The case study I am analyzing is ‘To Thine Own Self be True’: On the Loss of Integrity as a Kind of Suffering’ by Henri Wijsbek. This case study centers around a Dutch psychiatrist that assisted a 50-year-old woman in suicide, despite her lacking clinical presentations of any physical or psychiatric condition. It also explores how the patient’s loss of integrity or volitional incapacity can be characterized as a hallmark of suffering.
One of the major aspects at play is decisional competency. Mrs. Boomsma demonstrates volitional incapacity after losing her children by refusing to give up her grief. When Robbie was alive, she was only living for him. After losing both of her sons, she was void of her ‘ultimate goals’ that offer value and structure to her life (Steinbock et al. 465). She consequently sought to commit suicide because she could no longer think for herself and live on as a “childless mother” as the case study depicts that “she had a hard time making out whether she could not because she did not want to, or did not want to because she could not” (Steinbock et al. 464). To her, attempting to move on from her tragedies or rather, “to give …show more content…
After losing her will to live, Mrs. Boomsma desired finding medical practitioners who would provide her with drugs to end her life. She eventually got in touch with Dr. Chabot through the Dutch Right to Die Society (NVVE). Dr. Chabot attempted to offer her many different types of treatments but Mrs. Boomsma inevitably refused all of these medical interventions as they violated the core values in her life. After consulting with seven other medical professionals, Dr. Chabot concluded that her suffering was “’enduring and unbearable’ with ‘no real prospect of a successful treatment’” (Steinbock et al. 463). In the end, he agreed to give her a lethal dose of medication that led to her death on September 28,
One of the major aspects at play is decisional competency. Mrs. Boomsma demonstrates volitional incapacity after losing her children by refusing to give up her grief. When Robbie was alive, she was only living for him. After losing both of her sons, she was void of her ‘ultimate goals’ that offer value and structure to her life (Steinbock et al. 465). She consequently sought to commit suicide because she could no longer think for herself and live on as a “childless mother” as the case study depicts that “she had a hard time making out whether she could not because she did not want to, or did not want to because she could not” (Steinbock et al. 464). To her, attempting to move on from her tragedies or rather, “to give …show more content…
After losing her will to live, Mrs. Boomsma desired finding medical practitioners who would provide her with drugs to end her life. She eventually got in touch with Dr. Chabot through the Dutch Right to Die Society (NVVE). Dr. Chabot attempted to offer her many different types of treatments but Mrs. Boomsma inevitably refused all of these medical interventions as they violated the core values in her life. After consulting with seven other medical professionals, Dr. Chabot concluded that her suffering was “’enduring and unbearable’ with ‘no real prospect of a successful treatment’” (Steinbock et al. 463). In the end, he agreed to give her a lethal dose of medication that led to her death on September 28,