Canada

Thanks for salvaging that comment. It seems to get to the heart of the real problem, at least as far as I'm able to relate to as someone who has struggled off and on for a long time. Being suicidal isn't about wanting to die; it's about not being able to bear living.

I don't think most people understand the respective cans of worms both the simplistic answers "yes we should," and "no, we shouldn't" entail. Both suffering patients and well-meaning professionals need to be heard on this-- but especially suffering patients. Setting aside existing problems of psychology and psychiatry, most supports that could be available just aren't. Promising new options are being researched that probably will never become available to most people, due to cost and/or unnecessary gatekeeping. As a suicidal person, if the only options are (a) suffer or (b) die, the natural conclusion you come to is that nobody cares how you feel, inevitably making you feel even worse.

Without knowing that you and your support team tried everything you reasonably could (and I'd be surprised if any public system in Canada was anywhere near the vicinity of "reasonable" right now) before choosing that final option, teasing out where the systemic funneling of depressed people toward MAID began and where the (presumed to be) individually-generated despair ended will become an impossibility.

Thanks citizen. I appreciate the help.