# Autoenucleation

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Self-inflicted removal of one's own eye

The mythical [Oedipus](/source/Oedipus) (portrayed by [Louis Bouwmeester](/source/Louis_Bouwmeester) in this 1890s photograph) gouged his eyes out.

**Autoenucleation**, also known as **oedipism**, is the self-inflicted [enucleation](/source/Enucleation_of_the_eye) (removal) of the eye. It is considered a form of self-mutilation and is normally caused by psychosis, paranoid delusions or drugs.[1] Between 1968 and 2018, there were more than 50 documented cases of "complete or partial self-enucleation in English medical journals".[2]

## History

A famous case of autoenucleation can be found in Greek mythology: [Oedipus](/source/Oedipus), according to [Sophocles](/source/Sophocles)'s tragedy *[Oedipus Rex](/source/Oedipus_Rex)*, gouged his own eyes out after discovering [he had married his mother.](/source/Incest)

In the 13th century, [Marco Polo](/source/Marco_Polo) witnessed a pious Baghdad carpenter who enucleated his right eye for sinful thoughts of a young female customer.

The [psychosexual development](/source/Psychosexual_development) theory of [Sigmund Freud](/source/Sigmund_Freud) (now widely considered non-factual) explained autoenucleation as "the result of psycho-sexual conflicts".[3]

In the 19th century, Jews in the [Pale of Settlement](/source/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](/source/Cantonist#Jews).[4]

On April 1, 2004, [Andre Thomas](/source/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.[5] Thomas was later diagnosed with [schizophrenia](/source/Schizophrenia).[6] On December 9, 2008, whilst on [death row](/source/Death_row) after being convicted of [capital murder](/source/Capital_murder), Thomas removed his left eye and ate it.[7] Thomas said he ingested his eye to prevent the [federal government of the United States](/source/Federal_government_of_the_United_States) from reading his thoughts.[8]

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](/source/Methamphetamine), believing that "sacrificing her eyes [would] save the world".[9][10][11][12]

In May 2019, Tanya Suárez removed her own eyes in a San Diego, California, county jail while under the influence of [methamphetamine](/source/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.[13] In October 2022, she settled with the county for $4.35m.[14]

In April 2023, A 34-year-old Nigerian man had his right eye removed due to an [Erotomanic delusion](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Erotomanic_delusion&action=edit&redlink=1) towards a popular [Hindi cinema](/source/Hindi_cinema) actress.

