Sex abuse victim in her 20s allowed to choose euthanasia in Holland

[Khadgar]

A former victim of child sex abuse has ended her life under Dutch euthanasia laws because she could not live with her mental suffering.
The woman, in her twenties, was given a lethal injection after doctors and psychiatrists decided that her post-traumatic stress disorder and other conditions were incurable.

It went ahead despite improvements in the woman's psychological condition after 'intensive therapy' two years ago, and even though doctors in the Netherlands accept that a demand for death from a psychiatric patient may be no more than a cry for help.

The woman, who has not been named, began to suffer from mental disorders 15 years ago following sexual abuse, according to the papers released by the Dutch Euthanasia Commission. The timescale means she was abused between the ages of five and 15.

News of her death angered anti-euthanasia MPs and disability campaigners in Britain. One Labour MP said it meant sex abuse victims were now being punished with death.

It comes at a time of continued controversy over assisted dying in Britain.

A steady flow of people from this country travel to die legally at the Dignitas clinic in Switzerland, and judges and the courts appear to be leaning in favour of making it legal to help someone to die.

Details of the Dutch case were released by authorities anxious to justify euthanasia laws and to demonstrate that mercy killings are carried out under full and correct medical supervision.

The papers said that the woman, who was killed last year, had post-traumatic stress disorder that was resistant to treatment.
Her condition included severe anorexia, chronic depression and suicidal mood swings, tendencies to self-harm, hallucinations, obsessions and compulsions.

She also had physical difficulties and was almost entirely bedridden. Her psychiatrist said 'there was no prospect or hope for her.
The patient experienced her suffering as unbearable'.

However, the papers also disclosed that two years before her death the woman's doctors called for a second opinion, and on the advice of the new doctors she had an intensive course of trauma therapy. 'This treatment was temporarily partially successful,' the documents said.

Treatment was abandoned last year after independent consultants were called in and said the case was hopeless.

The consultants also said that despite her 'intolerable' physical and mental suffering, chronic depression and mood swings, she was entirely competent to make the decision to take her own life.

The patient, they said, was 'totally competent' and there was 'no major depression or other mood disorder which affected her thinking'. A final GP's report approved the 'termination of life' order and the woman was killed by an injection of lethal drugs, the report said.

In Britain yesterday her case was condemned as 'horrendous' by Labour MP Robert Flello.

He said: 'It almost sends the message that if you are the victim of abuse, and as a result you get a mental illness, you are punished by being killed, that the punishment for the crime of being a victim is death.

'It serves to reinforce why any move towards legalising assisted suicide, or assisted dying, is so dangerous.'

Tory MP Fiona Bruce, chairman of the Parliamentary All-Party Pro-Life Group, said: 'This tragic situation shows why euthanasia should never be legalised in this country.

What this woman needed, at a desperate point in her young life, was help and support to overcome her problems, not the option of euthanasia.'

Nikki Kenward, of the disability rights group Distant Voices, said: 'It is both horrifying and worrying that mental health professionals could regard euthanasia in any form as an answer to the complex and deep wounds that result from sexual abuse.'

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/arti...uncurable.html

Thoughts on this?

[Deleted]

My life, my choice.

If your life sucks and you want to die, go ahead. Surviving for survival's sake is worse than dying, because if you're dead you feel no pain anymore.

It's also a good way to save money.

[Mormolyce]

Horrible story.

I don't look at it as the state allowing anything, but rather whether or not the state has a right to punish people for doing something. In the case of suicide, it's not just wrong for the state to do so, but also comically ineffective.

Tory MP Fiona Bruce, chairman of the Parliamentary All-Party Pro-Life Group, said: 'This tragic situation shows why euthanasia should never be legalised in this country.

What this woman needed, at a desperate point in her young life, was help and support to overcome her problems, not the option of euthanasia.'

That's not an MP's choice to make, it's hers. It's sad that she chose it, but nobody has the right to make that decision for another person.

[I Push Buttons]

That's fucked... Did a doctor volunteer to kill this otherwise perfectly physically healthy person or does the Dutch Euthanasia Commission force a doctor to do?

How the fuck could medical professionals prescribe suicide as the treatment for a mental disorder?

...

[Dendrek]

Her getting euthanized is not punishment. That's an incredibly stupid thing for them to say.

