Claire Brosseau: Approving Medical Assistance In Dying For Those Struggling With A Mental Illness – All The Reasons Why It’s A Good Idea To Do So

Canadian actress, writer and stand-up comedian Claire Brosseau wants to die on her terms. She wants to end her life with medical aid in dying, but she won’t be eligible until March 2027. Brosseau has spent 34 years living with a number of mental illnesses that treatments have been unable to relieve. She’s now 48 years old, and she’s struggled with depression since she was 14. That was a time in her life where drugs and alcohol became in use. Her parents became so concerned that they decided to take her to a psychotherapist, who diagnosed her with manic depression. This was the first of many diagnoses: eating disorder, anxiety disorder, personality disorder, substance abuse disorder, chronic suicidal ideation and several other mental health problems. In the past three decades she’s tried numerous treatments, including more than 25 medications, psychiatric care, various therapies and guided psychedelics. 

Department of Justice Canada official website states that The Government of Canada is committed to ensuring our laws reflect Canadians’ needs, protect those who may be vulnerable, and support autonomy and freedom. Medical Aid in Dying (MAiD) is meant for those with terminal illnesses, NOT mental illnesses such as depression and anxiety. And yet, in 2021, the Canadian Parliament expanded state-sponsored euthanasia in 2021, and it carved out a temporary exclusion for cases where mental illness is the sole underlying condition. It set that exclusion to expire on March 17, 2023. Lawmakers then pushed the expiration date to March 17, 2024, and again in 2024 to March 17, 2027, when people whose only diagnosis is psychiatric are now scheduled to become eligible unless the law changes again.

Brosseau, on the outside, seems to have it all. She’s a gifted actress and comedienne with real achievements and real love around her. But she’s suffering inside. That suffering is real and deserves deep respect and care. But does that mean she deserves that lethal injection to die? That’s the real question. The thing about mental illness is that it attacks judgment. Severe depression narrows a person’s vision until death seems like the only rational step. Chronic suicidal ideation whispers that everyone would be better off without you. Those thoughts are symptoms of the disease, not explicit expressions of freedom.

Brittany Maynard was the first person ever to die through assisted suicide in 2014. She had cancer. She had cancer and was given six months to live. She didn’t want her illness to dictate when she’d die. She wanted to die on her timeline. In her essay, she wrote, ‘Because my tumor is so large, doctors prescribed full brain radiation. I read about the side effects: The hair on my scalp would have been singed off. My scalp would be left covered with first-degree burns. My quality of life, as I knew it, would be gone. After months of research, my family and I reached a heartbreaking conclusion: There is no treatment that would save my life, and the recommended treatments would have destroyed the time I had left. I considered passing away in hospice care at my San Francisco Bay-area home. But even with palliative medication, I could develop potentially morphine-resistant pain and suffer personality changes and verbal, cognitive and motor loss of virtually any kind. Because the rest of my body is young and healthy, I am likely to physically hang on for a long time even though cancer is eating my mind. I probably would have suffered in hospice care for weeks or even months. And my family would have had to watch that.’

More recently, in May 2024, Zoraya ter Beek from the Netherlands passed away with MAiD in her partner’s home. She suffered from a host of psychiatric problems, including chronic depression. She was also diagnosed with autism. She lived with her boyfriend and two cats. She had goals for her future. But her mind was too struck by her depression to peruse these goals that she had. When she made the decision to die, she called her act embracing the reversed tree of life. Prior to making that decision, she’d tried numerous treatments, including 30 sessions of electroconvulsive therapy, until, as she reported her psychiatrist told her, ‘There’s nothing more we can do for you. It’s never going to get any better.’

Aurelia Brouwers was another woman who died by assisted suicide when doctors prescribed lethal poison. She was diagnosed with borderline personality disorder, depression and anxiety who had been approved for assisted death in January 2018 on psychiatric grounds. Before her death, she’d struggled with depression since she was 12, and despite years of treatment, had felt that she was “never happy” and “didn’t know the concept of happiness,” describing every breath she took as “torture.” Dr. Kit Vanmechelen, a psychiatrist at Netherland’s End of Life Clinic, which approved Aurelia’s request for Assisted Suicide, ‘In personality disorders a death wish isn’t uncommon. If that is consistent, and they’ve had their personality treatments, it’s a death wish the same as in a cancer patient who says, ‘I don’t want to go on to the end.’’

