Those who support assisted dying for psychiatric conditions argue that mental illness can be just as serious as physical illness and that some people do not respond to treatment. That may be true, but its critics say this is evidence of the “slippery slope” that campaigners often cite, and that euthanasia is being normalised as a “treatment” for mental illness rather than a last resort for people who are terminally ill.
“I think everyone in psychiatry accepts euthanasia based on inhumane suffering, but it is still a last option,” says Damiaan Denys, professor of psychiatry at the University of…
