The impact of euthanasia for depression in the “tired of living” debate : Ethical reflections on the concept of vulnerability
Fiche du document
2021
- handle: 10670/1.rgcie6
Cairn
Mots-clés
health technology assessment diagnosis of deficits gerontechnology elderly assistive technology assessment user-centered designSujets proches
Death, Mercy Mercy death Mercy killing Assisted dying (Euthanasia) Assisted death (Euthanasia) Killing, Mercy Death, Assisted (Euthanasia) Dying, Assisted (Euthanasia)Citer ce document
Aziliz Le Glaz et al., « The impact of euthanasia for depression in the “tired of living” debate : Ethical reflections on the concept of vulnerability », Gérontologie et société, ID : 10670/1.rgcie6
Métriques
Partage / Export
Résumé
Belgium has decriminalized euthanasia for constant and unbearable psychological suffering resulting from psychiatric illness, but not for those who are “tired of living.” Depression and “being tired of living” are difficult to differentiate clinically. Some physicians may consider, more or less consciously, a request for euthanasia for mental suffering resulting from “being tired of living” as a request resulting from depression. Is the meaning of this demand a request for death or a way to signify the impossibility of “living like this”? Euthanasia may give these patients the illusion of a controlled death and offer a way of maintaining their decision-making autonomy and thus appear as a safeguard against their own vulnerability. Recognizing “being tired of living” as an age-specific mental disorder would then establish its pathological character and facilitate the acceptance of these requests. Euthanasia for mental suffering is an ethical question in which the physician oscillates between an ethics of conviction and an ethics of responsibility and thus confronts his or her own vulnerability.