Should legal adults suffering from anorexia be force-fed even if they refuse the treatment?
Force feeding an anorexia patient is legal, as it is treating someone who is ill.
Someone who is going through anorexia is definitely ill, and if it gets to the point where the person is hospitalized because he refuses to eat, it would be unethical as well as illegal to not treat this person just as you would someone who is in automobile accident, who is a cancer patient, etc.
Posted by: Z FryeSister of anorexic
To all of you who say no - you clearly have never encountered an anorexic on the verge of death. My sister is 26, 5,7", and hovering around 60 pounds. This has been going on since she was 17, and she has been on a steady decline since then. But since she has been an "adult" my parents have been helpless to do anything. If you met her you would see the true definition of a mentally incompetent person. She has absolutely zero ability to make decisions - sure she might have the capacity to talk, but she cannot appreciate the consequences of her decisions. When we try to beg her to even go to the emergency room she turns into a crazed animal, with a raw, animalistic intense desire to protect her disease. It is almost as if she is demon-possessed. At this point she is so medically compromised that it is beyond reason to claim that she still has the mental ability to make decisions for herself. Her brain is not even getting enough nutrients to make decisions.until you have been in our shoes you will never be able to understand the absolute hell that family members go through when their hands are tied and they just have to watch their loved one slowly commit suicide. There has to be a change in the law that would allow parents to make the decision to have their adult child force-fed when they drop below a certain bmi - because at that point it truly is suicide.
Posted by: AnonymousI agree that anorexic legal adults should be force-fed for their own good, and to maintain their health and their lives.
I have trouble comprehending why an anorexic person would refuse any type of nutrition to help maintain their lives, noting that eating often makes them sick. Stating that, they should be force-fed in a professional medical atmosphere to make sure they will live. A person suffering from anorexia is so depleted and confused that they honestly don't know what is best for them, and would require immediate intervention in the way of getting a sustainable diet.
Posted by: RacialMorris27No, I do not think that people suffering from anorexia should be force-fed against their will, as this infringes on their personal freedom.
Adults in this country are free to make their own decisions, often regardless of whether society feels that those decisions are beneficial to them or not. For example, smokers are allowed to smoke cigarettes despite the mountain of evidence showing that, ultimately, smoking will kill you. Alcoholics are allowed to drink alcohol despite the mountain of evidence that consumption of large quantities of alcohol will also ultimately kill you. We should be free to make decisions with regard to our own bodies, otherwise, personal freedom is doomed and our society degenerates into a nanny-state. If we won't force smokers to quit smoking, or make alcoholics stop drinking, then why should people who choose not to eat be forced to eat against their will?
Posted by: MarkBuIIYes because it is still against the law to commit suicide.
No compassionate person can stand by and watch an otherwise healthy human being starve themselves slowly to death. These folks need to get intensive therapy as well immediate medical intervention to prevent unnecessary death. People in such a condition need our help as they are not capable of making good decisions concerning their well-being.
Posted by: NettN355I support force feeding anorexics, it is for their well-being, they themselves be mentally unstable to decide what is best for them.
Anorexia is a serious disorder where an individual actually believes that they are not the right shape and so try to literally starve themselves to get fit. Even when they become underweight, they continue to see themselves as 'fat'. It is important to force feed these individuals otherwise they can starve themselves to the point of no recovery. Because they are in an unhealthy state of mind, it would not be in anyone's best interest to trust their judgment. These people need to be kept alive so that they can get the help they need and hopefully set on the right track.
Posted by: MyHierForce feeding might be necessary to keep an anorexic alive and allow them to receive treatment.
Anorexia is a psychological disorder and in most cases it takes a lot of counseling and therapy. If a person is severely malnourished, their mental functioning might be diminished and they won't benefit from counseling, or they might even die before counseling can do any good. So in some cases, if a person is in danger of dying if they don't get treatment, it would be necessary to force feed them to keep them alive.
Posted by: N Schroeder 60Adults suffering from anorexia should be force-fed even if they refuse treatment.
