When unbearable suffering incites psychiatric patients to request euthanasia: qualitative study.

The concept of 'unbearable suffering' is central to legislation governing whether euthanasia requests may be granted, but remains insufficiently understood, especially in relation to psychiatric patients.To provide insights into the suffering experiences of psychiatric patients who have made a request for euthanasia.Testimonials from 26 psychiatric patients who requested euthanasia were analysed using QualiCoder software.

Euthanasia requests, procedures and outcomes for 100 Belgian patients suffering from psychiatric disorders: a retrospective, descriptive study.

Objectives: To identify patterns in euthanasia requests and practices relating to psychiatric patients; to generate recommendations for future research.

Design: Retrospective analysis of data obtained through medical file review.

Setting: Outpatient psychiatric clinical setting in the Dutch-speaking region of Belgium, between October 2007 and December 2011; follow-up at the end of December 2012.