this post was submitted on 16 May 2024
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[–] figaro@lemdro.id 2 points 6 months ago (2 children)

This is definitely a nuanced discussion and every situation is different, so I'm not going to make any sweeping statements about the whole thing, but I generally see suicidality as a symptom of something else. If we can improve the "something else," the suicidality improves or even goes away in the vast majority of cases.

This is different from other Medical Assistance in Death situations because in the cases where it is implemented because of pain and illness, there is no reasonable hope of improving their outcomes. In the vast majority of mental health cases, there is a lot of hope, even if the patient does not see it (which is often. Most situations where a person expresses suicidal ideation and intention to family, friends, or therapists do not end in follow through. Having someone to talk to about those thoughts helps. Even validating their thoughts helps: "It makes sense that you feel like that, honestly." But ultimately, you want to help them get through to the next day. The vast majority of people who were in this circumstance are glad they did not follow through).

Again, the discussion is nuanced and I don't think Lemmy is the best place to facilitate this discussion, but that is more or less my take on it.

[–] DmMacniel@feddit.de 5 points 6 months ago

Dude... Did you still not read the article?

And do you think that it was willy billy that the state approved her request?

[–] xxd@discuss.tchncs.de 4 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago)

I don't think your distinction makes sense.

You're saying most mental health/suicide cases have hope, and thants probably true! But the article wasn't "every suicidal person granted euthanasia approval", it was approved for one very extreme case of mental suffering with no indication of improving. That would be like saying "most cases of pain still have hope". Yes exactly, they do, but there are rare, chronic cases where euthanasia may be a valid option, right? And just as much as suicidality is just 'a symptom of something' else, isn't pain also just a symptom of something else?

And obviously we should help suicidal people to improve their mental health, but in her case she has been struggling since childhood with no indication of improvement. So how was this "the wrong decision" for her?