Euthanasia

yes I read that and found it very sad, apparently children over the age of 12 are allowed to request euthanasia. It must be heartbreaking for all the families concerned

So tragic, but it was legal

Tragic, but in this country depressed teenagers commit suicide sometimes - surely this is a better alternative?

There needs to be help not a choice between suicide or euthanasia

The story broke my heart. A few years back I encountered several young women with anorexia and it really is a tragic condition, often backed by a steely determination which can be very difficult to tackle.

I remember one mother telling me the extreme lengths her daughter went to to avoid being taken into hospital and put on a feeding programme.

It's so hard to see a beautiful young person, grossly underweight with bones visible all over, who looks in a mirror and truly sees themselves as ugly and fat.

I know some people do overcome this state and I really salute them and their families, but I don't think there is much parents can do if someone is absolutely determined.

It's so random as well. Hugs and respect to anyone who is trying to help people with any kind of mental addiction.

Poor, poor girl. Imagine being so tortured. I know there are some GN members who's children have tragically taken their own lives and I cannot begin to imagine what they must go through every day. Not sure about this though. Maybe MH services could have done better? They are very lacking here in the UK but not sure about the Netherlands.

Apologies for badly worded post. What I mean is that I always thought that suicide was a spur of the moment, end of tether "thing" (not the right word) whereas this is very different as it was carefully orchestrated.

No I do not feel it was a better alternative. This teenager was known to be in this state, I feel a lot of help could have been offered. Alternatives given.
Yes tragically lots of teenagers do commit suicide, and lot of time people had no idea, but in this case Now was known
I agree it was legal but in my my opinion it does not make it right. I just see it as a waste of life that maybe could have gone on to be happy and priductive.

The story is fake news, I am happy to say:

'A 17-year-old rape victim was NOT euthanised in the Netherlands. @euronews @Independent @DailyMailUK @dailybeast are all wrong It took me about 10 mins to check with the reporter who wrote the original Dutch story. Noa Pothoven asked for euthanasia and was refused (cont.)'

Oh I do hope you are right jura2 this story has been troubling me a great deal.

Yes it troubled me as well.

Sadly, the young lady has died- as she refused all treatment, and refused to eat or drink:

'“They consider that I am too young to die,” she told the paper. “They think I should finish my trauma treatment and that my brain must first be fully grown. That lasts until your 21st birthday. It’s broken me, because I can’t wait that long.”

After repeated recent hospital stays, during one of which she was considered so dangerously underweight she was placed in an coma to allow her to be fed intravenously, Noa decided earlier this year she wanted no further treatment, the paper said.

A hospital bed was set up in her parents’ home and last week she refused all food and fluids. Her parents and doctors reportedly agreed not to force-feed her. Dutch medical guidelines stipulate that if a patient withholds their consent, “care providers may not provide treatment, nursing or care”.

In what she called a “sorrowful last post” on Instagram, now deleted, Noa said she had “stopped eating and drinking for a while now, and after many discussions and evaluations, it has been decided to let me go, because my suffering is unbearable”. She said she expected to die within 10 days.,

from the Guardian.

Would any of you consider she should have been attached to the bed and force fed again- or put in artificial coma and force fed again?

No, that would amount to abuse.

Oh how very sad. Poor girl .

Very sad. Feel sorry for everyone especially her parents.

Hellish situation. Anorexia really is a dread disease. I know colleagues in psychiatry and psychology who have done their absolute best to help some of these young women but to no avail. The poor families suffer torment through it. The lengths some girls will go to to avoid food/weight gain is extraordinary.
On the other hand, I once came across a lady who told me that she'd had anorexia. I asked her what had happened. She said that one day she just had a think and decided that if she continued to restrict her food so much she would die. She then decided that she wanted to live and ate accordingly. She's a lady with Asperger syndrome and has a very black and white thinking style so it was as if she'd clicked a mental switch. She's doing well now. Has a good job, her own flat, lots of cats and enjoys dancing. A happy conclusion for her but maybe a rare one.
Just thought you might be interested.

I am glad you have clarified this Jura
It was not euthanasia , and it was not anorexia.
It was suicide.
Whether we feel further psychiatric therapy should have been pursued or she should have had to wait until she was 18 to do it “legally” is personal opinion, but given the number of youth suicides in this country, was it not more humane to allow the poor girl’s last days to be as pain free as possible in the security of her home?

I don’t think I could agree to accept and let my child die, but I don’t know what pain there must be in caring for your child with an eating disorder and your child begging you to let them die.

My friend’s husband had had enough of treatment, he was in continuous pain. He was in his nineties.
A bed had been set up downstairs and a palliative care programme put in place.
Thank goodness he died the day before he should have left hospital.
Refusing food and drink is not a pleasant way to die. It would have been much easier for him to know he would be ‘helped’ to go.
I hope that this poor girl didn’t suffer too much.

Oh of course Pamela, but so so different to a young woman suffering from anorexia.

Visited a 6th Form student I had had in my Tutor Group in High School many times, at the local hospital. It was so sad and it was so hard to find the 'right' words to say. She had lost her mum to cancer when she was in my tutor group- and her best friend had committed suicide when under the wrong anti-depressants in Lower 6th- and she felt she had no right to live.

It is wonderful to be still in touch with her 30+ years later- a happy and content with her partner and mum of two teenage kids, and planning to visit with a few other girls from that Tutor group in the mid 80s.

Why bring anorexia into this thread?
It is not at issue.

Yes Jura, very different circumstances. Both sad.
However the means to the end was what I was trying to get over. If someone is totally determined to commit suicide should it be made less horrendous for them?
Those poor parents, it must have been dreadful.

Maw, the poor young woman suffered from anorexia.

She did not die of anorexia although she had suffered from it in the years following her rapes.
She made a conscious decision to stop eating and drinking and the official verdict is Suicide
She, was as you rightly say not euthanised as some stories claimed.
However, both the girl’s Instagram account and Dutch media said she used her rights to stop eating and drinking and refuse medical treatment with the understanding of her parents and doctors that they would not try to force feed her