Warning: This article contains discussion of eating disorders and depression which some readers may find distressing.
A woman who has just turned 34 years old is planning to die by euthanasia today (25 April).
Today is Dutch woman Jolanda Fun's 34th birthday and it is also her intention to die on this day.
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Speaking to The Times two weeks before the planned date of her death, Jolanda explained that she was one of a number of people in the Netherlands seeking euthanasia due to psychiatric problems.
They report that she has had an eating disorder, recurrent depression, autism and learning difficulties, which mean that in social situations she masks her feelings which she described as 'dark, overstimulation, chaos in my head, loneliness'.
She said: "Most of the time I just feel really s**tty.
"Sad, down, gloomy. People don’t see it, because that’s the mask I put on and that’s what you learn to do in life."
Last year, she had announced on her Facebook page that she was looking for a psychiatrist who would help her through the euthanasia process, saying she had been depressed since she was a seven-year-old and had been thinking a lot about death.
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In her conversation with The Times, she spoke further on this subject and her decision to 'step out of life'.
"My father is sick, my mother is sick, my parents are fighting to stay alive, and I want to step out of life,” she said.
"That’s a bit strange. But even when I was seven, I asked my mother whether, if I jumped from a viaduct, I would be dead. I’ve been struggling with this my whole life."
The 34-year-old sought therapy many times but described her life as constant pain, and decided on euthanasia two years ago when a counsellor told her that laws in the Netherlands permitted it for psychiatric reasons.
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"The rules are very strict,” she said of the process of being granted the right to die.
“You don’t just get euthanasia, there’s a whole journey... But it is death in a dignified way: painless, done by a doctor. Your loved ones can be there.
"And nobody discovers you in an appalling state - or you don’t end up unlucky and even worse off than before."
Under Dutch laws a person has to be mentally competent, have had a long standing wish for euthanasia, it must be of their own volition, they must have been informed of all possible alternatives, there can be no other reasonable solution and their eligibility to end their life has to be confirmed by an independent doctor.
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Euthanasia can only be performed at the patient's request and must be carried out according to specific guidelines.
The Times reports that around one in 10 requests for euthanasia on psychiatric grounds is carried out, and Jolanda told them that she had been 'mega-bullied' as a child and her mother's early calls for help were dismissed.
"They say you are born like this, but I really think the help services should have listened a bit better. It probably wouldn’t have solved everything, but then..." she told The Times, who say she trailed off at this particular point.
Their final question was what she thought would await her after death, and Jolanda said: "I hope that there is nothing."
If you're experiencing distressing thoughts and feelings, the Campaign Against Living Miserably (CALM) is there to support you. They're open from 5pm–midnight, 365 days a year. Their national number is 0800 58 58 58 and they also have a webchat service if you're not comfortable talking on the phone.
Topics: Mental Health, Health, World News
Joe Harker