clemency |url=https://nypost.com/2023/02/18/death-row-inmate-andre-thomas-who-cut-out-eyes-ate-one-seeks-clemency/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240719143823/https://nypost.com/2023/02/18/death-row-inmate-andre-thomas-who-cut-out-eyes-ate-one-seeks-clemency/ |archive-date=2024-07-19 |access-date=2024-07-19 |website=New York Post |language=en-US}}
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".{{Cite web |author=Kee, Caroline |date=2018-03-14 |title=A 20-Year-Old Gouged Out Her Own Eyes While In A Drug-Induced Psychosis |url=https://www.buzzfeed.com/carolinekee/why-people-gouge-out-eyes-psychosis-drugs |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180314224158/https://www.buzzfeed.com/carolinekee/why-people-gouge-out-eyes-psychosis-drugs |archive-date=2018-03-14 |accessdate=2018-03-15 |work=BuzzFeed}} The incident left Muthart permanently blind.{{Cite web| title = Kaylee Muthart Talks About Gouging Out Her Own Eyes On Crystal Meth| author = Narins, Elizabeth| work = Cosmopolitan| date = 2018-03-09| accessdate = 2018-03-16| url = https://www.cosmopolitan.com/health-fitness/a19179723/kaylee-muthart-eye-gouge-crystal-meth/| archive-date = 2018-03-15| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20180315225253/https://www.cosmopolitan.com/health-fitness/a19179723/kaylee-muthart-eye-gouge-crystal-meth/| url-status = live}}{{Cite web| title = Mom of woman who gouged eyes out tells "People" she was going to have her committed| author = Feit, Noah| work = thestate| date = 2018-02-22| accessdate = 2018-03-15| url = http://www.thestate.com/news/state/article201676979.html| archive-date = 2018-03-16| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20180316023713/http://www.thestate.com/news/state/article201676979.html| url-status = live}}{{Cite web| title = "The world just got darker," SC woman who gouged out her eyes talks about ordeal| author = Feit, Noah| work = thestate| date = 2018-03-18| accessdate = 2018-03-15| url = http://www.thestate.com/news/state/article204806574.html| archive-date = 2018-03-14| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20180314204015/http://www.thestate.com/news/state/article204806574.html| url-status = live}}
In May 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.{{cite news |last1=Davis |first1=Kelly |title=Lawsuit: Jail video shows deputy watched as inmate blinded herself |url=https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/watchdog/story/2021-09-12/eye-gouge-case |access-date=7 November 2021 |agency=San Diego Union Tribune |date=12 September 2021 |archive-date=7 November 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211107205548/https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/watchdog/story/2021-09-12/eye-gouge-case |url-status=live }} In October 2022, she settled with the county for $4.35m.{{cite news |last1=Davis |first1=Kelly |title=San Diego County will pay $4.35 million to woman who blinded herself in jail |url=https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/watchdog/story/2022-10-19/tanya-suarez-jail-blind-settlement |date=19 October 2022 |access-date=1 November 2022}}