Assisted Dying and Suicide Prevention

Abstract

The author presents two examples of suicide by disabled people, one unassisted and one assisted. There are points of dissimilarity but also points of similarity. The language of “assisted dying” is misleading especially when the person is not terminally ill. In contrast, the language of “assisted suicide” is appropriate and is used in Switzerland and the Benelux countries. Guidance is needed for media reporting of assisted suicides. In addition to avoidance of certain details and ways of framing stories, the media should also seek to tell more positive stories about life with disability, counteracting the Werther effect with the Papageno effect. This article concerns suicide prevention in relation to the practice and the reporting of assisted dying. Its focus is the situation of people who are suicidal and who have a physical disability or a mental health condition. The aim of the article is not to consider the current or possible future shape of the law in different jurisdictions in relation to determining, assisting and encouraging, or preventing suicide. It aims, rather, to call attention to danger of suicide, whether assisted or unassisted, among people who would be eligible for euthanasia in the Low Countries or for medical assistance in suicide in Switzerland. Irrespective of the shape of the law, the fundamental challenge remains, to live well together despite the vicissitudes of life.

Keywords:

• Assisted dying
• contagion
• media
• suicide
• suicide prevention
• Werther

Notes

Notes

1 The following account is taken from the investigation by the coroner after his death, paraphrased to preserve anonymity though with some direct quotations retained.

2 These findings confirm earlier work done by the New York State Task Force on Life and the Law, (1994). The New York Task Force also found that depression was prevalent in these vulnerable groups but was largely undiagnosed and untreated. The report remains exemplary for considering assisted dying in the context of an extended discussion of suicide and the factors that can contribute to and that can ameliorate the wish to die.

3 Others who have inspired me personally, in the manner of their living and of their dying, and with whom I have had the privilege of working, would include Nicholas Tonti-Filippini and Kevin Fitzpatrick (see Campbell, 2015, 2016; Jones & Fitzpatrick, 2017; Tonti-Filippini, 2012).

4 The sustaining of hope is, of course, not only a matter of media presentation of assisted and unassisted suicide or of societal attitudes to disability but is also a matter of practical support. The need for an integrated approach across government to suicide prevention among disabled people is highlighted by evidence of an association between the recent programme of reassessment of people on disability benefits and an increased rate of suicide in this group (Barr et al., 2016).