it's not completely unfathomable that this is real, but it's disgusting in every way possible. a statistically significant portion of the world's population (3-10% according to the dsm-iv) actually welcome injury because of the attention derived from it. we all know hypochondriacs (hypochondriasis) who every day have some new complaint, but they don't actually pursue real injury. people whlo actively seek fatal disease such as these typically express conduct disorders, oppositional defiant disorder, sexual masochism and sadism, and adjustment disorder. it's pretty disgusting to think that their cries for attention could result in potentially incurable strains of the virus spread to the rest of us. i couldn't imagine for the life of me what's attractive about withering away in agony for months and possibly years. if life is not what one seeks, there's better ways of quitting it.