On the Rejection of Treatments in Anorexia: Critical Analysis

Abstract

It could be said that when patients with anorexia refuse treatments a considerable ethical dilemma is opened. The doubts of the clinicians lie in whether they accept the decisions of these people and thus endanger their lives or, on the contrary, they should apply forced treatments to protect them. In this paper, we want to analyse the question of capacity in order to evaluate if we have to accept their decisions or not. Besides, we would like to review the issue of personal identity in people with anorexia, considering its role in the decision-making. Finally, substituted judgment is frequently used as a guide for decision making when patients lack of capacity, so it should be studied when to apply such criterion and which critical issues could be arisen.