Jacinta Tan on anorexia nervosa and the mind

The Life Scientific

BBC

Society & Culture, Personal Journals, Science

4.6 • 1.4K Ratings

🗓️ 7 June 2022

⏱️ 29 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

When a person with severe anorexia nervosa refuses food, the very treatment they need to survive, is that refusal carefully considered and rational, as it can appear to those around them? Or is it really the illness that’s causing them to say ‘no’?

This is one of the thorny ethical dilemmas that Jacinta Tan has wrestled with over the course of her career. She is deeply curious about the mind, and has spent hundreds of hours sitting with people with anorexia nervosa, not persuading them to eat, rather listening to them talk about what’s going on in their minds and how the illness influences their decisions.

These rich internal worlds, that she has revealed, shape her work as a Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist at Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust, where she treats people with eating disorders. The views of those with the conditon and their families have been central to the recent government reviews of the Eating Disorder Services that she led in Scotland and Wales.

These conditions can be hugely challenging to treat. Jacinta Tan tells Jim Al-Khalili how it's the art of medicine, as much as the science, that helps people recover.

PRODUCER: Beth Eastwood

Transcript

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0:00.0	Before you listen to this BBC podcast, I'd like to introduce myself.
0:03.7	My name's Stevie Middleton and I'm a BBC Commissioner for a load of sport podcasts.
0:08.4	I'm lucky to do that at the BBC because I get to work with a leading journalist, experienced
0:12.2	pundits and the biggest sport stars.
0:14.3	Together we bring you untold stories and fascinating insights straight from the players'
0:18.5	mouths.
0:19.5	But the best thing about doing this at the BBC is our unique access to the sport world.
0:25.0	What that means is that we can bring you podcasts that create a real connection to
0:28.8	dedicated sports fans across the UK.
0:31.2	So if you like this podcast, head over to BBC Sounds where you'll find plenty more.
0:35.2	BBC Sounds, Music, Radio, Podcasts
0:40.7	Hello, this is Jim Elkeleely and this is the Life Scientific Podcast, where I get to
0:45.8	talk to some of the amazing men and women who are trying to understand our world and
0:50.2	make it a better place.
0:51.8	I explore their work and lives to find out what gets them out of bed in the morning.
0:56.8	And my guest today is psychiatrist Dr Jacinta Tan.
1:01.0	When a person with severe anorexia nervosa refuses food, the very treatment they need to
1:06.7	survive is that refusal carefully considered and rational as it can appear to those around
1:12.7	them, or is it really the illness that's causing them to say no?
1:16.8	This is one of the thorny ethical dilemmas that Jacinta Tan has wrestled with over the
1:21.1	course of her career.
1:22.8	She's deeply curious about the mind and has spent hundreds of hours sitting with people
	...

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