Both cases drew international attention as the two women’s deaths were unnecessary consequence of their qualifying diagnoses. The ones who request MAiD must be assessed by two health care practitioners (doctor or nurse practitioner) independent of one another. These assessors determine if the person meets all the criteria for MAiD, including if their illness is deadly and irreversible. It’s fair to say that not just anyone can be approved for MAiD. To be qualified, applicants must be competent to provide voluntary consent, their qualifying illness must be irremediable, and they must establish unbearable suffering on account of it. And yet, I just can’t help but wonder…

I myself have struggled with depression and anxiety from an early age – a much earlier age than Brosseau. My struggles stemmed from my home life; mostly by witnessing my mom struggle with the same disease. I didn’t cope very well. I mostly kept my “funk” by self-harm. It wasn’t that I wanted to die necessarily. I didn’t care if I did or didn’t. All I wanted was to have at least SOME control over my own destiny, and that was the only way I knew how. My self-loathing only grew with age and experiences. I’d gone through trauma I didn’t know I could survive through; one after another. Sexual trauma, abuse, husband’s autoimmune disease, car accident, seizure disorder, infertility… it just didn’t seem to end.

I was in total survival mode. I couldn’t see the light at the end of the tunnel. Everyday, I’d wake up and think to myself, ‘WHY?!’ Everyday, I’d wake up and be reminded that things were going to be the same again and again. There were days I’d lay on the couch day and night without getting up. I wouldn’t go pee. I wouldn’t eat. I wouldn’t even shower. All I’d do was sleep and watch rom-coms.

Luckily, I had a lot of support. My mom having gone through the exact same emotional trauma years prior helped me overcome my own demons. As a child, I’d witnessed her bust her ass off to work through her struggles. One day, I got out of bed, took a shower, brushed my teeth, had breakfast, and told myself, ‘Today is going to be a good day.’ I did so the following day, and the following, and the following day; until I didn’t have to anymore. That said, the hard work didn’t end. It NEVER ended. The hard work is still going on to this very day. That’s because mental illness is a continuous struggle. This very statement is a sentiment shared by many people who live with chronic mental health conditions. Living with a mental illness can be an ongoing challenge, impacting daily life, relationships, and the ability to function effectively. To break it down more thoroughly:

Understanding the Struggle

For many, mental illness is an ongoing battle involving a variety of challenges:

• Symptom Management: Individuals often face persistent symptoms such as extreme mood changes, difficulty concentrating, fatigue, anxiety, or detachment from reality, which require continuous management.

• Impact on Daily Life: The condition can severely disrupt daily functioning, making it hard to maintain work, school, or personal hygiene.

• Social Isolation and Stigma: The invisibility of mental health struggles often leads to misconceptions, stigma, and a lack of empathy from others, which can cause social isolation.

• Complications: Untreated or poorly managed mental illness can lead to severe emotional, behavioral, and physical health problems, including substance use issues and chronic physical illnesses. 

Hope and Recovery

While the struggle can be significant, it does not mean a meaningful life is impossible. The symptoms can often be managed effectively with the right support and treatment plan, which might include a combination of: 

• Therapy: Talk therapy (psychotherapy) can provide coping strategies and help individuals understand their thought patterns.

• Medication: Pharmaceuticals like antidepressants or mood stabilizers can help manage symptoms and reduce their severity.

• Support Networks: Building a strong support system of friends, family, and support groups is crucial.

• Self-Care: Practices like exercise, a healthy diet, good sleep habits, and stress-reduction techniques can support mental well-being. 

Recovery is a personal journey and doesn’t always mean the complete elimination of symptoms, but rather the ability to live a self-determined and meaningful life despite the presence of challenges. It is an ongoing process of adaptation and development. 

While some people view therapy as a helpful method to cope with their depression and anxiety, as well as their trauma, I don’t. And it wasn’t that I didn’t try. I did. In different phases of my life. It just wasn’t for me. What does work for me is physical activity and medication. I work out every single for at least 30 minutes and I take antidepressants. I’m not ashamed to say it. In fact, I’m proud of it. I’m proud of all the work I’ve done on myself. But the work isn’t over. I’m going to have to put in the work for the rest of my days.

With all that being said, I completely understand where Brosseau is coming from in her request for to be eligible for MAiD. Even more so, I don’t judge her for it. When I first read the headline of her suing Canada for eligibility, my first thought was, ‘YOU GO GIRL!’ I was immediately reminded of Naomi Judd. She was an American country music singer and actress. In 1980, she and her daughter Wynonna formed the duo known as The Judds. She also has another daughter, actress Ashley Judd.

On April 30 2022, the day before she and her daughter Wynonna were to be inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame, Naomi died of a self-inflicted gun shot wound after a long battle with a mental illness. She’d struggled with depression, accompanied by anxiety, panic attacks, and suicidal thoughts. The medications prescribed to her, including lithium, produced side effects including facial edema, alopecia, and tremors, which caused her depression.

