Self-cannibalism is the practice of eating oneself, also called autocannibalism,[1] or autosarcophagy.[2] A similar term which is applied differently is autophagy, which specifically denotes the normal process of self-degradation by cells. While almost an exclusive term for this process, autophagy nonetheless has occasionally made its way into more common usage.[3]
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A certain amount of self-cannibalism occurs unwillingly, 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.
Catabolisis is also sometimes described as "self-cannibalism."
Fingernail-biting that develops into fingernail-eating is a form of pica, although many do not consider nail biting as a true form of cannibalism. Other forms of pica include the compulsion of eating one's own hair (also trichophagia and Desirae syndrome), which can form a hairball (trichobezoar) in the stomach.
Some people will engage in self-cannibalism as an extreme form of body modification, for example eating their own skin.[4] Others will drink their own blood, a practice called autovampirism,[5] but sucking blood from wounds is generally not seen to be cannibalism. Placentophagy may be a form of self-cannibalism. On January 13, 2007, Chilean artist Marco Evaristti hosted a dinner party for his most intimate friends. The main meal was agnolotti pasta, which was topped with a meatball made from the artist's own fat, removed in the previous year in a liposuction operation.[6]
Forced self-cannibalism as a form of torture or war crime has been reported. Erzsébet Báthory allegedly forced some of her servants to eat their own flesh.[7] In the 16th Century, Spanish colonizers forced natives to eat their own testicles.[8] Incidents were reported in the years following the 1991 coup in Haiti.[9] In the 1990s young people in Sudan were forced to eat their own ears.[10]
One famous case of self-cannibalism is the 2002 Armin Meiwes trial. One of the persons involved, Bernd Jürgen Armando Brandes, had wanted his penis to be amputated; after Armin Meiwes amputated, they attempted to eat it together but found that it was too tough.
The short-tailed cricket is known to eat its own wings.[11] There is evidence of certain animals digesting their own nervous tissue when they transition to a new phase of life. The sea squirt (with a tadpole-like shape) contains a ganglion 'brain' in its head, which it digests after attaching itself to a rock and becoming stationary, forming an anemone-like organism. This has been used as evidence that the purpose of brain and nervous tissue is primarily to produce movement. Self-cannibalism behavior has been documented in North American rat snakes: one captive individual twice attempted to consume itself, dying in the second attempt. Another wild rat snake individual was found having swallowed about two-thirds of its body.[12] Another example is among dogs, where they will sometimes chew on their own skin causing it to bleed.
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