How to deal with requests for assisted suicide - Some experiences and practical guidelines from the Netherlands

In the Netherlands, physician-assisted suicide may be justifiable for patients with physical illness as well as for patients with unbearable mental suffering. Explicit requests for physician-assisted suicide are frequently made, but in psychiatric practice they are infrequently granted. In this contribution, some information on the Dutch practices related to assisted death is presented, with emphasis on assisted suicide in patients with unbearable mental suffering. The aim of this contribution is to demonstrate that the Dutch law and jurisprudence permit clinicians to deal effectively with requests for assisted suicide.