Woman intentionally blinds herself to fulfill her lifelong dream

A woman with a rare psychological condition achieved her lifelong dream of being blind by intentionally damaging her eye sight.

Jewel Shuping has Integrity Identity Disorder (BIID), a condition that makes able-bodied people believe they are supposed to be disabled. The 30-year-old from North Carolina has felt that she was meant to be blind ever since she was a child. As a teen she took on traits normally associated with being blind, like walking with a cane and reading in braille.

Shuping claims that when she was 21, she found a psychologist who agreed to pour drain cleaner into her eyes. She waited half an hour to go to the hospital, so that the damage would already be done.

“It hurt, let me tell you. My eyes were screaming and I had some drain cleaner going down my cheek burning my skin,” Shuping told People. “All I could think was, ‘I am going blind, it is going to be okay.'”

She agreed not to name the psychologist. The decision to go blind has put a strain on her family. Shuping’s mother and sister no longer talk to her, after they learned that her blindness was not caused by an accident.

Shuping intends to both raise public awareness about BIID and get involved in the blind community, helping people live independently.

"I went blind on purpose, but I don’t feel it was a choice,” she told the magazine.