The Canadian Mental Health Association is currently developing a policy on changes to medically assisted dying, including for people with mental illness.
GUELPH — With Medical Assistance to Death (MAiD) expanding its criteria to people with mental illness in March, the Canadian Mental Health Association in Waterloo Wellington is preparing for a change.
MAiD became legal in Canada in 2016 for people with terminal illnesses, and by 2021 the law was amended to include people with chronic illnesses.
There are few details about the changes to MAiD, but what must be included is that people with mental illness must demonstrate that their condition is dire and irreversible.
CMHA Waterloo Wellington CEO Helen Fishburne said:
“But we also recognize that there is significant pain and suffering associated with mental illness and addiction,” she said.
The standards set by the Canadian government are:
- Those with serious illnesses, illnesses, or disabilities (excluding mental illness until March 17, 2023)
- in a state of high irreversible decline
- Experiencing unbearable physical or mental suffering from an illness, disease, disability, or debilitating condition that cannot be relieved under the circumstances you consider acceptable
Two healthcare providers should evaluate the patient, and the patient should remain competent for decision-making during the 90-day evaluation period until the date of death.
There are 3,678 people awaiting mental health and addiction care in Waterloo Wellington and the CMHA is preparing MAiD policies.
Just last year CMHA helped 23,000 people in Waterloo Wellington.
“We know suicide isn’t about wanting to die. It’s about struggling to live,” Fishburne said.
She said people in the community are currently struggling with mental health and addiction.
“When you think about cancer, without chemotherapy and radiation, cancer spreads. With mental illness, without care and treatment, suffering and despair spreads.”
Part of the debate that has yet to be decided is what is the difference between suicide and MAiD, she said.
Stigma around mental health and access to care can be a deciding factor in people not seeking care, Fishburne said. Shame and stigma are part of the intolerable suffering, she said. .
Part of the conversation about MAiD should be about universal health and addiction care across Canada. “To ensure that everyone has access to the full range of mental and material health programs and support to which they are entitled under international human rights law,” she said.
“I think people who are considering MAiD are people who have been in treatment over and over and have not seen results. I keep feeling,” Fishburne said.
She said this is a very small number of people.
“There are so many people who do not have access to current treatment that there is no rational way of looking at the current population of our community through that lens,” Fishburne said.
