Talk:Self-cannibalism/Archive 1

Untitled
How about the infamous "Ham Cybele" incident http://activitypit.ning.com/forum/topics/tokyo-transsexual-cooks-and-serves-his-own-genitals-at-public-ham?commentId=1981927%3AComment%3A2408422&xg_source=activity Where this Japanese transsexual artist cooked and served up his own penis and scrotum at a banquet? Does feeding others willingly of your own flesh count?

Josephine ShafferWhat about http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lesch–Nyhan_syndrome —Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.133.242.227 (talk) 21:50, 20 March 2010 (UTC)

I seem to recall a story of a man in Austria a few years ago cutting off his toes and eating them; it was reported he was high on some kind of drugs. Does this ring a bell to anyone?

"There is only one known case of autophagy in a normal human being without a psychological disorder."

So, what is it? Seriously... Unsigned comment by 29 December 2005. - N (talk) 01:03, 4 February 2006 (UTC)

I'm removing that quote above, unless someone can site the time, and person, and add a link to his/her page. 65.96.98.74 23:17, 6 February 2006 (UTC)


 * I vaguely recall reading something about a neurological disorder related to an uncontrolled biting reflex that results in the patient biting off their own lips. Does anyone have any information on this? Obviously no material will be added without credible references. Also, the below comment on autocannibalism in the animal kingdom is a good point. - CNichols 02:27, 2 March 2006 (UTC)


 * The disorder is Lesch-Nyhan syndrome which features "self-mutilating behaviors, characterized by lip and finger biting." Sixty percent of Lesch-Nyhan sufferers have to have their teeth removed to prevent them from biting off their lips, cheeks, tongues, and other parts. Lesch-Nyhan is featured in the novel The Cobra Event by Richard Preston. - CNichols 02:52, 2 March 2006 (UTC)


 * Would self-biting qualify as self-cannibalism, or does the person have to swallow whatever part of themself they bit off? Self-biting seems to be a pretty common phenomenon http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=%22self-biting%22&btnG=Google+Search Schizombie 03:08, 2 March 2006 (UTC)


 * If there are no objections, I'm going to delete the paragraph referring to Lesch-Nyhan disease and the other developmental conditions. There is no scientific literature supporting the idea that persons with LND self-cannibalize.  Mr. Preston's book (perhaps unfortunately for the Lesch-Nyhan community) used LND as a starting point to describe a FICTIONAL disease in which people did self-cannibalize.  In some persons with Lesch-Nyhan disease, there is biting of lips and fingers, perhaps to amputation, but in the 13 years I've been working with persons with LND and doing research with them, I've never seen one ingest their own tissue. (User Schizombie, I think we do have to draw a line between biting and cannibalizing.)  Autodigestion in acute pancreatitis ventures even further from what would normally be defined as self-cannibalization.  If anybody wants a clearer understanding of the self-mutilation in LND, see Robey, KL, Reck, JF, Giacomini, KD, Eddey, GE and Barabas, G.  (2003).  Modes of self-mutilation and their patterns of association in persons with Lesch-Nyhan disease.  Developmental Medicine and Child Neurology, 45, 167-171.--Krobey 16:56, 30 October 2007 (UTC)

I know someone who does not bite his fingernails but does daily consume the softer hangnails and dry cracking and peeling cuticles all around his fingernails. He grinds the skin between his front teeth until it becomes soft and too small to detect the pieces that are eventually swallowed. Some pieces can be up to 1/4" in length. This commonly occurs during periods of boredom. [Switzer} 14 December 2017 — Preceding unsigned comment added by 15.203.233.80 (talk) 15:10, 14 December 2017 (UTC)

Removed text
I've just removed the text below. It was removed and then readded by another user, but I think he was right the first time. I couldn't find any reference to the book, author or research center on Google or Google Scholar. Given that it's not easily verifiable, I think we need a citation if it gets included again. It's crystal ball stuff anyway really..

