Should Mental Disorders Be a Basis for Physician-Assisted Death?
Abstract
Laws permitting physician-assisted death in the United States currently are limited to terminal conditions. Canada is considering whether to extend the practice to encompass intractable suffering caused by mental disorders, and the question inevitably will arise in the United States. Among the problems seen in countries that have legalized assisted death for mental disorders are difficulties in assessing the disorder's intractability and the patient's decisional competence, and the disproportionate involvement of patients with social isolation and personality disorders. Legitimate concern exists that assisted death could serve as a substitute for creating adequate systems of mental health treatment and social support.
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Increased public demand for PAS for psychiatric illnesses in Europe followed legalization of MAID.
“Increased public demand for PAS for psychiatric illnesses in Europe following legalization of MAID is a warning [24–26].”
From Terminal anorexia nervosa is a dangerous term: it cannot, and should not, be defined (2022) · cites this paper as [24]
Cites
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- Authors
- Appelbaum, P. S.
- Affiliations
- Columbia University (US)
- Corresponding author
- Appelbaum, Paul S.
- ORCID
- Appelbaum, Paul S.
- Venue
- Psychiatric Services
- Published
- 2017-04-01
- Volume
- 68
- Issue
- 4
- Pages
- 315-317
- ISSN
- 0022-1597 (ISSN-L)
- 1075-2730
- 1557-9700
- OpenAlex
- W2588272098
- Semantic Scholar
- 3ba4a965cdc5e68638e3ba739917d4f83852a8cf
- Cited by
- 37
- References
- 6
- Citations by year
- 2026: 3 · 2025: 3 · 2024: 1 · 2023: 2 · 2022: 3 · 2020: 17 · 2019: 1 · 2018: 3 · 2017: 4
- FWCI
- 6.41
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Psychiatric Services (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Ethics and bioethics in healthcare
- Health Sciences › Health Professions › General Health Professions › Health, Medicine and Society
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Palliative Care and End-of-Life Issues
- Keywords
- physician-assisted death, mental illness, terminal illness, decision-making capacity, social isolation, personality disorders, psychotherapy, social support, assisted suicide legislation
- MeSH terms
- Mental Disorders, Canada, Humans, Psychiatry, United States, Suicide, Assisted, Persons with Psychiatric Disorders
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