Euthasia in cases of severe mental health

[Devon01]

Woman who survived Brussels airport bombing is 'euthanised' in Belgium mol.im/a/11291995 via dailym.ai/android

Yes or no?

God how sad. Surely at her young age she could have had more help??

23 years old? Her brain wouldn't have reached full development yet.

I'm shocked and saddened by this.

This seems awful to me. Surely there were other things that could be done. What about experimental hallucinogen therapies? I don't feel comfortable with euthanasia really at any age but 23 and for MH problems and PTSD is extreme.

I am pro euthanasia, and have heard of cases in mental health which have seemed far less premature than this one. The incident was only 6 years ago.

Like this

www.bbc.co.uk/news/stories-45117163

That's eugenics.

No, I'm sorry at 23 I can't believe anyone thinks it's ok to kill this young woman. I just can't.

Watch Louis Theroux's 'Altered Minds' documentary where people were being helped to commit suicide for any number of reasons,including being poor.
I am personally pro-choice and would like to think UK would introduce it in the future, but it does scare me a little to as to who makes the decisions and for what reasons. The 'rules' are somewhat blurred from country to country.

It's so sad but I don't know what to think :(

Do you mean mental illness? Mental health refers to a positive state of being.

People don't really recover from severe trauma. It's not just a case of "get them more help". There is suffering that cannot be remedied and people should have choices about the limit of what they are prepared to endure.

Having seen a really severe PTSD case in a similar aged soldier you served in Afghanistan whilst still a teenager, then I don't think it is fair to judge what 7 years in her shoes must have been like. At least she was afforded dignity and a peaceful death in the end, better than her commited suicide alone and in a distressing and physically traumatic way.

That's so sad, especially as young as 23. Its not something I personally agree with. The very nature of mental illness can mean you completely lose hope and want to die. That doesn't make those thoughts true. I don't think someone suffering from severe mental illness is always capable of seeing that it could get better. There's lots of people who've gone from a place of wanting to die and feeling hopeless to feeling that their life is worth living.

As far as consensual euthanasia goes, unless you think mental illness is a figment of imagination or some kind of character flaw, I don't see why people would support the right to die due to unbearable suffering caused by physical illness but not unbearable suffering caused by mental illness.

In both cases consent requires the capacity to consent.

I don't think most people here actually understand what severe PTSD means.

@tickticksnooze Do you mean mental illness? Mental health refers to a positive state of being.

I think you're being a little pedantic. I don't think posters are deliberately using the wrong term, they're expressing their opinions on a serious matter and don't really need to be corrected in such a patronising manner. I think the majority of people who read the thread will understand what they are referring to

This doesn't feel right to me. I understand that logically she might meet the legal criteria for euthanasia but it feels wrong for a 23 year old.

This is why I will never be pro euthanasia, but I believe we can do death better.

I’m pro euthanasia, if someone doesn’t want to live, and has the capacity to consent then it’s their life to do with as they please. Who the fuck thinks they’re entitled to an opinion over someone else’s body/life……

@tickticksnooze I don't think most people here actually understand what severe PTSD means

Again, a little patronising. No,not everyone understands PTSD, not everyone has experienced severe mental health illness and I doubt many of us have considered euthanasia for anything but physical or neurological conditions. But they are entitled to their opinion. Please don't belittle people for that. If you have experience as either a sufferer or carer or career, then please feel free to share and educate but please do it in a non-condescending manner

It's very sad that she felt she had to do this but I support her right to make that decision for herself.

We dont seem to be able to help people with depression and other mental illnesses other than by medicating them to numb the feeling. It's sad there's no cure really.

I'm a MH professional and this really isn't true. It might be the case that the individual in the news story had not recovered in 7 years but it isn't true that 'people don't really recover from severe trauma'.

I did, and I've worked with many people who did too. Please don't describe us all in this catch-all way.

I’m pro euthanasia

and I have personal experience of ptsd - but not from an event as extreme as this

i was horrified by it

i dont think it’s possible to decide at 23 that it was not possible for her to improve

thst is so so young. maturity and life experience as well as further long term treatment could very well have improved her situation. I don’t think any doctor could have decided that this was not a possibility

This.

Do you mean mental illness? Mental health refers to a positive state of being

I assume the OP just missed the word 'issues' off the end to be fair.

It’s a huge safeguarding issue though. We can’t just agree to kill everyone who asks for it. It’s worrying. 23 is very young.