Journal article
A lived experience response to the proposed diagnosis of terminal anorexia nervosa: learning from iatrogenic harm, ambivalence and enduring hope
Journal of Eating Disorders, Vol.11, pp.1-18
2023
PMCID: PMC9815687
PMID: 36604749
Appears in Thompson Institute Research Collection
Abstract
The ethical approach to treatment non-response and treatment refusal in severe-enduring anorexia nervosa (SE-AN) is the source of significant ethical debate, particularly given the risk of death by suicide or medical complications. A recent article proposed criteria to define when anorexia nervosa (AN) can be diagnosed as 'terminal' in order to facilitate euthanasia or physician-assisted suicide (EAS), otherwise known as medical assistance in dying, for individuals who wish to be relieved of suffering and accept treatment as 'futile'. This author utilises their personal lived experience to reflect on the issues raised, including: treatment refusal, iatrogenic harm, suicidality and desire to end suffering, impact of diagnosis/prognosis, schemas, alexithymia, countertransference, ambivalence, and holding on to hope. Within debates as critical as the bioethics of involuntary treatment, end-of-life and EAS in eating disorders, it is crucial that the literature includes multiple cases and perspectives of individuals with SE-AN that represent a wide range of experiences and explores the complexity of enduring AN illness, complex beliefs, communication patterns and relational dynamics that occur in SE-AN.
Details
- Title
- A lived experience response to the proposed diagnosis of terminal anorexia nervosa: learning from iatrogenic harm, ambivalence and enduring hope
- Authors
- Rosiel Elwyn (Author) - University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, Thompson Institute
- Publication details
- Journal of Eating Disorders, Vol.11, pp.1-18
- Publisher
- BioMed Central Ltd.
- Date published
- 2023
- DOI
- 10.1186/s40337-022-00729-0
- ISSN
- 2050-2974
- PMID
- 36604749; PMC9815687
- Copyright note
- This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article's Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article's Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver (http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated in a credit line to the data.
- Organisation Unit
- School of Health - Nursing; Thompson Institute; School of Law and Society
- Language
- English
- Record Identifier
- 99703298902621
- Output Type
- Journal article
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- Web Of Science research areas
- Nutrition & Dietetics
- Psychiatry
- Psychology, Clinical
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