Althouse: "He had a wild urge to consume metal. Even for us, the experienced surgeons, it was frightening."

August 22, 2016

"He had a wild urge to consume metal. Even for us, the experienced surgeons, it was frightening."

"He says he swallowed some knives folded, and some unfolded. When we took out the knives -- some were found folded, some were open, and some had even started rusting and were broken."

That would be 40 knives. Why did he swallow them? He said: "I just enjoyed its taste," he "developed a taste for metal," and he "loved the way blades tasted."

15 comments:

Fernandinande said...: "That would be 40 knives. Why did he swallow them? " = bad link

http://edition.cnn.com/2016/08/22/health/india-man-with-knives-stomach/index.html; 8/22/16, 4:08 PM
Ann Althouse said...: Thanks.

Link fixed.; 8/22/16, 4:24 PM
Rob said...: Yeah, "I enjoyed the taste" is a great reason to consume something that will put you in surgery. That's the answer you give when somebody asks what possessed you to give a BJ to the President, not why you at forty knives.; 8/22/16, 4:27 PM
FullMoon said...: Pretty sure I saw him on "Americas Got Talent".

Missing details: How long had it been going on? Where did he get the knives?
Will the knives be auctioned on e-bay? If he were American, would he vote for Hillary?
If Obama had a son.....; 8/22/16, 4:37 PM
Wince said...: He said: "I just enjoyed its taste," he "developed a taste for metal," and he "loved the way blades tasted."

Does Anxiety Cause a Metallic Taste in Your Mouth?

Anxiety does appear to cause a metallic taste in people's mouths. What's interesting, however, is that there doesn't appear to be a medical reason for it. Even during the fight or flight response, there isn't necessarily anything activated in the taste buds that should be creating this metallic taste.

Aluminum, tastes like fear
Adrenaline, it pulls us near
I'll take you over
it tastes like fear, there
I'll take you over; 8/22/16, 5:01 PM
Fernandinande said...: IIRC, the (1970s) National Lampoon had an article called "Naughty But Knife" in their "Guns and Sandwiches" magazine.; 8/22/16, 5:25 PM
Jason said...: I used to work in mental health. i've known a few people with this disorder. All women. Two of them in my little facility had had hundreds of hospitalizations, and scores of surgeries for removing things they swallowed... mostly metal objects.

Both women had been severely abused for years. In one case, the older of the two, it was ongoing. She'd show up with two black eyes she got from her husband, and she'd swallow something and go to the ER.

When she got to us in the psych unit, one night, we took everything from her she could harm herself with, as usual, and gave her a hospital gown, and she spent the night, at her request, in a padded room.

When we checked on her, a bit later, she was in severe distress, because she had tried to swallow the underwire in her bra. Whoever admitted her didn't think about the bra. She couldn't swallow it completely, though, because it was curved and she couldn't get it down her throat and couldn't get it back out.

She was in her 50s, and had survived a lot.

The other one was maybe 22 and had dozens of surgeries by that age herself.

The compulsion to self-abuse is apparently overwhelming. It's far beyond 'attention-seeking behavior.' If there is a such thing as demonic possession, it probably looks a lot like this.; 8/22/16, 5:27 PM
mockturtle said...: He's obviously not very sharp.; 8/22/16, 6:05 PM
HoodlumDoodlum said...: That feels a bit like othering, no? Clearly he self-identifies as a knife block.
Stunning and brave.; 8/22/16, 6:22 PM
buwaya said...: He was born that way. Who are we to judge what fulfills him?
He, and all with his perfectly normal condition, should be supported and helped to achieve his inherent nature.; 8/22/16, 6:32 PM
Sharc said...: But it feels so right.; 8/22/16, 7:33 PM
Crimso said...: "Even for us, the experienced surgeons, it was frightening"

They only eat a few knives.

Pica, perhaps?; 8/22/16, 9:00 PM
ccscientist said...: I'm guessing he didn't do many situps...; 8/23/16, 1:21 PM
Brian McKim and/or Traci Skene said...: I believe it was ABC Radio News that began this story with, "And, an amazing story today. A man in India..."

Stop. Right. There.

No story that was "amazing" ever began with, "A man in India..." The number and weirdness of the stories that come out of India are such that we have ceased to be amazed by them.

Had this incident taken place in Vancouver, WA, or in Plano, TX, maybe we'd allow that it is amazing.; 8/23/16, 2:21 PM
Bad Lieutenant said...: Florida Man?; 8/23/16, 8:19 PM