Understanding eating disorders: conceptual and ethical issues in the treatment of anorexia and bulimia nervosa

Abstract

PART I: CLINICAL UNDERSTANDING OF EATING DISORDERS AND OF THE ETHICAL ISSUES INVOLVED 1. Eating Disorders: Anorexia and Bulimia Nervosa 2. Paternalism vs Respect for Autonomy: the Case of the Eating Disordered Person 3. Is Pathological Behaviour Caused by Mental Illness? 4. Scientific Understanding of Eating Disorders PART II: EATING DISORDERS AND THE VALUE OF LIGHTNESS 5. Lightness and Eating Disorders 6. The Value of Lightness PART III: THE FAMILY AND SOCIETY OF THE PERSON WITH EATING DISORDERS 7. The Role of Expectations in the Genesis of Eating Disorders 8. The Society of the Person with Eating Disorders 9. Victims or Persecutors? The Moral Logic at the Heart of Eating Disorders 10. Familial and Social Causes of Eating Disorders: A Critique of the Systemic and Sociological Approaches to Eating Disorders PART IV: LEGAL ISSUES, AUTONOMY, AND END OF LIFE DECISIONS 11. Eating or Treating? Legal and Ethical Issues Surrounding Eating Disorders 12. Autonomy and Control in Eating Disorders 13. Anorexia Nervosa and Refusal of Life-Saving Interventions Conclusion: The Need for Change