Two women who have battled mental illness joined a doctor to tell a parliamentary audience the mentally ill should not be given medically-assisted deaths..Euthanasia Prevention Coalition president Gordon Friesen called medical assistance in dying (MAiD) for the mentally ill a “discriminatory danger” as he opened the media event at the Canadian Parliamentary Press Gallery..The event was held Oct. 3 in advance of second reading on Bill C-314. The private member’s bill by Conservative MP Ed Fast (Abbotsford) called for amendments to the criminal code to remove mental illness as an eligible criteria for a medically-assisted death..Anike Morrison said she lost her brother in 2014 and had “several traumas and stressors” thereafter. This led to five hospitalizations in 2018 and a stay on an acute psychiatric unit..“When I was discharged, my father had to keep my medication in his room to keep me safe. And at one point, I was so depressed, I didn't leave the bed or the couch for weeks on end, leading to my sister becoming so concerned that she called the ambulance..“If MAiD had been presented as an option to me at that time, as a solution to the emotional pain and distress, I felt I may not be here today,” she recalled..“I've completed my undergraduate degree, I've traveled, I've gone on a mission trip. And most importantly, I love my life, I enjoy my life. And I feel as though I'm on the other side of that dark period.”.Morrison said that health professionals helped get her through and that suicide prevention measures should be the emphasis for suicidal people, not aiding their death..“As Canadians we can't do both. We can't put our emphasis on preventing suicide while also presenting MAiD as an option for people with mental illness…[or] who are experiencing poverty or homelessness or PTSD or who have a disability,” she said..Garifalia Milousis also shared. The 27-year-old lawyer said she had suffered depression for 12 years, starting at age 15, which led her to anorexia, bulimia, and self-harm. She attempted suicide seven times and said if MAiD had been available then, she would have taken it..“The arguement is that those who are suicidal are irrational while those who want MAiD are rationally choosing to die. But if you had told me while I was suffering that I could have MAiD and escape the suffering, I would have taken it,” she said..“Death was not something I pursued because it was what I wanted, it was something I pursued because I thought it was the last solution to the suffering I was experiencing.”.Milousis said prior to the passage of Bill C-7 that expanded MAiD eligibility to those with mental illness, she wrote all the MPs and Senators to express her opposition..“Any differentiating between suicide and MAiD is non- sensical and we have almost recognized this by how we have expanded euthanasia (MAiD) to include individuals whose only underlying condition is a mental illness,” she said..“I have watched society debate this academically and I ask people to consider how it will impact individuals like me.”.Dr. Paul Saba said one in five Canadians experience mental illness and less than half of those people seek treatment. About 4,000 Canadians die by suicide each year..Saba said most people needing treatment talk to their doctor first, but there is a shortage of mental health professionals. He said the average wait time for mental health treatment in Quebec is 5 months, while MAiD has a 90-day wait period. He said euthanasia for the mentally ill was “killing those who need to be cared for.”.“As care-givers we have to help our patients find a reason to live. No one actually wants to die by suicide. People just want to end their distress…Ninety per cent of people who attempt a suicide and receive treatment don't want to die.” Saba said..“Mental illness does not meet the legal condition for free and informed consent for medical aid in dying. The more a person struggles with mental illness, the less likely they are to meet the criteria for free and informed consent.”.An Angus Reid poll in September found that 28% of respondents supported allowing MAiD for those whose sole condition is mental illness, but half are opposed. Among those who faced barriers in getting mental health care in the past year, support for MAiD for those with mental illness was even higher, at 41%..The temporary prohibition on MAiD for the mentally ill expires March 17, 2024.
Two women who have battled mental illness joined a doctor to tell a parliamentary audience the mentally ill should not be given medically-assisted deaths..Euthanasia Prevention Coalition president Gordon Friesen called medical assistance in dying (MAiD) for the mentally ill a “discriminatory danger” as he opened the media event at the Canadian Parliamentary Press Gallery..The event was held Oct. 3 in advance of second reading on Bill C-314. The private member’s bill by Conservative MP Ed Fast (Abbotsford) called for amendments to the criminal code to remove mental illness as an eligible criteria for a medically-assisted death..Anike Morrison said she lost her brother in 2014 and had “several traumas and stressors” thereafter. This led to five hospitalizations in 2018 and a stay on an acute psychiatric unit..“When I was discharged, my father had to keep my medication in his room to keep me safe. And at one point, I was so depressed, I didn't leave the bed or the couch for weeks on end, leading to my sister becoming so concerned that she called the ambulance..“If MAiD had been presented as an option to me at that time, as a solution to the emotional pain and distress, I felt I may not be here today,” she recalled..“I've completed my undergraduate degree, I've traveled, I've gone on a mission trip. And most importantly, I love my life, I enjoy my life. And I feel as though I'm on the other side of that dark period.”.Morrison said that health professionals helped get her through and that suicide prevention measures should be the emphasis for suicidal people, not aiding their death..“As Canadians we can't do both. We can't put our emphasis on preventing suicide while also presenting MAiD as an option for people with mental illness…[or] who are experiencing poverty or homelessness or PTSD or who have a disability,” she said..Garifalia Milousis also shared. The 27-year-old lawyer said she had suffered depression for 12 years, starting at age 15, which led her to anorexia, bulimia, and self-harm. She attempted suicide seven times and said if MAiD had been available then, she would have taken it..“The arguement is that those who are suicidal are irrational while those who want MAiD are rationally choosing to die. But if you had told me while I was suffering that I could have MAiD and escape the suffering, I would have taken it,” she said..“Death was not something I pursued because it was what I wanted, it was something I pursued because I thought it was the last solution to the suffering I was experiencing.”.Milousis said prior to the passage of Bill C-7 that expanded MAiD eligibility to those with mental illness, she wrote all the MPs and Senators to express her opposition..“Any differentiating between suicide and MAiD is non- sensical and we have almost recognized this by how we have expanded euthanasia (MAiD) to include individuals whose only underlying condition is a mental illness,” she said..“I have watched society debate this academically and I ask people to consider how it will impact individuals like me.”.Dr. Paul Saba said one in five Canadians experience mental illness and less than half of those people seek treatment. About 4,000 Canadians die by suicide each year..Saba said most people needing treatment talk to their doctor first, but there is a shortage of mental health professionals. He said the average wait time for mental health treatment in Quebec is 5 months, while MAiD has a 90-day wait period. He said euthanasia for the mentally ill was “killing those who need to be cared for.”.“As care-givers we have to help our patients find a reason to live. No one actually wants to die by suicide. People just want to end their distress…Ninety per cent of people who attempt a suicide and receive treatment don't want to die.” Saba said..“Mental illness does not meet the legal condition for free and informed consent for medical aid in dying. The more a person struggles with mental illness, the less likely they are to meet the criteria for free and informed consent.”.An Angus Reid poll in September found that 28% of respondents supported allowing MAiD for those whose sole condition is mental illness, but half are opposed. Among those who faced barriers in getting mental health care in the past year, support for MAiD for those with mental illness was even higher, at 41%..The temporary prohibition on MAiD for the mentally ill expires March 17, 2024.
