Who's Controlling Who?
Thursday 18 October, 19.00-20.30
Many people with anorexia nervosa feel they have to be in control of their lives but others may think the disorder is taking charge. In some cases, it is necessary for parents, doctors, clinicians and psychiatrists to intervene and manage the situation. When treatment beckons, who's really in control: the patient, the carer, the psychiatrist or the illness?
Treatment strategies for anorexia nervosa can range from force-feeding, through admissions and treatment without parental agreement, to the use of incentives and methods to motivate people to want to have treatment for themselves. Should sufferers be encouraged to take control of their own decisions rather than be told by others what they should do?
Who is really controlling who? New research in neuroscience may offer interesting insights into these questions. Our guests discussed who should make the decisions when life is in the balance.
Speakers
Jacinta Tan, Senior Clinical Research Fellow, Ethox Centre, University of Oxford
Janet Treasure, Director, Eating Disorder Unit, South London Maudsley Hospital NHS Trust
Katy Campbell, patient advocate
Jacinta Tan
I am a Senior Clinical Research Fellow at the Ethox Centre, University of Oxford. I am a Consultant Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist who is also a medical ethicist and ethics researcher. My areas of interest are: consent and competence, particularly in children and adolescents; the development of autonomy in adolescents and young adults; the impact of anorexia nervosa on competence in both adolescents and adults; individual and group models of consent, mental health law and the use of compulsory treatment; and the ethics of compulsory treatment of mental disorders. I am currently funded by the Wellcome Trust to run a research project validating and disseminating competence research results.
Janet Treasure
I am a psychiatrist based at the Eating Disorder Unit at the South London Maudsley Hospital NHS Trust, a leading centre in clinical management and training of eating disorders. I have specialised in the treatment of eating disorders for over 24 years. I was chairman of the physical treatment section of the UK National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence guideline committee. I am the Chief Medical Advisor for the Eating Disorder Association (the main UK eating disorder charity) and am the patron of the Sheffield Eating Disorders Association. In 2004 I was awarded the Academy for Eating Disorders Leadership Award in Research.
Katy Campbell
I am 30 years old; I have had anorexia nervosa since I was 11, as has my twin sister, Maria. I have been in many inpatient units in London and at the moment I am attending a day programme at King's Cross 'Russell Unit' headed by Dr Paul Robinson. It is the first time I have had experience of day treatment for eating disorders. I studied medicine at the Royal Free Medical School but unfortunately due to illness I could not qualify. I hope to take my final exams when I am recovered. Currently I am a volunteer with Janet Treasure, helping her with her current research at the same time as focusing on my own recovery.