I might be going out on a limb here, but I think anyone that wants to maim themselves is just a little nuts. Abnormal. And the current thinking in society is that if it doesn't hurt anyone else, what's the harm in self-harm? Indeed, what's the harm in suicide, in euthanasia and abortion?
Do we give up on treatment for such people people, or do we help them to live with their disability - the mental disability that they think they are whole only when they are not, or do we hand them a chainsaw and say "hey, go for it?"
The story in the paper today where psychiatrist Christopher Ryan puts forward the idea that Doctors are "duty bound" to amputate healthy limbs if that is what the patient wants is a symptom of the madness of pandering to the desires and not interests of individuals.
It's one thing to argue to let people do what they want, even if it is unhealthy, unethical or immoral. It is another to legislate to force this on others. The recent legislation in Victoria Australia, forcing Doctors to perform late term abortions is an example of how far these ideas are pushed.
What Dr Ryan is admitting to is that psychiatrists can't cure some people with mental issues, so the next best thing is to pander to their whims so that they don't do anything rash. The problem is, what happens if a person "recovers" and achieves a normal state of mind?
Related Link: Cutting off limbs seen as armless
Do we give up on treatment for such people people, or do we help them to live with their disability - the mental disability that they think they are whole only when they are not, or do we hand them a chainsaw and say "hey, go for it?"
The story in the paper today where psychiatrist Christopher Ryan puts forward the idea that Doctors are "duty bound" to amputate healthy limbs if that is what the patient wants is a symptom of the madness of pandering to the desires and not interests of individuals.
It's one thing to argue to let people do what they want, even if it is unhealthy, unethical or immoral. It is another to legislate to force this on others. The recent legislation in Victoria Australia, forcing Doctors to perform late term abortions is an example of how far these ideas are pushed.
What Dr Ryan is admitting to is that psychiatrists can't cure some people with mental issues, so the next best thing is to pander to their whims so that they don't do anything rash. The problem is, what happens if a person "recovers" and achieves a normal state of mind?
Dr Ryan has examined the ethics of the issue in the international philosophy journal Neuroethics and says doctors have a moral duty to amputate for the health and safety of the patient.And now it seems Freud is an ethicist.
Related Link: Cutting off limbs seen as armless