Is your service now available for mentally ill?

[Anonymous]

Hi, Im a new forum member. I translated your site with babel fish from german to english, and that is how I registered. I was wondering, in light of the new court decision that just past earlier this month, will mentally ill adults be able to use your service?

[Ludwig A. Minelli]

The decision of the Swiss Federal Court says that a mentally ill person has a possibility to get assisted suicide only if there is a substantial opinion of a psychiatrist saying that the person has capacity of discernment with respect to the idea to end their life and that this idea is not just a symptom of an acute stage of the mental illness but the sum of a sort of balance considerations with respect to the whole life of the person.

If you are able to present such a substantial opinion, DIGNITAS will try to find a Swiss physician willing to write the necessary prescription for the lethal medicament.

[Anonymous]

[quote="Ludwig A. Minelli"]The decision of the Swiss Federal Court says that a mentally ill person has a possibility to get assisted suicide only if there is a substantial opinion of a psychiatrist saying that the person has capacity of discernment with respect to the idea to end their life and that this idea is not just a symptom of an acute stage of the mental illness but the sum of a sort of balance considerations with respect to the whole life of the person.

If you are able to present such a substantial opinion, DIGNITAS will try to find a Swiss physician willing to write the necessary prescription for the lethal medicament.[/quote]

Thank you for the response.

I don't think my psychiatrist would be willing to write down such a opinion though. I live in a very pro-life area of the world. I could provide records of all the treatments Ive endured, hospitalizations, medications, etc. that have not been successful. Yet finding a psychiatrist that would agree to write such an opinion would be next to impossible. Does Dignitas provide referrals to psychiatrists that would be willing to consider my capacity for discernment?

[Ludwig A. Minelli]

We are studying the problem. This will take some time. So please be patient.

[Anonymous]

I understand. Thank you for your time.

[Anonymous]

Hi
I am also new to the forum and suffer from a severe mental illness.
If my psychiatrist writes such a letter but practices in a country in which it is illegal to assist in suicide, can he be held liable and prosecuted in his home country? In other word’s will this letter be totally confidential and seen by only Dignitas and/or Swiss authorities or can it ever be read by others and held against the psychiatrist?
Is there a way to assure the doctor that he will not be legally implied in aiding suicide?
Thanks so much
Divya

[Ludwig A. Minelli]

A psychiatric report on the capacity of discernment of a patient, established in view of an intended assisted suicide due to this patient’s thoroughly made „balance review“on his/her entire life and the probable quality of life to expect in the future, would most unlikely lead to criminal procedure – even if the assisted suicide would actually have been committed. The reason is quite simple: such an opinion is no element in the chain of adequate causality which would lead infallibly to the suicide. After being given such a psychiatric report, the patient or Dignitas have to look for a Swiss physician who agrees and informs Dignitas that he/she would write the prescription for the lethal drug. Only from then on the patient has the actual means to decide whether or not to make use of the option of an assisted suicide. Even after having arrived in Zurich, at the apartment of Dignitas, the patient will be told that he/she has the absolute freedom to leave the place and travel back home. Thus, there will never be a substantially close link between a psychiatric opinion and an actually committed assisted suicide. Furthermore, based on international criminal law, there is no legal base to prosecute an act which legally happens in Switzerland abroad - even when this act would be illegal in that other country. To be prosecuted, the said act would need to be both illegal in Switzerland and illegal in that foreign country.

[Anonymous]

It was inappropriate. Sorry.

[Lisa Singh]

Would the psychiatric report have to be made with the Doctor being told beforehand the purpose of the report? It might be possible in a country like the UK to find someone willing to acknowledge lifelong suffering but it's rare to find someone who is pro choice rather than pro life.

If the psychiatrist must know the patient is considering assisted suicide as a an alternative to suffering, what would be the starting point to find someone who is enlightened enough to realise a patient's right to choose?

Lastly, people reading this thread struggling with the issue of lifelong suffering due to mental illness versus assisted suicide, there are non-assisted options which are also gaining in popularity, such as inert gas methods. I'm currently researching this method and will be happy to post more as I know more. This method is supported by the Hemlock Society I believe.

Lastly I just want to say I support the good work you do and have supported dying with dignity for since I was old enough to consider the topic (late teens) and long before I ever considered this as an option to my mental suffering.

[usquestions]

Does anyone know of any psychiatrists in Switzerland who are familiar with Dignitas and with whom I could schedule a meeting for an evaluation?

I'm currently seeing a psychiatrist and psychotherapist in the US, and could have them transfer my information over to the Swiss psychiatrist to establish a pattern of persistent, treatment resistant mental illness, though they I believe they would be be unwilling to write the recommendation themselves as there are strong currents against such actions deeply embedded in our culture - hence the need for a non-biased doctor to review my case.

[heavyhit25]

We are studying the problem. This will take some time. So please be patient.

So how about now?

[h-myself]

study the justice about now, and I´m sure you will find something in internet.
What you can do is, to take these questions to a lawyer from Swisserland I think.

Thats my opinion.
B.r. h-myself

[ichbintot]

nur englisch
schade ich verstehe kaum ein wort

[brotherofmercy]

nur englisch
schade ich verstehe kaum ein wort

See Babel Fish translator at: http://babelfish.yahoo.com/


It seems that Switzerland is ahead of the world in understanding mental illness given that all mental illnesses don't yet seem to have a cure:

Schitzophrenia?
OCD?
Bi Polar?
Aspergers?
Tourettes?

There is medication for everything but this only manages problems not necessarily cures them. All my life I have sufferered with the 2nd one on the list - 'obesessive compulsive disorder' and been on different medications for 20 years now. Until there is a REAL cure rather than just management I too would be happy to see a Swiss physician

[salso]

To get around the problem of the psychiatrist's report, you could ask a lawyer to request such a report from the psychiatrist as any lawyer will need confirmation that you are legally capable if acting for you. You then to your lawyer, outline the necessary requirements in the report. You do not need to tell the lawyer for what the report is required.