About the practice of psychiatric euthanasia: A commentary

Abstract

Euthanasia motivated by mental disorders is legal in only a few countries and has a short history. In a recent report of all psychiatric euthanasia cases in Belgium between 2002 and 2013, Dierickx and colleagues suggest that the number of these cases is increasing, and provide a profile of the applicants. To date, knowledge of the practice of psychiatric euthanasia is limited, but rising public awareness might increase the number of requests. The authors reveal several shortcomings in cases of psychiatric euthanasia and open avenues for future research. Please see related article: https://bmcpsychiatry.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12888-017-1369-0.