23 year old has assisted suicide in Switzerland

[Evenstar]

Here news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/hereford/worcs/7676812.stm

This is terribly sad, I wonder how much help and support this family were given in the wake of their son's accident.

What if a woman with PND wanted to kill herself?

That's your opinion bodycolder, when DH was on dialysis he said he did occasionaly feel depressed and felt suicidal intent sometimes but on the whole didn't.
Two of his brothers are on dialysis, one for 6 years! I wouldn't suggest to them or their children that their life wasn't worth living.
One person's experiences and beliefs cannot be generalised and used to describe all people having similar experiences.

PND is not the same as being left severely disabled for the rest of your life.
There is treatment for PND, there was no cure for this young man.
If such a woman wants to take her own life she will be able to do so herself.

there was treatment for his depression though. I haven't let dd see this news article. God knows what she will think. She's paralysed from the neck down, doubly incontinent etc etc

No one should be suggesting or even intimating that someone else's life is not worth living. However if that is their point of view then it is also not right for someone else to say that is not so. I am sure his friends, family and professionals suggested possible ways to improve it, possibilities for the future, examples of others who have come through the other side of a devastating accident and live fulfilled lives. But that wasn't enough for this individual. He found an alternative, and pursued it, and persuaded his parents to support him in his desire. I am sure that they were devastated that that is what he wanted to do. Now they have on top of that a police investigation and a whole load of publicity. I am sure they didn't solicit that.

But none of the admittedly scanty information about this case suggests that he was depressed, at least to the point of needing treatment. You can choose to kill yourself from a position of sanity.

well, I can't be bothered with this anymore as its upsetting for me as a disabled person and as the mother to a severely disabled child. I would not assist my child in doing this just cos they were disabled. If they were terminally ill or getting dementia then maybe but even then I'd have severe doubts.
I wonder what Chris Reeve would make of all this if he were still around.

Well said nooka.

NMC I was just about to say that the linked report makes no mention whatsoever of depression.

He felt as though he was living in a physical prison.

He had already tried to kill himself 3 times. The mother has said that if he had not gone to Switzerland, he would have starved himself.

why wasn't he sectioned?

....probably because he was sane.

Sometimes people do things we don't agree with. People make decisions we don't like, but it's their decision to make and we don't have the right to question it.

I do hope his parents don't face prosecution.

Probably not sectionable if he had no evidence of mental illness or thought disorder.

Suicide can be a rational act borne of a sane (but very sad and desperate) mind.

I thought most people who attempted suicide were sectioned cos its not normal now is it.

people were killing themselves waaaaay before the mental health act.

and sectioning people because they've attempted suicide generally only delays the act itself until they're released and try again.
It is as simple as some people genuinely don't wish to live anymore, regardless of the reason.

On the subject of selfish, I don't think suicide is selfish, taking your family with you is selfish.

why are anorexics sectioned then and force fed? Surely if they wish to stave to death it is their right?

suicide is pretty selfish. Someone has to deal with the body/aftermath/police/funeral expenses etc

Depends what you mean by not normal. You don't have to be mentally ill to attempt or complete suicide.

People can't be sectioned because they make a choice that isn't normal. Most serious suicide attempts will be admitted to a psychiatric ward either on a section or informally for a period with a view to assessing their mental state. If they are not mentally ill and still express the desire to kill themselves, there is no way of forceably detaining them to prevent it.

Anorexia is classified as a mental illness and therefore sectionable.

Force feeding is only allowable under very strict conditions of the Mental Health Act which allow medical treatment in the best interests of the patients against their will in order to save their life and no more.

Probably because AN is a mental disorder, where a person is judged not to be of sound mind to make a decision.

There doesn't seem to be any such mental disorder in the case of this young man.

unfit i agree but that was how i felt and obviously the young man in question too.And it is his choice alone.

You have to deal with those things in the event of any death NMC, with the possible exception of the police in most cases.

I wouldn't say suicide is a normal response to anything. How can it be?

parents thouht it was the right thing so my thouhts are with them and them coming to terms with their decision.

respect them.

maybe not for you, but it clearly is for some and we have no right to take that choice away.
Abortion is not a 'normal' choice for some women, but a very valid one for others. It's still very important that people have these options.