An open, 'uncomfortable' conversation on mental health, suicide and doctor-assisted death
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Suicide. It's the kind of conversation many shy away from — usually. On a personal level, it's uncomfortable and upsetting. And media steers clear of it because there's concern about triggering someone vulnerable.
But The Walrus magazine's Graeme Bayliss wants to change that. He's in his mid-twenties, clinically depressed, and has thoughts about killing himself.
Bayliss wants the right — should he choose — to do it peacefully, and with dignity. He has written an essay in The Walrus that takes on Canada's proposed new law on doctor-assisted death. In it, he says the legislation doesn't go far enough and believes it should include provisions for people with a mental illness. Bayliss makes a provocative argument.
Doctor-assisted death is an important debate our country is having and although it's an upsetting and uncomfortable conversation to have, Graeme Bayliss's voice needs to be heard, says The Current host Anna Maria Tremonti.
Guests in this segment:
- Graeme Bayliss, managing editor of The Walrus magazine. He's also clinically depressed. His essay is called, Canada's Assisted-Suicide Law Fails the Mentally Ill.
- André Picard, health columnist with The Globe and Mail.
- Eric Windeler, founder & executive director of Jack.org, a national network of youth trying to change the way we talk about mental health and help the end stigma around it.
- Dr. Allison Crawford, psychiatrist at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health and the medical director of the Northern Psychiatric Outreach Program and Telepsychiatry Centre for Addiction and Mental Health.
Send us your thoughts on this discussion. Do you want to see the conversation about suicide change?
Send us an email. Find us on Facebook or tweet us @TheCurrentCBC.
This segment was produced by The Current's John Chipman, Josh Bloch and Pacinthe Mattar.
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