Sexually abused Dutch woman allowed to go ahead with assisted suicide because of mental health

Papers published recently by the Dutch Euthanasia Commission reportedly revealed that a woman in her twenties was allowed to go ahead with assisted suicide based on psychiatrists' decision that her mental health condition was 'incurable'.


She was suffering from incurable Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PSTD)  and it was therefore illegal to deny her life-ending drugs under Dutch law of her request for euthanasia. Her treating psychiatrist concluded that there are no treatment options left; after intensice treatments.

The unidentified woman was sexually abused between the ages of 5 and 15, according to Britain's Independent.

The Telegraph reports that the young woman was not an isolated case, and in fact, the rate of approved assisted suicides in the Netherlands for patients suffering from mental disorders has increased dramatically since the procedure was first made legal.

In 2010, only two people were granted euthanasia due to "insufferable" mental conditions, while The Telegraph said that number rose to 56 in 2015, according to the documents released by the Commission.

The woman ended her life last year, but news of her death has only now been released by the Dutch Euthanasia Commission.