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Euthanasia for mental illness involves a physician intentionally ending the life of a patient who has requested euthanasia due to a psychiatric condition. The practice is legal in Belgium, [1] the Netherlands, [2] Luxembourg, [3] Spain [4] and Colombia. [5] In Canada, legislation authorizing the procedure was passed, but has since been repeatedly postponed. [6]
The practice is considered controversial as unlike with other types of euthanasia, a patient euthanized for mental illness alone is usually not terminally ill, and may have their decisional capacity impeded by their condition. [7] [8] [9] It is also considered more difficult with psychological conditions to determine an objective prognosis, or whether a disorder is irremediable. [10] [11]
In Belgium, euthanasia for mental illness is legal if the patient is mentally competent to make the decision; the patient requests euthanasia on two separate occasions in writing; the patient is suffering from an incurable disease or mental illness, and all treatment options have been exhausted; and the patient is experiencing "unbearable suffering" from the illness, either physically or psychologically. [12] Three doctors must agree to grant euthanasia in psychiatric cases. [13] [14] Euthanasia for mental suffering is not available for children. [15]
As of 2017, approximately 40 patients per year received euthanasia due to mental illness, out of approximately 2,000 total yearly euthanasia deaths. [15]
In 2020, a Belgium court acquitted three doctors who had euthanized Tine Nys, a physically healthy 38-year-old woman with autism, of manslaughter charges. [16] Nys' sister Sophie Nys had filed a lawsuit alleging that the doctors did not properly attempt to treat her condition, and that Nys had not been incurably ill as the law required. [16]
Euthanasia for mental illness has been legal since 2002 in the Netherlands provided the patient has "unbearable suffering with no prospect of improvement" and has requested to die in a way that is "voluntary, well considered and with full conviction", among other criteria. [17] [18] In 2020, the Supreme Court of the Netherlands ruled that physicians could euthanize patients with dementia if they had expressed a wish to die before the onset of their condition. [19]
The 2016 euthanasia of Eelco de Gooijer, a 38-year-old man from Tilburg who had depression and autism, was one of the first high-profile euthanasia cases involving a young person with a neurodevelopmental condition and mental illness. [18] [20]
In 2023, 138 people in the Netherlands received euthanasia due to psychiatric conditions, a 20% increase from 2022. [21] The first minor euthanized for a psychiatric condition was in 2023. [21]
Part of a series on |
Euthanasia |
---|
Types |
Views |
Groups |
People |
Books |
Jurisdictions |
Laws |
Alternatives |
Other issues |
Euthanasia for mental illness involves a physician intentionally ending the life of a patient who has requested euthanasia due to a psychiatric condition. The practice is legal in Belgium, [1] the Netherlands, [2] Luxembourg, [3] Spain [4] and Colombia. [5] In Canada, legislation authorizing the procedure was passed, but has since been repeatedly postponed. [6]
The practice is considered controversial as unlike with other types of euthanasia, a patient euthanized for mental illness alone is usually not terminally ill, and may have their decisional capacity impeded by their condition. [7] [8] [9] It is also considered more difficult with psychological conditions to determine an objective prognosis, or whether a disorder is irremediable. [10] [11]
In Belgium, euthanasia for mental illness is legal if the patient is mentally competent to make the decision; the patient requests euthanasia on two separate occasions in writing; the patient is suffering from an incurable disease or mental illness, and all treatment options have been exhausted; and the patient is experiencing "unbearable suffering" from the illness, either physically or psychologically. [12] Three doctors must agree to grant euthanasia in psychiatric cases. [13] [14] Euthanasia for mental suffering is not available for children. [15]
As of 2017, approximately 40 patients per year received euthanasia due to mental illness, out of approximately 2,000 total yearly euthanasia deaths. [15]
In 2020, a Belgium court acquitted three doctors who had euthanized Tine Nys, a physically healthy 38-year-old woman with autism, of manslaughter charges. [16] Nys' sister Sophie Nys had filed a lawsuit alleging that the doctors did not properly attempt to treat her condition, and that Nys had not been incurably ill as the law required. [16]
Euthanasia for mental illness has been legal since 2002 in the Netherlands provided the patient has "unbearable suffering with no prospect of improvement" and has requested to die in a way that is "voluntary, well considered and with full conviction", among other criteria. [17] [18] In 2020, the Supreme Court of the Netherlands ruled that physicians could euthanize patients with dementia if they had expressed a wish to die before the onset of their condition. [19]
The 2016 euthanasia of Eelco de Gooijer, a 38-year-old man from Tilburg who had depression and autism, was one of the first high-profile euthanasia cases involving a young person with a neurodevelopmental condition and mental illness. [18] [20]
In 2023, 138 people in the Netherlands received euthanasia due to psychiatric conditions, a 20% increase from 2022. [21] The first minor euthanized for a psychiatric condition was in 2023. [21]