On January 11, Olympe, a French YouTuber, revealed on her Instagram account her desire to resort to physician-assisted suicide in Belgium in the “last quarter of 2023”, in relation to her mental health. For several years, the 23-year-old has directed her content on her mental health, and in particular the dissociative identity disorder that she suffers from.
This disorder is characterized by the coexistence, within the same person, of several identities that can in turn take control of the patient, according to the MSD Manual. Olympe thus indicates that he lives with a dozen “alters”, who occasionally appear in his videos.
A long and complicated process
On Instagram, Olympe indicated that she was “exhausted” by her “issues”, her “past” and her “brain not working right”. “I don’t have a positive enough life base,” concludes the young woman, who indicated at the same time that she was the victim of bullying for 14 years, of five rapes in adolescence, of a group rape and of massive cyberbullying. .
Brussels general practitioner Yves de Locht says with our colleagues from the Parisian that Olympe contacted him by email, with a view to initiating the steps prior to euthanasia. The specialist, however, questions the schedule proposed by the young woman, recalling that a request for assisted suicide for psychiatric reasons is long and complicated.
In 2002, Belgium adopted a law decriminalizing euthanasia under certain conditions. According to the Belgian Federal Public Health Service, it must be performed by a doctor. In addition, the patient must be able to clearly express her will, be in a desperate medical situation and report “constant, unbearable and insurmountable physical and/or mental suffering”.
On May 7, a 23-year-old woman resorted to assisted suicide in Belgium. However, in perfect health, she was able to benefit from the device because she suffered from a deep depression, caused by her presence during the attack perpetrated on March 22, 2016 at the Brussels airport.
“Psychiatric cases are complicated. (…) Psychiatrists say that with regular treatment there is a chance of improvement, whatever the disease. Even for schizophrenics or people with AD “Olympus, there is a chance of improvement. It is very rare that a psychiatric illness is incurable”, specifies in the parisian Yves de Locht.
“My life is not a movie”
This development of the Brussels doctor was also an opportunity to silence many inaccuracies that circulate about the Belgian model. Yves de Locht recalls that a control commission investigates each case, and that “the euthanasia vending machine does not work!”.
For the specialist, now is the time for France to change its law, especially since Belgium “does not want to become the deathbed of the French.” In April 2021, on BFMTV, the doctor had already estimated that “it is time for French law to evolve”.
Last September, Emmanuel Macron officially announced the creation of a citizen consultation on the end of life, made up of French people drawn by lot. They will deliver their conclusions in March, indicating whether or not the law should be changed. In September, the National Ethics Advisory Committee ruled in favor of legalizing “active assistance in dying.”
Olympe assures that he made his decision with a “rested head”, and called on his subscribers not to question his choice. “My life is not a movie, we cannot debate the ending, it is not human to do that,” said the young woman.
Source: BFM TV
