self-enucleation self-enucleation self-enucleation also known as autoenucleation or oedipism is the self-inflicted enucleation (removal) of the eye. it is considered a form of self-mutilation and is normally caused by psychosis, paranoid delusions or drugs. between 1968 and 2018 there were more than 50 documented cases of "complete or partial self-enucleation in english medical journals". according to a 2012 study published in the british journal of ophthalmology, self-enucleation may be "considered to be the result of psycho-sexual conflicts" even if psychosis is a more likely cause. a particularly extreme form of self-mutilation, self-enucleations are rarely reported. history a famous case of self-enucleation can be found in greek mythology: oedipus, according to sophocles's tragedy oedipus rex, gouged his own eyes out after discovering he had married his mother. in the 13th century, marco polo witnessed a pious baghdad carpenter who enucleated his right eye for sinful thoughts of a young female customer. in the 19th century, jews in the 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. 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, believing that "sacrificing her eyes save the world". the incident left muthart permanently blind, though she later said "i'm happier now than i was before all this happened". in march 2019, tanya suárez removed her own eyes in a san diego, california, county jail while under the influence of 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. in october 2022, she settled with the county for $4.35m.