Force Fed?

Hearnden, Alexis. "Force Feeding of Anorexics." International Debate Education Association. IDEA, 28 Jan. 2011. Web. 13 Sept. 2011. http://www.idebate.org/debatabase/topic_details.php?topicID=161

This article is, in all honesty, trying to save the anorexics and try and give them a say as to how they can be treated. At the moment, when an anorexic patient comes in that is much too thin, they force feed him or her through a naso-gastric tube. In other words, food through the nose. In cases with other diseases, these type of procedures are usually only to the patients choice. In the case of anorexics, however, they have no say in how they are treated due to anorexia being documented as a mental illness. The article goes on to go through the pros and cons of giving them and say and not. Though they try to show both sides evenly, it seems to be a little bias toward the force feeding, saying that its necessary and should be the doctors choice because the doctor knows best. But with how anorexics are, wouldn't force feeding them just want to be farther and farther away from food? I believe this is an interesting topic but there's not really much to go off of. It seems like a debate that can't really be solved with just one answer. Some patients could think for themselves while others would turn their noses up at treatment. There's just no way to distinguish between the two by just looking at the illness as a whole. In my opinion, people shouldn't be force fed even if they truly need the nutrients. If they agree to the tube, then that's a different story. But if they believe that they don't want it, then send them to a psychiatrist and then let it work itself out. I don't know if many people would want this as a topic or find it interesting because it's, in a way, the dark side of the entertainment and cultural society. It makes your stomach curl and twist but it's a fact of life that we have to look at at some point or another.