Why reflexivity matters in the literature of suffering, death, and dying in eating disorders.

Current debates on medical aid in dying and treatment futility in longstanding eating disorders emphasize diagnostic frameworks, ethical principles, and legal statutes. What remains underexamined is how an author's own experiences with suffering, death, and dying shape their perspective and conclusions. I argue that every manuscript on end-of-life care, decision-making capacity, or futility in eating disorders should include a reflexivity statement detailing the author's relationship to mortality. By mandating reflexivity disclosures alongside ethics and funding statements, journals can enhance transparency and allow readers to contextualize empirical claims and ethical positions. I propose a template for a reflexivity paragraph in which authors succinctly state their clinical or research focus, experiences with suffering, and forces that shape their views on suffering, futility, and dying. Embedding these statements will strengthen the epistemic and ethical integrity of scholarship, increase compassion even in disagreement, guard against hidden biases, and foster more patient-centered, culturally sensitive discourse on longstanding eating disorders and end-of-life decision making.