Omsorg i krise? Mellem forælder og behandler - Brødegaard Christoffersen, Sidse (Tidsskriftet Antropologi, 2025)
I det øjeblik det går op for forældrene, at deres barn lider af anoreksi, ramler deres verden sammen. Intet er som før, og forældrene bevæger sig famlende på usikker grund. I denne artikel undersøger jeg, hvordan sygdommen anoreksi fører forældre ud i en tilstand af krise, der fundamentalt forandrer deres liv. Jeg demonstrerer, hvordan de lever i en undtagelsestilstand, hvor de konstant kæmper mod anoreksien, da en accept af at leve med sygdommen ville implicere en accept af deres barns gradvise forsvinden. Denne situation tvinger dem til at lade forældrerollen glide i baggrunden til fordel for andre roller, hvor de må tilsidesætte deres tidligere opfattelser af god og dårlig omsorg for at sikre deres barns helbred. Begrebet ”pårørendeerkendelse” introduceres til at beskrive denne dynamik. I artiklen understreger jeg, at god omsorg ikke er et entydigt begreb, men snarere komplekst og ambivalent. Forældrenes tinkering giver dem værdifuld viden om og erfaring med sygdommen, men kan også have uforudsete konsekvenser og forskyde ansvaret. Engelsk: This article explores how parents of young people suffering from anorexia are pushed into a state of crisis that fundamentally transforms their lives. The moment parents realize their child is suffering from anorexia, they find themselves navigating uncertain terrain. In their efforts to help, parents are often assigned responsibilities such as coercing their child to eat or preventing them from exercising. I demonstrate how this situation evolves into a state of exception, where parents are in a constant battle against the illness, as accepting it would mean accepting their child’s gradual disappearance. This forces them to let their parental role recede in favor of other roles where they must set aside their previous perceptions of good and bad care and parenting to ensure their child’s health. The concept “relative recognition” is introduced to describe this dynamic. In the article, I emphasize that good care is not a straightforward concept but rather complex and ambivalent. I argue that the parents’ tinkering provides them with valuable knowledge and experience in dealing with the illness, but it often has unforeseen consequences and shifts the burden of responsibility.