Physically Healthy 28-Year-Old Explains..

Critics strongly disagree. Many mental health experts warn that hopelessness is a symptom of depression and question whether a desire for death can ever be fully autonomous in such cases. Others fear a slippery slope, arguing that allowing euthanasia for psychiatric conditions risks normalizing death as a response to psychological distress rather than investing in better mental health care.

Ter Beek has framed her choice as liberation rather than despair. She plans to spend her final moments at home and has chosen cremation to reduce the burden on her partner. While she admits to fear, she says euthanasia brings her peace after years of suffering.

Her case has not settled the debate, but it has forced a global audience to confront difficult questions about suffering, choice, and where society should draw its most fragile moral lines.