Anorexia is a very serious disease. Those who suffer from it do not always know the damage they can do. All they see when they look in the mirror is a "fat" body. Understanding the fact that they are anorexic and harming themselves is very seldom understood by the person with the disease. They do not know that if they continue on this path that death could and probably will occur. I guess if suicide is illegal then continuing on the path of anorexia would be suicide and therefore illegal and therefore should be treated even if treatment is refused.
Posted by: w00tboycomicAnorexia is a desiese which stops the person from king rational desicions about their health
Like with patients who are insane, if a person is not capable of making healthy judgements themselves then those judgments need to be made for them.
Posted by: AnonymousAnorexics can't think rationally.
Some anorexics even have voices in their head. They do not know what is good for them. They're COMPROMISED. Of course they should be force fed. It sounds harsh to say it, but you can't view them as ''normal adults with their own rights''. Some anorexics WISH they could eat, but they just can't. That's when they need treatment.
Posted by: Anonymous
I think people have the right to do what they choose with their body.
People have the inherent right to choose what they want to with their body and if they want to choose death that is their prerogative. To force feed someone if they choose not to eat infringes on their rights to choose what diet they feel is best for them. This is a disorder, but not a mental condition where they have no idea what they are doing. The government/authorities already have too many rights and to grant them the right to do this would be completely unacceptable.
Posted by: 5h4bbyCourNo, this is a kind of punishment to them.
No, no one suffering from anorexia should be put through the humiliation of being force fed. This won't work, unless the patient was put in restraints and given an intravenous tube to supply nutrition. And this is probably illegal. Any other kind of attempt at force feeding someone could merely result in the person regurgitating the food, although I cant see someone forcing another person to eat against their will.
Posted by: PinkMychAnorexia is much like any other addiction and the afflicted should not be forced into help.
Just like a drug or alcohol addiction, anorexia is an addiction based on control. A person suffering from anorexia should not be force fed, just like an an alcoholic should not have his booze taken away. These diseases are more about control and the person needs to want the help. To force feed an anorexic without fixing the mental issue is the same as telling a drug addict not to touch drugs again but giving them no means to cope or heal.
Posted by: TedieDelightDont force them.
In my own opinion I do not believe a client suffering from anorexia should be forced-fed. Force feeding somone could be deemed as Battery. This client is still legally competent until judged incompetent, which in that case, the client still has the right to refuse. I say this because I do not suffer nor do I have family members that suffer. One could change their view based on their current situation. If it was a family member, I would probably have a different stance on this debate.
Posted by: AnonymousI oppose force feeding because that does not solve the problem as to why the person does not want to eat.
In the end, a person has to choose to want help if forced to do things without solving the main problem tends to make things worst.
Posted by: OIdsCra2iiAnorexic adults should not be force-fed because it's against the constitution to force somebody to do something with their body.
It's against an anorexics rights to be force-fed. Doing so would break the supreme law of the land, which is the U.S constitution. So therefore no, anorexics should not be force fed. Even if it was not illegal, it's still immoral to force anybody to do anything to their own bodies.
Posted by: RayEarThe state does not have the legal or moral right to force medical care on any individual, if that individual chooses to refuse that care.
The question of whether to force-feed an adult anorexic against his/her will could be the poster child for that legal "slippery slope". First, we do not know how to treat, much less cure, the anorexic. There are many schools of thought, and many "clinics" purporting to be that one magic cure that will make the anorexic all better. The fact that there are so very many schools of thought is troubling, because it clearly indicates that there is no consensus. Secondly, do we have the right to inflict the "cure du jour" on any adult who is unwilling to submit to it? Legally, we do not. An adult can refuse to have treatment for cancer if they so choose. An adult can refuse to go to the dentist if they so choose. The only compelling legal reason to require an unwilling citizen to accede to unwanted treatment is if the illness involves a communicable disease that could endanger the community at large, if the disease is not contained. To the best of my knowledge, anorexia is not contagious. As to whether the state has a moral right or obligation to impose a cure on an unwilling anorexic? No. No. No.