Naomi’s battled severe, treatment-resistant mental illness – depression, anxiety, bipolar disorder, and PTSD – stemming partly from childhood trauma and genetics, leading to her tragic death by suicide in 2022, a loss her family openly shared to raise mental health awareness, emphasizing it as a real disease, not a character flaw, despite her public advocacy and treatment attempts like ECT and medication. To break it down more thoroughly:

Her Experience & Public Advocacy

• Early Struggles: Judd experienced debilitating depression and anxiety, particularly after the Judds’ final tour in 2012, struggling to function and even considering suicide.

• Childhood Trauma: She linked her depression to suppressed memories of childhood sexual abuse, which re-emerged later in life.

• Book & Advocacy: In her memoir, River of Time, and interviews, she described her fight, advocated for mental health, and aimed to show others they weren’t alone, discussing the power of shared numbers in mental illness.

• Treatment: She underwent intensive treatment, including medication (like lithium, which caused side effects) and electroconvulsive therapy (ECT). 

Her Death & Family’s Message

• “Disease of Mental Illness”: Judd’s daughters, Wynonna and Ashley, announced her death, calling it a loss to the “disease of mental illness,” a phrase they used to frame it as a medical condition.

• Raising Awareness: Ashley Judd revealed the cause on Good Morning America to combat stigma and help others. 

Key Themes

• Genetics: Judd recognized genetic factors in her family’s history of mental illness.

• Not a Character Flaw: Her story highlighted that severe depression is a real illness, not a weakness.

• Relapse: Her experience showed that mental illness can return severely even after periods of improvement. 

Articles reporting of her suing Canada to be eligible for MAiD referred to Brosseau as being physically healthy. This very testament about her health is belittlement at its finest. The headline was undoubtedly written by someone who has absolutely zero understanding of mental health and the complexities that come with it. If she was really physically healthy, she wouldn’t be requesting medical assistance in dying.

Mental illness is emotional health, yes. But it’s also physical health. Physical health isn’t just about illnesses such cancer or a disability such as cerebral palsy. It’s about how one feels emotionally and mentally. It might seem like a metaphorical statement, but the body and the mind are, indeed, united as one. Mental illness is fundamentally physical health because the brain is an organ, and conditions like depression, anxiety, and schizophrenia directly impact the body, causing physical symptoms (pain, fatigue, heart issues) and significantly increasing risks for chronic diseases (diabetes, heart disease, obesity), leading to shorter lifespans, demonstrating the brain-body connection isn’t just philosophical but biological. Poor mental health triggers stress hormones, raising blood pressure and inflammation, while certain medications and lifestyle factors worsen physical outcomes, making integrated care crucial for overall well-being. To break it down more thoroughly:

How Mental Illness Manifests Physically

• Direct Symptoms: Mental illnesses can cause tangible physical pain, such as headaches, backaches, digestive problems (stomach pain), fatigue, and insomnia.

• Stress Response: Anxiety and depression activate the body’s stress response, releasing cortisol, increasing heart rate, and raising blood pressure, stressing the cardiovascular system.

• Chronic Disease Risk: People with serious mental illnesses (SMI) have a much higher risk of developing diabetes, asthma, cancer, obesity, heart disease, and stroke. 

The Bidirectional Link

• Mental to Physical: A severe mental illness can reduce life expectancy by 10-20 years due to these physical complications.

• Physical to Mental: Chronic physical conditions (like cancer or diabetes) also increase the risk of developing mental health issues. 

Why It Matters

• Integrated Care: Treating mental health and physical health separately is ineffective because they are deeply intertwined.

• Biological Basis: Mental illnesses originate in the brain, an organ that can be injured, heal, and change, similar to other physical illnesses.

• Societal Impact: Mental illness is a leading cause of disability, and addressing mental health is vital for overall public health, challenging the outdated mind-body separation. 

What You Can Do

• Self-Care: Regular exercise, a balanced diet, avoiding harmful substances, and stress management improve both mental and physical health.

• Advocate: Be proactive with your healthcare team, discussing both mental and physical symptoms to ensure comprehensive care. 

As much as I want to be positive about overcoming mental illness and living the best life humanly possible, I know it’d be bushy washy way to go about it. It’s just not that simple. It never was, never has been, nor will it ever be simple. Mental health isn’t that cliche. If not treated properly, it can be deadly; much like in Naomi Judd’s case. And let me just say that it’s not easy to even begin professional treatment. It can take months to get a approved for an appointment to see a psychiatrist after getting referred to one by a family doctor. You’ll be lucky if you get a call in the first place. There’s a serious shortage of psychiatrists available to see patients at this point in time.

