A woman who had a strong desire to become blind shared how a psychologist influenced her to pour drain cleaner into her eyes. Jewel Shuping, hailing from North Carolina, disclosed her experience with Body Integrity Identity Disorder (BIID), a condition where individuals believe they should have a disability.
Shuping recalled her childhood where she intentionally exposed her eyes to the sun for extended periods, believing it would harm her vision. As a teenager, she adopted behaviors like wearing sunglasses and learning braille, referring to it as “blind-swimming,” a way to simulate living without sight.
The relentless urges she felt eventually led her to seek drastic measures. By the age of 21, she couldn’t shake off the idea of being blind. In 2006, she met a man in Chicago who claimed to be a psychologist. He secluded her in his residence for two weeks, instructing her not to contact anyone.
During this time, he administered a potent drain cleaner into her eyes using a syringe. Shuping shared that she was left waiting for half an hour before being taken to the hospital. The irreversible damage caused by the incident gradually led to the loss of her vision.
Initially, Shuping indicated to the media that the psychologist’s actions were consensual. However, in a recent online post on Reddit, she expressed doubts about the consensual nature of the incident. She admitted that her childhood desire to be blind was fabricated, distorted to fit a narrative, emphasizing that she never truly wished for blindness.
She accused the man of manipulating her by twisting traumatic childhood events to convince her that she desired blindness. Shuping has since undergone intensive trauma therapy and now copes with complex PTSD and social anxiety.
The lasting impact of the psychologist’s actions continues to haunt Shuping, as she reflects on the enduring trauma caused by the incident.