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Anorexia Nervosa: The Diagnosis

A Postmodern Ethics Contribution to the Bioethics Debate on Involuntary Treatment for Anorexia Nervosa

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An ORIGINAL RESEARCH to this article was published on 11 January 2014

An ORIGINAL RESEARCH to this article was published on 04 January 2014

Abstract

This paper argues that there is a relationship between understandings of anorexia nervosa (AN) and how the ethical issues associated with involuntary treatment for AN are identified, framed, and addressed. By positioning AN as a construct/discourse (hereinafter “AN: the diagnosis”) several ethical issues are revealed. Firstly, “AN: the diagnosis” influences how the autonomy and competence of persons diagnosed with AN are understood by decision-makers in the treatment environment. Secondly, “AN: the diagnosis” impacts on how treatment and treatment efficacy are defined and the ethical justifiability of paternalism. Thirdly, “AN: the diagnosis” can limit the opportunity for persons with AN to construct an identity that casts them as a competent person. “AN: the diagnosis” can thus inherently affirm professional knowledge and values. Postmodern professional ethics can support professionals in managing these issues by highlighting the importance of taking responsibility for professional knowledge, values, and power and embracing moral uncertainty.

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Notes

  1. This is consistent with Foucault’s genealogical approach for examining the “disciplinary power” of psychiatry. This approach is not “anti-psychiatry.” Rather, the purpose of applying this approach is to reveal and understand the operation of disciplinary power (Foucault 2008, 39-40).

  2. Foucault examines “docile bodies” in his genealogy Discipline and Punish (1977). The “docile body” refers to the 18th-century conceptualisation of the body as an object that could be used, transformed, and improved. This understanding of the body made it a target for manipulation and power (Foucault 1977, 136).

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  1. UNSW Medicine, University of New South Wales, School of Women’s and Children’s Health, UNSW Randwick Hospital Campus, Level 2 McNevin Dickson Building, Randwick, NSW, 2031, Australia

    Sacha Kendall

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Kendall, S. Anorexia Nervosa: The Diagnosis. Bioethical Inquiry 11, 31–40 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11673-013-9496-x

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