## References

1. **[^](#cite_ref-ncbi_Self_1-0)** NP Jones (1990-09-01). ["Self-enucleation and psychosis"](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1042215). *The British Journal of Ophthalmology*. **74** (9): 571–573. [doi](/source/Doi_(identifier)):[10.1136/bjo.74.9.571](https://doi.org/10.1136%2Fbjo.74.9.571). [PMC](/source/PMC_(identifier)) [1042215](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1042215). [PMID](/source/PMID_(identifier)) [2393650](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/2393650).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-2)** Large, Matthew Michael; Nielssen, Olav B. (28 February 2012). ["Self-enucleation: forget Freud and Oedipus, it's all about untreated psychosis"](https://bjo.bmj.com/content/96/8/1056). *British Journal of Ophthalmology*. **96** (9): 1056–57. [doi](/source/Doi_(identifier)):[10.1136/bjophthalmol-2012-301531](https://doi.org/10.1136%2Fbjophthalmol-2012-301531). [PMID](/source/PMID_(identifier)) [22373824](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/22373824).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-bjo._Self_3-0)** Matthew Michael Large, Olav B Nielssen (24 July 2012). ["Self-enucleation: forget Freud and Oedipus, it's all about untreated psychosis"](http://bjo.bmj.com/content/96/8/1056). *British Journal of Ophthalmology*. **96** (8): 1056–1057. [doi](/source/Doi_(identifier)):[10.1136/bjophthalmol-2012-301531](https://doi.org/10.1136%2Fbjophthalmol-2012-301531). [PMID](/source/PMID_(identifier)) [22373824](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/22373824). [S2CID](/source/S2CID_(identifier)) [20826549](https://api.semanticscholar.org/CorpusID:20826549). [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20180316024939/http://bjo.bmj.com/content/96/8/1056) from the original on 2018-03-16. Retrieved 2018-03-15.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-4)** Taylor, Sharon (7 September 2020). ["Dodging the Draft in the Old Country"](https://blog.nli.org.il/en/lbh-dodging-the-draft/). *The Librarians*. National Library of Israel. [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20211109172611/https://blog.nli.org.il/en/lbh-dodging-the-draft/) from the original on 9 November 2021. Retrieved 9 November 2021.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-5)** Grissom, Brandi (2013-02-24). ["Andre Thomas: Gaps in the Mental Health Code"](https://www.texastribune.org/2013/02/24/andre-thomas-gaps-30-year-old-mental-health-code/). *The Texas Tribune*. [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20210804104723/https://www.texastribune.org/2013/02/24/andre-thomas-gaps-30-year-old-mental-health-code/) from the original on 2021-08-04. Retrieved 2024-07-19.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-6)** Grissom, Brandi (2013-02-26). ["Andre Thomas: Questions of Competence, Justice"](https://www.texastribune.org/2013/02/26/andre-thomas-questions-competency/). *The Texas Tribune*. [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20210805023725/https://www.texastribune.org/2013/02/26/andre-thomas-questions-competency/) from the original on 2021-08-05. Retrieved 2024-07-19.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-7)** Quatrino, Nina (2020-02-08). ["Sherman man on death row wants new trial"](https://www.kxii.com/content/news/Sherman-man-on-death-row-wants-new-trial-567697091.html). *KXII*. [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20210804084921/https://www.kxii.com/content/news/Sherman-man-on-death-row-wants-new-trial-567697091.html) from the original on 2021-08-04. Retrieved 2024-07-19.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-8)** Associated Press (2023-02-19). ["Death row inmate Andre Thomas who cut out eyes, ate one seeks clemency"](https://nypost.com/2023/02/18/death-row-inmate-andre-thomas-who-cut-out-eyes-ate-one-seeks-clemency/). *New York Post*. [Archived](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/) from the original on 2024-07-19. Retrieved 2024-07-19.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-buzz_A20-_9-0)** Kee, Caroline (2018-03-14). ["A 20-Year-Old Gouged Out Her Own Eyes While In A Drug-Induced Psychosis"](https://www.buzzfeed.com/carolinekee/why-people-gouge-out-eyes-psychosis-drugs). *BuzzFeed*. [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20180314224158/https://www.buzzfeed.com/carolinekee/why-people-gouge-out-eyes-psychosis-drugs) from the original on 2018-03-14. Retrieved 2018-03-15.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-cosm_Kayl_10-0)** Narins, Elizabeth (2018-03-09). ["Kaylee Muthart Talks About Gouging Out Her Own Eyes On Crystal Meth"](https://www.cosmopolitan.com/health-fitness/a19179723/kaylee-muthart-eye-gouge-crystal-meth/). *Cosmopolitan*. [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20180315225253/https://www.cosmopolitan.com/health-fitness/a19179723/kaylee-muthart-eye-gouge-crystal-meth/) from the original on 2018-03-15. Retrieved 2018-03-16.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-thes_Momo_11-0)** Feit, Noah (2018-02-22). ["Mom of woman who gouged eyes out tells "People" she was going to have her committed"](http://www.thestate.com/news/state/article201676979.html). *thestate*. [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20180316023713/http://www.thestate.com/news/state/article201676979.html) from the original on 2018-03-16. Retrieved 2018-03-15.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-thes_'The_12-0)** Feit, Noah (2018-03-18). [""The world just got darker," SC woman who gouged out her eyes talks about ordeal"](http://www.thestate.com/news/state/article204806574.html). *thestate*. [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20180314204015/http://www.thestate.com/news/state/article204806574.html) from the original on 2018-03-14. Retrieved 2018-03-15.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-sdut-120921_13-0)** Davis, Kelly (12 September 2021). ["Lawsuit: Jail video shows deputy watched as inmate blinded herself"](https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/watchdog/story/2021-09-12/eye-gouge-case). San Diego Union Tribune. [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20211107205548/https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/watchdog/story/2021-09-12/eye-gouge-case) from the original on 7 November 2021. Retrieved 7 November 2021.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-sdut-191022_14-0)** Davis, Kelly (19 October 2022). ["San Diego County will pay $4.35 million to woman who blinded herself in jail"](https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/watchdog/story/2022-10-19/tanya-suarez-jail-blind-settlement). Retrieved 1 November 2022.

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Autoenucleation](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autoenucleation) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autoenucleation?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.