"Self-cannibalism is a relatively unstudied topic, which only few scientists and psychologists have touched upon. Psychologist Dr. Blaine Rehsif, a double major at Cambridge University in Psychology and Sociology, conducted confidential resource at the Adamson Research Center for Physical Studies in Dublin, Ireland on the topic and is planning on releasing a book based on his findings in fall of 2006. The book will be titled I'm So Hungry, I Could Eat A Horse - and will contain a variety of digestive and hunger-related experiments, including a large portion on Self-Cannibalism." - N (talk) 01:03, 4 February 2006 (UTC)

Per a revision I did earlier, I have removed the "See also" reference to Lesch-Nyhan syndrome. As one who has published a fair amount of research on LNS/LND and has worked with a number of these individuals, that disorder does frequently involve self-mutilation via biting but I have yet to see an individual with LNS ingest their own tissue. There is no literature to support any connection between LNS and self-cannibalism. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Krobey (talk • contribs) 20:20, 1 November 2017 (UTC)

Animals
Shouldn't this article relate mostly to the animal kingdom (i.e., mice eating their own tails during periods of starvation)? This topic isn't even mentioned... And does it really belong in the food-and-drink section?


 * Uh, no. It doesn't need the food-stub tag. I've already removed it.  Joyous | Talk 02:57, 2 March 2006 (UTC)

Quote
I've removed the following quote. Unreferenced material, quotes, personal research/experience; none of these belong in a wikipedia article.

Anonymous ''I have been biting the skin at end of my fingers, and also the thick skin under the knuckle nearest the end of my fingers ever since I can remember. Aside from a diseased appearance when they are very wet, I've experienced no problems with it.''

risk 01:59, 18 August 2006 (UTC)

Self cannibalism among animals
I think that the part about stressed octopuses should be removed. I know nothing about whether or not this actually occurs, but, as it is described here, octopuses biting off (not eating?) their arms does not qualify as self-cannibalism. The part about trapped animals sometimes biting off their own limbs in order to free themselves is similarly unrelated to self-cannibalism, as this practice has nothing to do with animals eating parts of their own bodies for nourishment. If nobody objects, I will soon remove these parts of the article.Dunne409 00:04, 29 August 2006 (UTC)

I agree ... animals don't eat themselves ... It's just not naturel. Somethimes, when they're stressed, they can bite themselves, but that is not cannibalism.(Joyce) —Preceding unsigned comment added by 78.20.121.171 (talk) 20:29, 7 February 2008 (UTC)
 * Found a CC-BY video of a Heterodon nasicus eating herself at http://www.iflscience.com/plants-and-animals/stressed-out-snake-eats-itself. Can anyone convert it from H.264/MPEG-4 AVC to ogg or WebM and upload to Commons? Ain92 (talk) 16:30, 7 May 2014 (UTC)

Fiction
Wasn't there a Judge Dredd story that ended with a man in a cell eating everything there was in the cell, then his clothes, and finally when there was nothing else left, himself? I seem to vaguely recall it from an old 2000AD comic but am far from certain that this actually happened.

In the planet X storyline in New X-men, I seem to remember that Wolverine claims to have avoided starvation by eating strips of flesh from his arm at one time. It is said in order to cheer up Jean by reminding her about all the stuff X-men survive against all odds. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 80.202.88.157 (talk) 19:06, 15 June 2008 (UTC)

Mucus
I removed a comment someone added about Nose-picking, in which some people do indeed eat their own mucus, but mucus not being part of one's own body, this didn't seem to legitimately belong to the article. Maybe it could be a see-also. Шизомби (talk) 21:14, 11 January 2009 (UTC)

Frogs
Evidently at least some varieties eat their own skin (to remove dead layers), as the AMNH exhibit states, need to find a ref for this though. Шизомби (talk) 04:26, 8 July 2009 (UTC)

Personal opinion
This easily takes the cake as the most disgusting Wikipedia article I've read to date, and I usually have a pretty strong stomach. cteckerman (talk) 02:40, 6 January 2011 (UTC)
 * Talk pages are for discussing ways to verifiably improve their respective articles. Your personal disgust at the encyclopedic topic is not helpful in this regard. - Sum mer PhD  (talk) 16:20, 22 November 2012 (UTC)

Moose felt
I remember seeing that moose (and possibly other animals with antlers) will eat the felt that previously grew around their antlers durring growth, and it was believed it was for nutritional reasons. I think this deserves a spot in this article. http://www.all-about-moose.com/moose-facts.html has a mention of it (search antlers). More research should be done by somebody who knows what they are talking about.

