Canada and assisted suicide for mental illness?

Thanks for letting us know 👍

It's wrong , mental illness is something that is curable and I do not believe assisted suicide is appropriate for mental illness.

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The 2 stories above prove that assisted suicide as an option in some countries has gone too far.It clearly should be available however the circumstances where it is allowed need to be very strict and I don't believe mental illness should be one of them.I always believed the reason assisted suicide existed is that it only to be used where people would be too weak to be able to commit suicide themselves and need someone else to do it for them to put them out of their misery because they were incapable of doing it themselves.

I suspect due to the way the opening post in this topic is though that the mods will now close the thread.

As of two weeks ago, the Canadian govt was looking to delay this.

Starting March 2023, Canada is expected to become one of the few countries in the world to allow physician-assisted death for chronic mental disorders. But on Thursday, the justice minister, David Lametti, said the government would seek to delay the expansion of medical assistance in dying (Maid), following criticism from psychiatrists and physicians across the country. “We are listening to what we are hearing and being responsive, to make sure we move forward in a prudent way. We know we need to get this right in order to protect those who are vulnerable and also to support an individual’s autonomy and freedom of choice,” Lametti said.

I couldn't read past your first sentence. Spoken like someone who has never had to endure PTSD, or (like me) can't fully understand nor comprehend the depth of suffering from severe mental illness. "Curable" is questionable, at best.

As I said there is always some hope with mental illness there isn't with terminal illness.It's not that controversial a view because it is 100% true.I don't think we should be allowing other people to kill someone if they have severe mental health issues .

If people really want to die they will almost always find away to do it themselves. I have always believed the whole intention of legalizing euthanasia was to provide an option for people who are not capable of committing suicide themselves due to physical difficulties caused by their condition.I think legalizing the ability to kill physically healthy people is a dangerous path to go down.

Was looking for more info on this and came across the disabled veteran who was in contact with veteran affairs to get a stair lift installed and was sent information on availing of assisted suicide instead, in other words if you're that stuck for help why not just off yourself, mental stuff.

As far as it being offered to people suffering with mental health, I couldn't think of a worse idea. When treating people in the depths of depression for example suicidal ideation is exactly what health professionals are trying to keep the patient from. Sounds more like a society just giving up on its vulnerable and seeing a way to save money and resources. Pretty sick stuff.

The argument for those with terminal illness is quite different and I would welcome a debate on it, but at the minute I wouldn't be in favour of it.

Not every mental illness equates to an unsound mind.

Eh?

It's pretty much the definition of a mental illness that the person is of unsound mind.

Um what? I never said anything about self diagnosis or removing medical professionals from the equation.

Electroconvulsive therapy/ ECT/ electroshock has been shown to be effective in some patients with Parkinson's disease in numerous trials.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4655896/

There's some evidence its useful in treating psychoticism afaik.

Its negative depiction in pop culture like One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest and Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance is probably the main reason its held in such low regard.

If there's a genetic component to mental illness, then this policy could be inadvertently eugenic if its a cause of sub-fertility among the mentally ill.

If we get to the point where anyone can end their life with without any stigma then that will place the whole population under selection pressure for traits such as mental resilience and religiousness.

Really? Some evidence 'afaik'. Who in their right mind would take ECT for Parkinson's?

I have seen people after ECT and you wouldn't risk it on your dog!

Unlike 90% of the half-wits on Boards, my sources are not 'pop-culture' or social media: I have had the misfortune to regularly encounter psychiatrists throughout my counselling career and the honest ones are few and far between.

You treat it. Similar to treating diabetes or asthma.