title: Self-mutilation of the eye.
abstract: While the act of self-enucleation is rare, other self-inflicted eye injuries may be more common. Six patients are reported who have documented histories of ocular self-mutilation. Several common factors are observed in these patients and in other cases reported in the literature: (1) the patient was judged to be psychotic; (2) the patient had a tyrannical conscience; (3) a source of guilt was present; (4) this guilt was displaced to the eye; and (5) an attempt at self-inflicted eye injury was followed by relief from anxiety when completed or by frustration when injury was prevented.
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000341:Affective Disorders, Psychotic / Q000523:psychology; D005131:Eye Injuries / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006167:Guilt; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D012069:Religion and Psychology; D012563:Schizophrenia, Paranoid / Q000523:psychology; D012565:Schizophrenic Psychology; D012652:Self Mutilation / Q000523:psychology*