Why are more females than males euthanised?

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..in The Netherlands that is.
Just a quick glance at some research shows that 70% of people euthanised due to psychiatric disorders are female.

Any thoughts as to why this might be? Standard of care?
Just seems a shocking difference.

Why aren’t women using violent methods though? Especially after the first one or two overdoses have failed.

My friend who underwent euthanasia had suffered severe sexual and physical abuse in childhood NothingOnTellyAgain, it seems to be a common theme.

There was a thread recently where an interesting poster seemed to be suggesting that women couldn't even get suicide right anyway it touched on that.

Women are generall much less violent than men (nature / nurture) and this refelcts through to the suicide / attempt methods.

There is also the point that women are often in caring roles and don't' want to do anything too messy out of concern for those who would find them / have to ID them etc.

Why? I’m not sure - a cynic might say women don’t want to have anyone else clear up the mess :(
I suspect it’s down to deeply entrenched gender roles. Women are expected to be quiet and not inconvenience anyone, even in death. Men generally engage in riskier and more violent behaviour so there could be a desensitisation effect.

There is also the point that women are often in caring roles and don't' want to do anything too messy out of concern for those who would find them / have to ID them etc

Well that’s all kinds of fucked up and sad .

Could it not be that, perhaps, women know that overdoses are likely to fail and it may allow them to get some help? Not that I mean it’s a conscious cry for help.
I don’t know if I’ve explained myself properly there, I’m probably far off anyway

Overdoses are probs tricky as it takes a hell of a lot to kill an adult human - see all the problems in USA with death penalty - and so the average person having read the dire warnings about taking more than 8 in a day or whatever it is - and not being a trained pharmacologist - simply underestimates.

I wish euthanasia could be introduced here. It's so wrong that people are left to suffer needlessly.
I think people have an issue with the euthanasia for mental health issues because often they cannot imagine what it would be like to go through such mental turmoil that death seems the only option. However, mental illness can be as debilitating as physical illness and for some, it never improves and there is no hope of it improving. If they are able to make that choice, I think people should be allowed to use it. I think it's kinder and more compassionate to the family too. It's difficult for them of course, but I think it's better than the shock of finding your loved one dead and having no idea about it. At least there is a period of getting used to it and being able to talk to the person about it.
And yes, I agree that women don't use violent methods because women are not as violent as men and because they don't want others to find the body in a gruesome state. I would have thought the numbers for this were very small though, so it's hard to make a meaningful comparison.

It's well worth listening to the Radio 4 programme on Aurelia Brouwers here: www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0bdb9qk

I caught most of it on Thursday morning and it was both moving and interesting. I think if I'd been her friend I'd have supported her decision.

There was a terrible case in Belgium where a trans man was euthenised following a very unhappy childhood (being an unwanted child) and surgery which didn't go well.

The mother's comments are so chilling... "When I saw 'Nancy' for the first time, my dream was shattered. She was so ugly. I had a phantom birth. Her death does not bother me"

www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/belgium/10349159/Mother-of-sex-change-Belgian-I-dont-care-about-his-euthanasia-death.html

The suicide rates though are roughly the same in favour of men, and more women suffer psychiatric disorders

I think the sample is too small for any meaningful extrapolations or conclusions to be drawn

What I worry about is the framework around it. How do we make sure that it’s not abused? How do we make sure it’s the patients consented wish? These are difficult questions ethically.

Me too Bowl. But all that aside, I am for it. I personally do not want to linger on for years when quality of life is in the toilet.

Why aren’t women using violent methods though? Especially after the first one or two overdoses have failed.

Very occasionally (the exceptions rather than the rule), they do.

I know of a nursing sister at a boarding school who took herself out with a chainsaw. A woman (unknown) who jumped from a motorway bridge just in front of the vehicle driven by my then BIL. And when going through the coroner's reports (looking for DV cases) I found a teenager who walked onto the rail tracks in front of an oncoming train. In the first and third cases, known MHI.

So generally, severe MHI when women take themselves out this way. Other than that (if for say depression, or terminal illness) they do tend to worry about 'the clean up'.

I also saw, when going through the coroner's reports, a lesbian couple's double suicide (or assisted suicide and suicide it may have been technically), they sent a note to the local police station, left a key under the mat for the door, proper 'documentation'. One of them had a severe degenerative illness. Apparently they made a pact.

I did coroners court jury service once, many years ago, Lasquirrel. It was very sad and some of the people we were responsible for making decisions about are still very present on my mind more than 20 years on.

Nothing to add to the conversation really, only that I support euthanasia but agree with Babel in that the frameworks need to be incredibly rigorous..

Agree that women likely worry more about who/how they are found - due to gendered socialisation. I read a book on PTSD a while back and several of the personal accounts were about finding loved ones after suicide.

I support assisted dying as I prefer to call it. Euthanasia has 'religious overtones' to me (former Catholic).

Overwhelmingly they are end of life decisions when the quality of life becomes unbearable. I would be prosecuted if I kept my dog or cat alive if they were clearly suffering. It's a very peaceful way to go.

I would be interested more in how many men from the UK go to countries like Switzerland to get assisted dying. It seems to me that men being wealthier can afford to do this more so than women.

My mum told me of a woman who was well known in the community where she lives. She 'conquered' the 'battle' of breast cancer. However it did return, sadly for her. She drove her car into the local lake.

China is an interesting exception, female completed suicides outnumber male. But generally men just seem more comfortable with taking human life?

I support assisted dying as I prefer to call it. Euthanasia has 'religious overtones' to me (former Catholic)

I support assisted dying too. I’ve never been religious so I’m not really sure what the religious overtones are regarding Euthanasia (I’ll have a google).

Another factor is death by self neglect. I work in legal services after people have died alone. Men with mental and physical health problems are (anecdotally, at least) more likely to simply drink/eat/neglect themselves to death than women.

One demographic I see is the unmarried son. Man lives with mother all his life. Mother dies, man fails to cope. Dies neglected, in appalling domestic conditions.

As I say, I see it all the time but my experience is anecdotal.

It's just a personal thing for me, MyBrexit

Religious Education at an all girl's Catholic School was not fun for a fledgling feminist.

Euthanasia and mental health just shouldn’t be a thing. Better mental health services should be a thing! Even terminal cancer makes me a bit iffy, better palliative care should be what we are focussed on.

Im more comfortable with those who are terminally ill ending their lives than those with mental health issues.

As someone who has been suicidal and has had suicidal ideation and attempts at that point in my life I would have wanted to be euthanised and seen it as the easy way out. 5 years on I have a whole life ahead of me, there were some really dark times but I’m now in a positive place and I wonder how many of these people could also come to a positive place.

It’s very sad.

I suspect its because men tend to kill themselves in more dramatic ways.
I think women might well be more drawn to a kinder more efficient way of ending things.
What are suicide stats like in the netherlands.

Madeline18

Euthanasia and mental health just shouldn’t be a thing. Better mental health services should be a thing! Even terminal cancer makes me a bit iffy, better palliative care should be what we are focussed on.

Basically that. I feel like it's a societal failure that the best we can offer is assisted suicide.
And quite frankly, I don't trust the government to come up with nor enforce adequate safeguards. The known potential negative consequences and abuses of power are scary enough.

I strongly disagree. Palliative care isn't going to give people quality of life. It isn't up to you to decide how someone else feels about living or dying.

I have my health, thank goodness, but I watched my gran languish for years in utter misery. She had fantastic care but her life was horrible. All her friends are dead and she lost control of her mind and body.

Pallustive care, no thanks.

Euthanasia and mental health just shouldn’t be a thing what, like mental suffering isn’t as real as physical?