There has been an “enormous” rise in young people being euthanised in the Netherlands for the reason of mental health, including an autistic boy aged 16 to 18 suffering from depression, leading to doubts about the deadly practice.
Nearly 10,000 people were killed by euthanasia in the Netherlands in 2024, a 10% rise compared with the previous year, representing 5.8% of all deaths in the nation (as of 2024).
However, there was also a 60% increase in legal euthanasia in cases approved to end psychological suffering.
In 2024, there were 219 such cases, up from 138 in 2023. In 2020, this figure was 88. Last year, of the people killed because of their mental health, 30 were aged under 30, up from five young adults in 2020.
One case that was approved was an autistic boy aged 16 to 18 who was said to be suffering from depression and anxiety.
“The young man described his life as ‘luckless’. He felt very lonely, was deeply unhappy and did not enjoy anything. He could not connect with peers and society, and felt misunderstood”, the approving committee reported. The boy’s relatives did not want him to die and had attempted to “change his mind”.
The committee itself was made up of a doctor, an ethicist, and a chairing lawyer. “The doctor was convinced that the young man’s suffering was hopeless. He did not expect current and any future treatments would improve the quality of life. The young man’s death wish was expected to continue.”
Euthanasia was legalised in the Netherlands in 2002 by the Termination of Life on Request and Assisted Suicide (Review Procedures) Act, eventually leading to adults with severe psychiatric conditions being granted euthanasia.
Zoraya Ter Beek was 29 years old when she was euthanised in the Netherlands on 22 May 2024 because she was suffering from depression. She was also autistic and was reported to have borderline personality disorder. She was killed at home by a doctor who administered a lethal drug to stop her heart.
Doubts are now growing about euthanasia in the Netherlands, especially because of the large number of young people being killed.
“Are we still doing this right?” asked Jeroen Recourt, the president of the body responsible for the Netherlands’ euthanasia oversight committees.
Professor Damiaan Denys of the Amsterdam University Medical Center said: “Although the absolute numbers are still low, there is a recent, enormous increase in requests and euthanasia performed in patients with psychological complaints, especially in young people under 30.
“This is controversial because it is unclear whether young people at that age can meet the due diligence criteria. How can one, at that age, determine with certainty that a young person with a still-developing brain definitely wants to die, that life is experienced as hopeless and without prospects and that all treatments have already been carried out?”
The official 2024 Dutch report on euthanasia warned doctors to use “great caution” in cases of psychiatric illness.
MP Kim Leadbeater’s Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill for England and Wales proposes to legalise assisted suicide for terminally ill adults given six months to live. It is currently at Committee stage before being voted on by MPs at Third Reading next month.
While the Leadbeater Bill does not propose to legalise assisted suicide for mentally ill people, Ms Leadbeater recently admitted that the eligibility criteria of her proposed assisted suicide bill could be expanded in the future. “That could happen”, she told LBC last week.
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