If this law had been passed in 1978, I might not be alive today.
I am a 74-year-old woman who has lived with a mental health condition called cyclothymia for nearly fifty years. Dark moods visit me when I least expect them, affecting my sleep and flooding me with shame, and negative, fearful and even suicidal thoughts. Feelings of condemnation and physical exhaustion weigh me down, making the simplest tasks feel like climbing a mountain. I also experienced postpartum depression with each of our three children. With the expert help I received, however, I learned to “ride the wave” until the dark feelings lifted.
Treatment and Support
Hundreds of hours of counseling from therapists and psychiatrists, along with medications, exercise, prayer, meditation, support groups (including Recovery lnc.—Dr. Abraham Low’s self-help system), nutritious food, reading, journaling, volunteering, and hobbies all contributed to my wellness, so I could stay as plugged into life as possible.
Happily married for 48 years, my husband and I raised three children. My husband, the steady rock of the family, gave our children a sense of safety. All three completed university and have established homes and careers of their own, in insurance, education and church ministry, despite the instability and confusion of my condition. Our children have confronted me with the pain they endured. Despite the hardships, we had the advantages of a steady income, church community, and good neighbours. A beloved elderly church friend came over twice a week for four years, to help me through postpartum depression and beyond.
As a child I dreamed of becoming a teacher. A nervous breakdown during my first year of college robbed me of my confidence, so I worked for a while as a file clerk and receptionist. Thanks to an encouraging mentor, I was given a second chance. I completed my teacher training at S.F.U., hoping never to experience depression again. Unfortunately, a year and a half into my career, I had another breakdown. My husband and I were married at the end of the school year, and I left teaching. From then on part- time work was all I could manage. My jobs included secretarial, tutoring and child-care services.
To my delight, I was given a second chance at teaching, a do-able part-time position, when my children were teenagers. During that rewarding decade I also dealt with cancer and elderly parents. These stressors added to the challenges I already had. Even though I had much to learn about self-care, I was able to persevere and-contribute to the world around me.
Family of Origin
My mother, a survivor of the World War II occupation of the Netherlands, immigrated to Canada in 1957 with her husband and three young children. With no social safety net or counseling services, my mother coped the best she could. She struggled greatly with loneliness and anxiety. My father worked very long hours, leaving the bulk of the childcare to my mother. “I get up and I do,” she would say. With courage and perseverance, she raised five children who are all successful in their fields—the flower business, and the film and travel industries. Similarly, my paternal grandmother raised nine capable children despite living with food insecurity, chronic depression, and the PTSD she developed after World War II. The resilience of my mother and grandmother shaped my approach to mental illness, which is why recent legislative changes trouble me so deeply.
Medical Assistance in Dying (MAiD)
The Government of Canada website on assisted suicide states:
Offended and Deeply Concerned
Along with many other members of the mental health and disability communities, I feel offended and deeply concerned. I feel offended by legislation that tells me and so many others, “We agree that you would be better off dead.”
A 2022 study published in the Lancet Psychiatry, found that comprehensive mental health care, the kind of care I was so fortunate to receive, “significantly reduces suicide risk among people with mood disorders.”
Sadly, after all the efforts made by me and medical professionals to treat my condition, I now live in a country that invests millions of dollars to “end lives where a persons’ only underlying condition is a mental illness,” a marked shift from previous requirements.
My Hope for Canada, My Beloved Adopted Country
You cannot have it both ways: build a great nation on one hand and bring in laws that allow medical professionals to kill patients on the other. Euthanasia has been practiced and tolerated as a social value in the Netherlands. My relatives tell me the results have been disastrous. Disabled people, including those with mental health conditions and dementia end up feeling increasingly disrespected.
With proper treatment, support and accommodation, many people with mental illness lead fulfilling lives and are valuable members of society. As a person living with mental health challenges, support Bill C-218 and oppose euthanasia for mental illness.
