A 28-year-old Dutch woman decided to end her life by choosing euthanasia due to her untreatable mental health struggles.
According to the reports from The Free Press, 28-year-old Zoraya ter Beek is set to go through euthanasia in early May this year due to severe mental health struggles. Zoraya throughout her life has struggled with depression, autism, and borderline personality disorder.
Despite being physically healthy and having a loving boyfriend and pets, she deems her mental illness is untreatable. Zoraya told the Free Press that she did not want to burden her partner with having to keep the grave tidy and said they have not picked an urn yet, but that will be her new house. Doctors told her that there was nothing more they could do for her, it was never gonna get any better. At that time she decided to choose euthanasia. She said that she was always very clear that if it doesn't get better then she can't do this anymore. She described that she would go through euthanasia at her own home while lying on the couch in her living room.
The euthanasia procedure will be performed at Zoraya’s home. Initially, Zoraya’s doctor will administer a sedative, followed by medication to stop her heart. Throughout the procedure, her boyfriend will be by her side. After her demise, she will be cremated and her ashes will be scattered in a designated forest area.
According to sources, the increasing number of people choosing to end their lives while suffering a range of mental health problems such as depression or anxiety, which is aggravated by characteristics like economic wavering, social media, climate change, and other concerns.
Stef Groenewoud, a healthcare ethicist at Theological University Kampen in the Netherlands said that she sees euthanasia as some sort of acceptable option brought to the table by physicians, by psychiatrists, when formerly it was the utmost last alternative. She also said that she sees the phenomenon, especially with psychiatric diseases and especially in young people with psychiatric disorders, where the healthcare professional seems to give up on them more easily than before.
After the legalization of euthanasia in 2001, the number of euthanasia deaths in the Netherlands has steadily increased. In 2022, it comprises 5 percent of all deaths in the country. This raises concerns among people who assume that the law facilitates suicide.
References:
1. https://www.wionews.com/trending/trigger-dutch-woman-opts-for-euthanasia-due-to-unmanageable-mental-health-issues-707191
2. https://www.ndtv.com/feature/zoraya-ter-beek-dutch-woman-chooses-euthanasia-due-to-untreatable-mental-health-struggles-5363964
3. https://www.hindustantimes.com/trending/physically-healthy-28-year-old-woman-in-the-netherlands-chooses-euthanasia-here-s-why-101712116896443.html
(Input from various sources)
(Rehash/Lavanya Beeraboina/MSM)
