Among the safeguards slashed from the assisted suicide legislation that has become law in Vermont, were any requirements to ensure that the person requesting suicide is not suffering from treatable depression. Depression in the dying is not uncommon. Hospice Pioneer Dr. Ira Byock wrote in his groundbreaking book, Dying Well, that nearly everyone who is given a terminal … [Read more...] about Vermont Law Creates “Perfect Storm” of Conditions for Suicide
Depression
Doctor: the top three reasons terminally ill patients choose to end their lives are all symptoms of clinical depression that leads to suicide, and all can be treated.
The article below, from the Lynn, Massachusetts newspaper, The Daily Item, is interesting for its reporting on a physician's insight that the top three reasons the Oregon reports say people request assistance in suicide--"loss of control, loss of enjoyment and feeling like a burden to others"--are all symptoms of treatable depression. It is also good to read that minds are … [Read more...] about Doctor: the top three reasons terminally ill patients choose to end their lives are all symptoms of clinical depression that leads to suicide, and all can be treated.
People Supporting Assisted Suicide Laws Often Believe They Require Doctors to Screen All Patients for Depression: They Do Not
It is well-known that the treatable mental illness of depression causes suicidal thoughts, so much so that such thoughts are considered an identifying characteristic of depression for diagnostic purposes (http://www.mental-health-today.com/dep/dsm.htm). Advocates for assisted suicide are misinformed, and misinform others, when they assert that depressed people are … [Read more...] about People Supporting Assisted Suicide Laws Often Believe They Require Doctors to Screen All Patients for Depression: They Do Not