"What she needed was help," is the perpetual idiocy of people who do not understand what mental illness is. While many people who suffer chronic mental illnesses like depression, ptsd, bipolar disorder, etc, can and do receive help that make it easier to cope with their illness and lead semi-normal lives; for many others who suffer from these illnesses, the help they receive is like a bandaid on a gaping wound. It does almost nothing to help those who are suffering but makes the would-be do-gooders feel better about themselves. This seems clearly to be a case of the latter. "Help this poor girl. Sedate her. Give her hours upon hours of therapy. WE'LL FIX HER." No you won't.

What those doctors did was merciful.

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That's fucked... Did a doctor volunteer to kill this otherwise perfectly physically healthy person or does the Dutch Euthanasia Commission force a doctor to do?

How the fuck could medical professionals prescribe suicide as the treatment for a mental disorder?

...

The girl asked for it. It wasn't something the doctors forced on her.

[I Push Buttons]

The girl asked for it. It wasn't something the doctors forced on her.

Did I say anything was forced on her?

[PosPosPos]

Because shaming people who choose suicide to solve their problems is somehow effective in preventing them from doing so and doesn't just all the more give them the final push under most circumstances.

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Did I say anything was forced on her?

By saying that the doctors prescribed suicide. Which wasn't the case.

[Dendrek]

Did I say anything was forced on her?

"How the fuck could medical professionals prescribe suicide as the treatment for a mental disorder?"

Don't be pedantic. It's very clear you meant that the doctors either encouraged or pushed her towards euthanasia. Which is a misrepresentation of what happened here.

[Cosmic Janitor]

Not sure how you can value the desires of someone who can be described like this:

"The papers said that the woman, who was killed last year, had post-traumatic stress disorder that was resistant to treatment.
Her condition included severe anorexia, chronic depression and suicidal mood swings, tendencies to self-harm, hallucinations, obsessions and compulsions."

[Henako]

Did I say anything was forced on her?

If she wants to die, what right does anyone have to stop her?

[Banshee Prince]

Oh boy. That is the very reason some countries refuse to legalise euthanasia. You can't trust people with mental health issues like PTSD to think clearly when choosing to end their life.

[Independent voter]

It's this kind of case that the opponents of euthanasia warned us about, I guess they were right.

Next they'll kill grandma because she's "inconvenient".

[Mormolyce]

What kind of hack diagnoses someone in their 20s as incurable?

What does age have to do with acute psychological distress? You think she was just being a moody kid and would've gotten over it?

[PosPosPos]

Not sure how you can value the desires of someone who can be described like this:

"The papers said that the woman, who was killed last year, had post-traumatic stress disorder that was resistant to treatment.
Her condition included severe anorexia, chronic depression and suicidal mood swings, tendencies to self-harm, hallucinations, obsessions and compulsions."

And the other option is to load her up with meds, force feed and compel life support on her because of the hubris of a few self-righteous.

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What does age have to do with acute psychological distress? You think she was just being a moody kid and would've gotten over it?

Pretty much the problem with these self-righteous people these days.

"Oh you will get over it"
"You can be happy if you want to"
"It's just a matter of trying"
"Depression is a state of mind"
"There's someone worse off than you are"
"Life isn't fair"
"Stop feeling sorry for yourself"

and the list goes on

[Banshee Prince]

What does age have to do with acute psychological distress? You think she was just being a moody kid and would've gotten over it?

She could have learnt to deal with it. Few people can truly get over it.

[Deleted]

Hmm..I'd suggest giving the victim a dull, rusty knife and free access to abuser first. Then see if her mental condition is irrecoverable.

[Wells]

Hmm..I'd suggest giving the victim a dull, rusty knife and free access to abuser first. Then see if her mental condition is irrecoverable.

Yes, violent assault really does wonders for hallucinations.

[PosPosPos]

She could have learnt to deal with it. Few people can truly get over it.

Luckily for us, you are not a mental health care professional.

[I Push Buttons]

"How the fuck could medical professionals prescribe suicide as the treatment for a mental disorder?"

Don't be pedantic. It's very clear you meant that the doctors either encouraged or pushed her towards euthanasia. Which is a misrepresentation of what happened here.

How am I being pedantic, it literally says they provided her a lethal injection? Encouraged her? Where the fuck did that come from? I am asking how these doctors could prescribe suicide... They literally allowed her to do this and provided the means... For a mental problem. How could they arrive at the decision that the only treatment was to allow the suicide of a physically healthy twenty something?

[Deleted]

Yes, violent assault really does wonders for hallucinations.

Hey, you never know. It might!