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The Ethical Defensibility of Harm Reduction and Eating Disorders
- Source :
- The American Journal of Bioethics. 21:46-56
- Publication Year :
- 2020
- Publisher :
- Informa UK Limited, 2020.
-
Abstract
- Eating disorders are mental illnesses that can have a significant and persistent physical impact, especially for those who are not treated early in their disease trajectory. Although many persons with eating disorders may make a full recovery, some may not; this is especially the case when it comes to persons with severe and enduring anorexia nervosa (SEAN), namely, those who have had anorexia for between 6 and 12 years or more. Given that persons with SEAN are less likely to make a full recovery, a different treatment philosophy might be ethically warranted. One potential yet scarcely considered way to treat persons with SEAN is that of a harm reduction approach. A harm reduction philosophy is deemed widely defensible in certain contexts (e.g. in the substance use and addictions domain), and in this paper we argue that it may be similarly ethically defensible for treating persons with SEAN in some circumstances.
- Subjects :
- Harm reduction
medicine.medical_specialty
Anorexia Nervosa
Substance-Related Disorders
Health Policy
Addiction
media_common.quotation_subject
Anorexia
Morals
medicine.disease
Mental illness
Mental health
Feeding and Eating Disorders
Issues, ethics and legal aspects
Eating disorders
Harm Reduction
Anorexia nervosa (differential diagnoses)
medicine
Humans
Substance use
medicine.symptom
Psychiatry
Psychology
media_common
Subjects
Details
- ISSN :
- 15360075 and 15265161
- Volume :
- 21
- Database :
- OpenAIRE
- Journal :
- The American Journal of Bioethics
- Accession number :
- edsair.doi.dedup.....162d94c7eeafafee94c17cebcd122c8c