Physically Healthy 28-Year-Old Explains..

Under Dutch law, euthanasia is permitted when a patient experiences suffering deemed unbearable and without reasonable prospect of improvement, provided stringent criteria are met. These requirements apply not only to terminal physical illness, but also — in rare cases — to psychiatric conditions. Ter Beek’s eligibility rests on a diagnosis of severe, treatment-resistant depression, autism, and borderline personality disorder, alongside years of psychiatric intervention that she says brought no lasting relief.

According to her own account, it was not only the suffering itself that became intolerable, but the cycle surrounding it: repeated treatments, cautious hope, temporary improvement, and eventual collapse. Over time, she has said, that pattern eroded her ability to believe that change remained possible. Exhaustion replaced expectation.

Supporters of euthanasia access argue that mental suffering should not be categorically dismissed as less real or less devastating than physical pain. They maintain that denying psychiatric patients access to assisted dying creates a moral hierarchy of suffering, one that privileges visible illness over internal anguish. Advocates also emphasize that such cases undergo prolonged evaluation by multiple professionals and are not granted lightly. Continue reading…