Wednesday, January 18, 2012

Dutch Psychiatrists euthanizing patients

Wesley Smith
Yesterday, Wesley Smith wrote an interesting article on his blog about the fact that Dutch Psychiatrists are now euthanizing their patients. You should be saying, no way, the issue of euthanasia is about "free choice" and psychiatric patients are often lacking in the ability to "freely choose".

If you read my article from yesterday titled: Euthanasia for any and no reason in the Netherlands it will not surprise you that mental pain and even dementia are becoming acceptable reasons for a lethal prescription.

What is interesting about the developments of euthanasia in the Netherlands is that the euthanasia lobby still states, with a straight face, that there is no "slippery slope".

Wesley's article is titled: Dutch Psychiatrist To Get in on Euthanasia Action. I am reprinting it for you here.

On to the mentally ill! That is the message of a new article in the Dutch language tijdschrift voor psychiatrie 53 (2011) 8 (Journal of Psychiatry). I’ll skip the nonsense about great care being shown, and “hopeless” conditions–which the article doesn’t say is the same as untreatable, by the way, and skip right to the chase. From the Conclusion (English translation):
Assisted suicide, as a last resort in psychiatry, legally admissible since 2002, recently legitimized in practice. The midwife [of] Death is now appropriate for psychiatric reach patients, representing an emancipation of the psychiatric patient and psychiatry itself.
Emancipation! Both of the patient and the need for psychiatrists to try and save the lives of all suicidal patients!

And no psychiatrist had better refuse based on beliefs. Those refusing assisted suicide will have to explain themselves!
Categorical rejection of help-zelfdo thing in psychiatry represents a failure the autonomy of psychiatric patients and the scope of the legislation a duty to state reasons in the case of not honorring of requests for stervenshulp may lead [in the future] to the autonomy of the patient in more cases being honoured.
The name should be changed to “validated suicide,” once the imprimatur of a psychiatrist is put on the deed.

And so the last line of defense against the assisted suicides of mentally ill and other patients–a good mental health professional fighting for the life of despairing patients–slips away. Now, psychiatrists will help people make “rational” decisions to kill themselves in the Netherlands on an increasing scale.

6 comments:

Patrick O'Connor said...

The depth of trust in a psychiatrist that is necessary for some severely traumatized and/or mentally ill patients to find healing will all but be evaporated if those in need of help know that the end of the therapeutic line is assisted suicide or euthanasia. How can there be healing if there is no trust? This is insanity - how ironic.

Kathy Offerman said...

I agree with Patrick O'Connor: Having worked in mental health for years it worries me greatly. I've had many clients who were afraid people were out to kill them. It was very difficult for them to trust anyone. How does a psychiatrist or any other mental health professional develop trust with a person if that person has the legitimate fear that they are going to be talked into killing themselves to end the "pain." This world is on the wrong path for sure.

sue said...

Who are they to decide? The patients testimony would not hold up in court and the doctors are just fallable humans. I understand it is hard to watch people suffer but this is just giving up. Maybe the patients are sadly taking their own lives because it's better than living in such a wretched society. We know the Lord will embrace them (the Patients) but the rest of them, God only knows.

Anonymous said...

Show me the source please. Based on your quotes I detect translation with Google translate, and a bad one at that. If you speak Dutch yourself, possible based on your last name, it would behoove you to apprise yourself of the meaning of certain words, since you either do not know how to translate them, or translate them incorrectly on purpose...

Alex Schadenberg said...

Dear Anonymous:

If you haven't noticed, the article was originally written by Wesley Smith and he states the source.

Look it up yourself.

The problem with Anonymous is that he/she knows nothing about the Dutch situation.

Anonymous is questioning that the Dutch would allow euthanasia for psychiatric reasons, and yet the Dutch Supreme Court approved of it in the mid-90's.

I think its ridiculous to kill a depressed or mentally ill person. I also think its dangerous to allow anyone, including physicians, to be allowed to kill another person.

Proud dutchman said...

Mr. Schadenberg.
I don't know from which source you get your information, but the Euthanasia law in the Netherlands came into effect in 2002. Attacking someone, claiming that he/she doesn't know anything about the situation. You should be ashamed.

By the way, your source (on whose site I have also commented using certain arguments) is giving you false information. I'll give you the same hint: Get your facts straight.

Anonymous, your claims are most likely right. I detected a high amount of Google translate as well. According to your presence, at least someone in here still has a sane mind.