As a child I dreamed of becoming a teacher. A nervous breakdown during my first year of college robbed me of my confidence, so I worked for a while as a file clerk and receptionist. Thanks to an encouraging mentor, I was given a second chance. I completed my teacher training at S.F.U., hoping never to experience depression again. Unfortunately, a year and a half into my career, I had another breakdown. My husband and I were married at the end of the school year, and I left teaching. From then on part- time work was all I could manage. My jobs included secretarial, tutoring and child-care services.
To my delight, I was given a second chance at teaching, a do-able part-time position, when my children were teenagers. During that rewarding decade I also dealt with cancer and elderly parents. These stressors added to the challenges I already had. Even though I had much to learn about self-care, I was able to persevere and-contribute to the world around me.
Family of Origin
My mother, a survivor of the World War II occupation of the Netherlands, immigrated to Canada in 1957 with her husband and three young children. With no social safety net or counseling services, my mother coped the best she could. She struggled greatly with loneliness and anxiety. My father worked very long hours, leaving the bulk of the childcare to my mother. “I get up and I do,” she would say. With courage and perseverance, she raised five children who are all successful in their fields—the flower business, and the film and travel industries. Similarly, my paternal grandmother raised nine capable children despite living with food insecurity, chronic depression, and the PTSD she developed after World War II. The resilience of my mother and grandmother shaped my approach to mental illness, which is why recent legislative changes trouble me so deeply.
Medical Assistance in Dying (MAiD)
The Government of Canada website on assisted suicide states:
“Important: On February 29, 2024, legislation to extend the temporary exclusion of eligibility to receive MAID in circumstances where a person’s sole underlying medical condition is a mental illness received royal assent and immediately came into effect. The eligibility date for persons suffering solely from a mental illness is now March 17, 2027.”If Bill C-218 is not passed, I will qualify to be assessed for assisted suicide as of March of 2027. If this law had been passed in 1978, I might not be alive today. In my most vulnerable moment, dark waves of depression overwhelming my reason, I will be asked if I find the experience intolerable. I might be strongly tempted to say yes. Yet I have never been sorry that I held on through the suffering, which I would not wish on anyone, until the mood passed. If I said yes, I could die by the hand of a medical professional. It would be a yes borne out of desperation, believing I was worthless—a burden to everyone I loved. I am so glad I have never been asked.
Offended and Deeply Concerned
Along with many other members of the mental health and disability communities, I feel offended and deeply concerned. I feel offended by legislation that tells me and so many others, “We agree that you would be better off dead.”
A 2022 study published in the Lancet Psychiatry, found that comprehensive mental health care, the kind of care I was so fortunate to receive, “significantly reduces suicide risk among people with mood disorders.”
Sadly, after all the efforts made by me and medical professionals to treat my condition, I now live in a country that invests millions of dollars to “end lives where a persons’ only underlying condition is a mental illness,” a marked shift from previous requirements.
My Hope for Canada, My Beloved Adopted Country
You cannot have it both ways: build a great nation on one hand and bring in laws that allow medical professionals to kill patients on the other. Euthanasia has been practiced and tolerated as a social value in the Netherlands. My relatives tell me the results have been disastrous. Disabled people, including those with mental health conditions and dementia end up feeling increasingly disrespected.
With proper treatment, support and accommodation, many people with mental illness lead fulfilling lives and are valuable members of society. As a person living with mental health challenges, support Bill C-218 and oppose euthanasia for mental illness.
3 comments:
Well said. I hope people in the U.K. take notice and don’t follow down the same path.
Thank you so much for your generosity in sharing these thoughts.
Thankyou for sharing your story. Life is to be cherished. No one should be made to feel they are a burden, and it seems the government's mindset is set to make the depressed and disabled individuals feel exactly that...a burden.
They (government and professional minions) are falsely disquising their euthanasia assistance as compassion. It is the opposite of compassion. We must support Bill C-218.
Post a Comment