Posted by: CI3IikeAdults suffering from anorexia should not be force fed as it violates their rights to eat how they wish.
While it is understandable that we should want to save those that suffer from anorexia by force feeding them, it violates the rights of that person to decide what they believe is best for them. Although it is understood by the community at large that they may be suffering from a mental illness, force feeding would only serve to humiliate and make helpless the one being force fed, further driving that person to seek control in their life. Anorexia is about a need for control over something in one's life, by taking this last thing, you essentially demolish the level of ownership one has over oneself.
Posted by: StormGraThere is a reason why an individual is anorexic.
I am against that type of treatment. Those who suffer from anorexia nervosa have very serious underlying problems that are causing them to become what they are in the first place. Force-feeding them will not solve their personal issues and sufferings. Such horrible treatment will only rob them of their dignity and their personal values, not to mention lowering their self-esteem. Forced weight-gain in an alien environment is any anorexic's nightmare. How could any anorexic seek help if they believe they may be force-fed if they are hospitalized? Whether or not to choose life or death should be completely up to the individual in the world of today.
Posted by: AnonymousYou can only help someone if they want to be helped.
As legal adults, no one should be force-fed. No one should be forced into treatment, unless they want the help. As individuals, we all have a right to decide for ourselves and make up our own minds about our lives. Even if it means becoming sick, getting hurt, or making foolish decisions, it is their own free will to do so.
Posted by: DrySol61If they want to starve to death, let them.
Its a personal choice. If anorexics want to stop eating and battle with their weight to the point of killing themselves, then let them. They will surely be aware of the precarious situation they are in, however their compulsion to starve is still stronger. By all means they should be offered therapy, but it will only work if it is wanted. If they don't want to change let them get on with it.
Posted by: anon11Patient autonomy comes first, unless the patient is mentally unfit.
In the U.S., one of the things that is held in highest regard is patient autonomy. Only the patient can ultimately decide whether treatment is necessary or not. The only exception is if the patient is deemed mentally unfit to know the consequences of refusing treatment.
Posted by: TickoNestFreedom issue
The only people who should be force fed are minors and vulnerable adults, because they cannot make their own decisions. And prisoners, because they have forfeited the right tomake these decisions.
Posted by: AnonymousIf a legal adult does not want to eat enough to live, then he or she should have this option.
Legal adults suffering from anorexia should have the service provided for them to receive rehab with a live-in situation, counseling, healthy appropriate food and exercise; but if they choose not to eat, they should not be force-fed, even if they are risking their lives. Everyone should have the right to control their own body if they are not hurting anyone.
Posted by: DisillusionedGilberto67anyone who can force feed someone against their own will is obviously not in their right mind as wel
anorexics are sick, not prisoners. it is wrong to force feed someone who chooses not too. what makes you think that force feeding will solve the problem. they can go home after being force fed, and be in actually a worse position. if they have low self esteem already imagine what them being forced to eat will do to their personal self esteem. if someone is determined not to eat, the more effective way to go about it would be to try to understand where they're coming from and stateyour opinion and try and counsel one through it
Posted by: AnonymousAnorexic adults should not be force-fed against their will, because we should let people do what they want with their bodies.
If an adult has anorexia and refuses treatment, let them starve. They are grown people that are responsible for their bodies and free to choose what is right for them. When doctors start forcing us to do things, we will have truly lost our most basic liberty, and many folks will just stop getting medical care. It's better to tell the anorexics what will happen if they don't get the treatment. Let them degrade and find out what they were told is happening and then, hopefully, voluntarily decide to have treatment.
Posted by: FlakyHerb64Force feeding could also lead to bulimia.
As an ex sufferer myself, I can honestly say that if a person does not want to eat then they cannot be made to. If they do not want the calories in their bodies, they will find a way to get rid of them - laxatives, forced vomiting, etc - which will end up being even worse for their bodies than simply not eating. I believe they should know that there is help and support avadiable if they wish to take it, but should not be forced into anything.
Posted by: Anonymous