Not that the documentary maker started investigating lighter topics: Woman hits man, rejected fathers, In the TBS and Unconditional are all in her name. “When I read three years ago that people suffering from psychological suffering were still sporadically helped by their own doctors and were routinely referred to the Euthanasia Expertise Center, where waiting lists sometimes stretched up to two years, I thought: I have to get my teeth into this again. raise the issue.”
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Euthanasia policy
While in 2001 a few people received euthanasia due to psychological suffering, this number increased to fourteen people in 2012. Now it is twelve years later and there were eighteen in the past year. “This increase is mainly due to the doctors and psychiatrists who work at the Euthanasia Expertise Center. But this year, for the first time, there were more doctors outside the expertise center who had put people with psychological distress out of their misery. So perhaps there is a turnaround? That should become clear in the coming years. There are now also mental health institutions that make policy about people who have completed their treatment and would like euthanasia. So that’s only happening now.”
According to Lindemans, it is especially important that a death wish is discussed. “Research shows that when people are taken seriously in their death wish, it can also ensure that the desire to end their life disappears. It is also about providing perspective: doctors must clearly indicate which steps they want to take before euthanasia is an option.”
Of A good death wants to make Lindeman’s euthanasia a topic of discussion among this group. “There is still a taboo about it. And this will only diminish if we talk about it openly and honestly. If someone around you is struggling with those thoughts, talk about it.”
A good death
The youngest main character in A good death is Marte (26). “At first I doubted whether I should include her story. I noticed that my brain also shouted: this can’t be possible, so young? But she taught me a lot: she suffered from a very young age and was even afraid that there would be life after death, because then she would have to go again. That meant so much to me.”
Lindemans tells what touched her most in this story: “Marte’s mother had to keep pushing her boundaries: letting go of her daughter more and more. Because Marte also wanted to donate her organs, she had to die in a cold hospital room. And precisely because she did everything together with her mother, sister and father in those last weeks, it was still a loving ending. I was able to film Marte on the day of her euthanasia and received a hug from her. Until the very last moment, minutes before she died, we heard how relieved she was that she could go.”
The documentary maker deliberately also included a story about dementia in the series. “People with dementia can sometimes suffer from the prospect of suffering, and therefore indicate early on that they do not want to end up in a closed ward of a nursing home. They mainly arrange this with their GP, for example, but then they feel that they actually have to say goodbye to life too early, when you are still feeling well and are in any case mentally competent. But when do you decide that your time has come? We followed Marij (88) and her son Cyriel, who were faced with that devilish dilemma.”
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Psychiatrists
Doctors and psychiatrists also have their say A good death, such as psychiatrist Nynke. “For years she referred patients to the Euthanasia Expertise Center, until she realized with patient Yvonne (56) that the treatments were no longer helping. Yvonne would not be able to endure a two-year waiting list, she would then do something to herself. Nynke decides to perform the euthanasia herself. She is very honest about how scary she finds it and is assisted by a doctor who has provided euthanasia before. Ultimately, she experiences how beautifully and peacefully Yvonne may pass away, surrounded by her family and friends. That is good to see for viewers, but especially for psychiatrists who find this a far-fetched show.”
Nynke asks the questions that you as a viewer would also have, says Lindemans. “How quickly does someone die after the injection? What if it fails? What does the syringe look like? It turns out to be six injections, with the order indicated by the pharmacist. It is impressive that as a viewer you experience up close how a psychiatrist experiences this. Nynke knows that this is Yvonne’s fervent wish and fully supports it, but realizes that she is going to kill someone.”
Absurdist
Lindemans calls the series ‘quite absurdist at times’. “Pythia writes ‘death’ in her diary on the day she is told when her euthanasia will take place. She asks the psychiatrist who will perform the procedure if it is allowed in the morning, ‘because that is when she is at her best’. The night before she wants to go to the book club, but her best friend says: “But we should all go out to dinner together?” How feasible is our death?, I wondered then. There was also a friend who gave a whole lecture for and about Pythia during that last euthanasia conversation. This normally happens during a funeral, of course. Beautiful.”
“I can get a little jealous of that,” Lindemans admits. “I saw my mother after she jumped from the eleventh floor of an apartment building. These people could arrange everything down to the last detail themselves and with their family and friends. This is actually already a form of processing.” But the series also contains stories of people who ultimately do it themselves, for example with drug
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Impression
Finally, Lindemans shares a moment that made a big impression on her. “I also follow Wil (78), who still decides to take drug X. It took 36 hours. She knew all those hours that this is what she wanted, no matter how much pain she was in. She did not want to take painkillers for fear that her life would be prolonged. Only when the doctor said that he was not going to save her life, but was going to help her with the pain, did she want to take it.”
She continues: “What struck me is that I let my mother go. We knew exactly where she was driving and gave her a few hours. We had no choice. It was the hardest decision ever, but we had to let go of our mother. I see that in Wil’s son Roeland. For two years he hoped that she would complete the euthanasia process. Still, he let her take drug X. He gave her time. When he came in the evening and thought she might have died, it took another 24 hours. He went to watch over her. You know what disgusting thing your mother is going to do, but you still find the love to say: I’m letting you go. That touches me.”
Did the series stir up a lot of sadness about her mother? “Not really. When she died, I had nothing. In one fell swoop, the years of fear were over. That didn’t feel good. With the documentary I made, I was able to give her a voice and still tell the big story of many other people with the personal story. I’ll be 50 next week, I was 27 when she passed away. I can still be busy with her. I think my mother would chuckle at this. She was a powerful Jane Fonda type, who unfortunately became very ill and of which nothing was left. But she was also a woman who stood on soapboxes. I am doing this documentary series for and on behalf of her.”
Are you struggling with suicidal thoughts or worried about someone else? Then talk about it. Call 113 or go to www.113.nl. The Suicide Prevention Foundation is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Would you like to take a training course yourself to practice opening a conversation? Then take the AskMaar online suicide prevention training at www.113.nl.
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