It’s much easier to get a psychologist to see you. Mostly because you pay out of pocket for their services. But even so, getting professional help from a psychologist doesn’t mean it’ll be of use. For a therapy session to be of benefit, a patient must connect with their psychologist on a deeper level. The relationship between you and your therapist, known as the therapeutic alliance, is a primary predictor of success. It is vital to find someone you trust, feel comfortable being vulnerable and honest with, and who you genuinely like. If it’s not a good fit, it is okay to look for another therapist.

Therapy only works when you, as the patient, are an active and engaged participant, willing to share your innermost thoughts, feelings, and experiences without fear of judgment. Authenticity is key to the process. It’s important to work with your therapist to define what you want to achieve from therapy and set mutually agreed-upon goals. These goals can and often should evolve over time as you make progress.

But therapy isn’t limited to the session itself. Following through with assignments between sessions (e.g., journaling, practicing coping skills, trying new ways of doing things) helps you apply what you’ve learned to real-life situations, which reinforces gains and helps you progress faster. Growth and healing take doesn’t happen overnight. It takes time and persistent effort. Therapy is a journey, not a quick fix. Be patient with yourself and the process, and don’t expect instant results. Regularly attending scheduled appointments ensures continuity and helps build trust, which allows for deeper work and more significant progress. You can determine if therapy is helpful by looking for signs of progress, such as: 

• Bouncing back faster from setbacks.
• Making small, positive changes in your life.
• Feeling more hopeful or having deeper relationships.
• Developing better coping strategies and problem-solving skills. 

While therapy didn’t work for me, it did work for my husband. Therefore, I’ll never, ever tell anyone not to at least try therapy in their lifetime, even if they’re totally, completely healthy – mentally, emotionally and physically speaking. With everything in mind, there’s also the option of antidepressants, which is the route I’d chosen for myself. The initial process to start the intake of antidepressants wasn’t easy. Doctors refused to prescribe them to me because of what it could do to me as a result of me having cerebral palsy. In addition, a friend of mine passed away as a result of mixing antidepressants with anti-seizure medications. Who knew that you trying your hardest to get better can actually kill you?

As years into my ongoing struggle with a mental illness continues, I’m reminded how fortunate I am to still be here. There are so many people out there – wonderful people – who weren’t as fortunate. Research indicates that more than 90% of people who die by suicide have a diagnosable mental or addictive disorder. Depression is the most common condition, associated with approximately 60% of suicides. To break it down more thoroughly:

Key Statistics on Suicide and Mental Health

• Prevalence of Mental Illness: Mental illness is the most important risk factor for suicide. Various disorders, including depression, substance use disorders, and anxiety disorders, significantly increase suicide risk.

• Specific Disorders:
  • Depression is the psychiatric diagnosis most commonly associated with suicide. The lifetime risk of suicide for individuals with untreated depressive disorders is nearly 20%.
  • Substance Use Disorders also present a significant risk; individuals with a substance use disorder are over four times more likely to have serious thoughts of suicide than those without.
  • Borderline Personality Disorder has been associated with the highest suicide risk in some studies, with an estimated risk ratio of 45.1.

• Complicating Factors: While mental illness is a primary factor, suicide typically results from a complex interaction of many issues, including mental illness, financial hardship, social support, and major loss. Many individuals who die by suicide may not have had a known or formally diagnosed mental health condition at the time of death.

• Demographic Disparities:
  • Gender: Males are approximately four times more likely to die by suicide than females, accounting for nearly 80% of suicide deaths in the U.S., while females are more likely to attempt suicide.
  • Age: In the U.S., people aged 85 and older have the highest suicide rates, while suicide is the second leading cause of death for individuals aged 10-34.
  • Vulnerable Populations: Indigenous peoples (especially youth) in Canada and LGBTQ+ youth in the U.S. have disproportionately higher rates of suicide or suicidal ideation compared to their non-Indigenous or heterosexual peers. 

The biggest hurdle in someone dying of suicide is the mere fact that loved ones don’t get to say their goodbyes to the ones suffering. In many cases, it comes as a shocking event. With MAiD, there’s no such thing as a surprise. Those suffering get to die on their own terms, and their loved ones get to say their goodbyes as well. Mental illness is no joke. It needs to be taken seriously. The medical system must do better. Perhaps if it did, there’d be less cases of suicide and applications for MAiD by those struggling with a mental illness. That said, we shouldn’t judge anyone who feels like they’ve lost their battles. Some people just don’t feel like they’ve can fight anymore. Claire Brosseau is one of them. Naomi Judd was one of them…