Don't Talk To Me, I'm Dead

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After my first amputation in 2008 I started reading about different ways to cope with phantom pains. Through that research I came across odd mental issues such as alien limb syndrome and Acrotomophilia (sexual attraction to amputees) as well as Apotemnophilia (the desire to have something amputated). There's also BIID (Body Integrity Identity Disorder) which is similar to alien limb syndrome but is used as generic term in the medical community. One of the stranger and less common afflictions is Cotard's Syndrome but most refer to it as Walking Corpse Syndrome. Those suffering from Cotard's usually consider themselves deceased; not like a vampire or zombie – just lacking life. Even when they are shown proof that they are still among st the living, they refuse to believe it. They usually do not eat, drink or void and their body temperature can be drastically lower than normal. Since it is a disease that isn't in the forefront of the mental health community it isn't dealt with correctly when someone is rushed to an emergency room or urgent care. It remains unknown how the 'death clock' is activated within someone and how it leads them to believe that they are dead, have had body parts removed, have been embalmed, that their flesh is rotting or ready to fall off and lastly that they are dead. While most sufferers of Cotard's are content with just 'being dead', some push the envelope believing that anything they do to themselves (jumping off a building / flying, ingesting massive amounts of alcohol or drugs etc) is completely plausible because – you guessed it – they are dead.