-Rob — Preceding unsigned comment added by 207.6.160.186 (talk) 21:49, 16 February 2012 (UTC)

Will not involved
In the humans part, in 'As a natural occurrence', I've changed 'unwillingly' to 'unwittingly'. Will doesn't come into it as it's an involuntary process. 'Unwittingly' makes the point that one doesn't know it's going on, whereas 'unwillingly' suggests that there is resistance. Peridon (talk) 19:39, 3 February 2015 (UTC)
 * Agreed. Meters (talk) 22:55, 3 February 2015 (UTC)

Is This Article More Personal?
Not sure about everything, but I felt like it's more personal rather than less personal. For example: "A certain amount of self-cannibalism occurs unwittingly, as the body consumes dead cells from the tongue and cheeks. Ingesting one's own blood from an unintentional lesion such as a nose-bleed or an ulcer is clearly not intentional harvesting and consequently not considered cannibalistic. Ingesting one’s own blood on purpose from a deliberate wound is, however." The main definition of cannibalism according to this page for example, said "flesh" and one or more place also use "organs". Though Black's Law Dictionary seems to say "any part" or "whole". But I found no place depending on intent and non-intent regarding "it makes you a cannibal" or "considered" and regardless, shouldn't there be a source? Another thing is that if "dead skin", "blood", "saliva", and "semen" counts, then a lot of people are probably cannibals and even by popular opinion, that might stir in a lot of controversy in terms of "popular" and "considered" together with "cannibal". SpaceOmega5000 (talk) 02:17, 5 June 2018 (UTC)
 * There are more issues with the way how the article is currently worded. One problem is the definition of the word - I do not know of anyone who claims that eating cells per se implies cannibalism. I have a really suspicious feeling about the whole article as it presently is. Someone should review the history of the article; and if decided to keep it, reword it (it is actually better to keep it than delete it, but it should be rewritten). 2A02:8388:1641:8380:3AD5:47FF:FE18:CC7F (talk) 05:21, 24 September 2020 (UTC)

This article is strange
This article is strange. I believe the historical referenecs or references to literature are fine; but there are other parts that, IMO, are an opinion. For example, the insinuation that fingernail-biting has anything to do with "self-cannibalism". IMO the article would have to be re-worded, and become more objective. It's ok to define terms and adhere to them, but I can not imagine anyone wanting to claim that biting fingernails constitute self-cannibalism in any form. By the way, the fingernails are alpha-keratin, so why would that have anything to do with cannibalism? If hair is external too (and that is keratin as well). Whoever wrote that part appears to have had a more vivid fantasy. Wikipedia on the other hand should strive for more objective critera and definitions IMO. 2A02:8388:1641:8380:3AD5:47FF:FE18:CC7F (talk) 05:20, 24 September 2020 (UTC)

Placental consumption.
Cleaned up this section as it contained conclusions appearing to be derived from personal experience and opinions based on unsubstantiated claims and sources that do not state the same. Using an alternative medicine and quackery editor for the magazines Skeptic and Skeptical Inquirer to state facts is disingenuous and misleading. Harriet Hall The Impartial Truth (talk) 07:27, 18 September 2023 (UTC)


 * I don't quite understand your problems with Harriet Hall, who is after all a critic, not an advocate of alternative medicine and "quackery". I suppose that some of her statements might be POV, but I don't think the content used for this article is. And the question of whether placentophagy should be considered self-cannibalism seems clearly relevant for this specific article. So you're welcome to find additional and better sources covering this question, but I don't think simply suppressing it altogether is the way to go. Gawaon (talk) 13:36, 18 September 2023 (UTC)
 * I've also undone your other edit, because it self a sentence fragment dangling and because its edit summary, at least, is clearly wrong. You wrote: "www.geneabirth.com source does not state what was written". But the archived page states: "Placentophagy - Eating Your Placenta / This Age-old Tradition Has Some Surprising Benefits / ... studies have shown that eating the placenta can curb postpartum depression, replenish nutrients, increase milk production, and slow postpartum hemmorrhage." While our summary, which you deleted, is: "Human placentophagy after childbirth is touted by some as a treatment for postpartum depression and fatigue, among other health benefits". Seems adequate enough to me. Gawaon (talk) 13:47, 18 September 2023 (UTC)