Depressed man eats own finger

A severely-depressed fellow in New Zealand severed his own finger, cooked it up with some vegetables, and ate it. Apparently this is only one of eight known cases of "self-cannibalism." The incident was discussed in the scientific journal Australasian Psychiatry. From their report, quoted in the New Zealand Herald:

"At the end of 2008, following another personal crisis, and while not being fully compliant with his medication, he spiralled into another episode of depression. He experienced significant insomnia and suicidal ideation, and ruminated for days about cutting off his fingers.

"In an effort to seek reprieve from these thoughts, he tied a shoelace around his [little] finger to act as a tourniquet and cut the finger off with a jigsaw.

"He then cooked it in a pan with some vegetables and ate its flesh. His plan was to amputate another two fingers the following day.

"Mr X reported initial excitement - non-sexual - and a sense of relief from his ruminations. Given the instantaneous benefit, he felt that there was no point in cutting off any more fingers."

The man later regretted the act of self-harm - his first - "because of its debilitating effect".

"Depressed man cooks and eats his finger"

• [Anonymous]

  For those who quoted the article as “one of only eight cases,” it was actually “only one of eight cases.” Minor word play, but the connotation is vastly different.

• [Editz]

  Maybe he was planning to make a knuckle sandwich?

• [Anonymous]

  finger food, literally.

• [sn00py]

  Reminds me of the incident in 1980 when a boy was trapped in a refrigerator and ate his own foot.

• [wnoise]

  “Autophagy”

• [Anonymous]

  Sometimes a finger is just finger.

  S. Freud

• [EpilepsyWarning]

  I am having a hard time making the jump from “I think I will cut off my finger” to “And then I may as well eat it.”

  • [IronyElemental]

    I’ve got an issue with the leap from “I am sad” to “Cutting off a finger will make me feel better.”

    • [EpilepsyWarning]

      Well, the guy was clearly out of his mind in the first place. I mean, cooked with vegetables? It would have been so much better breaded and deep fried.

    • [maralenenok]

      I guess he felt like making a change. Most people go get a haircut or a tattoo, though.

• [Zoman]

  Does anybody know what wine goes with finger?

  • [Anonymous]

    If a nice chianti goes well with liver and fava beans, I imagine something lighter would be needed since finger probably isn’t as game-y.

  • [Slightly Askew]

    Not sure, but “un doigt de vin” takes on a whole new meaning.

• [knoxblox]

  If I were a cannibal, I don’t think I’d understand the whole eating your appendages bit. There’s not a lot of flesh there.

  • [fruityboots]

    From what I recall the Aztec priests reserved the hands and feet of their sacrificial victims for themselves as the tastiest part, but without a lot of fat it seems counter-intuitive to me.

  • [ganesha71]

    Neither do chicken wings.

• [endymion]

  That’s awful and sad.

  Did anyone ever read Stephen King’s “Survivor Type”?

  • [sjl]

    “they taste like ladyfingers”

• [Anonymous]

  Very sad, i promise to work hard in my life to help such people who are sad up to that extent. God help me and i get the possibility.

• [Anonymous]

  I’ve been very depressed many times but I think my way of going for a walk or going out for a beer and chatting up strangers is better than this.

  Maybe he is a nail biter and got carried away?

• [Atrum]

  Only eight cases?

  • [RadioSilence]

    “Only eight cases?”

    well, ten if you count the guys who ate their thumbs.

• [Art]

  I read the post and could not wait to get to the comments.

  The readers of BB never disappoint.

  Great comments, all!!! Thanks for the dark laughs.

• [Drew from Zhrodague]

  # eat self

  Auto-cannibalism is not allowed in the dungeon.

• [double_tilly]

  He never metacarpal he didn’t like.

• [pecoto]

  How come no one asks the question we REALLY want answered?

  WHAT DID IT TASTE LIKE??

  • [Rob Cruickshank]

    Like chicken fingers?

• [Anonymous]

  The weirdest thing I’ve ever read.

• [double_tilly]

  Upon the telling of his plans to eat his own finger, his friends asked how he would get past the emotional trauma of self-cannibalism.

  Mr. X replied: I’ll just knuckle down.

• [EricT]

  Is there anyone who can give a professional psychological interpretation of this? Eating one’s own fingers sounds like a relatively common dream.

• [Anonymous]

  I bet it was finger lickin’ good.

• [Dragonflye]

  @double_tilly…

  “He never metacarpal he didn’t like.”

  HILARIOUS.

• [cataphract]

  Now everybody will think he is from Yakuza.

• [Lobster]

  Now that’s what I call…

  …obvious pun.

  *takes off sunglasses*

• [jimdunk]

  This might be what finally gets me to stop chewing my fingernails once and for all.

  Jim

• [Nadreck]

  The trivial case of “You are what you eat”.

• [Nadreck]

  This is what comes of always trying to put your finger on the problem.

• [Shart Tsung]

  Gruesome.

• [EpilepsyWarning]

  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kZUPCB9533Y

• [irksome]

  No more drinking tea in polite society, I take it.

• [Oskar]

  I can understand going from “I’m sad” to “I’m going to cut off my finger”. I mean, it’s essentially just going one step further from cutting yourself, right? It’s a horrific thing, but I can see it.

  The eating part freaks me out, though. I always figured cannibals as a cheery bunch, who see eating their fellow humans as something celebratory, something beautiful, almost like a religious experience. I mean, did Hannibal Lecter seem depressed to you?

• [olmsteader]

  I believe the technical term for this is “digital feedback”.

• [double_tilly]

  There once was a man in a cubicle
  who went crazy and ate his own cuticle.

  The people asked could his WAGE be a
  contributing factor? The doctors said no,
  his pay wasn’t low,
  he just suffered from onychophagia

• [apoxia]

  This happened in my city. I know the clinicans who documented it. When it came on the national news here I thought it was pretty crap for the man to have to read about since he obviously regretted his decision. Appearing a freak to the whole world can’t be that affirming.

• [Shart Tsung]

  Ladies, if you see this guy at a bar and he asks you for your digits, RUN!