Psychiatry · 3 h ago
Dutch survey finds differing family experiences after psychiatric and somatic MAID
An online cross-sectional survey of 616 Dutch relatives compared experiences after medical assistance in dying (MAID) on psychiatric versus somatic grounds. Relatives in both groups generally judged care criteria positively, while those connected to psychiatric MAID more often reported powerlessness, guilt and a trajectory they considered too long.
- Survey included 616 Dutch relatives of people receiving MAID.
- Psychiatric MAID relatives more often reported guilt and powerlessness.
- 68.3% considered the psychiatric MAID trajectory too long.
- More than one-quarter felt insufficiently involved.
Researchers surveyed 616 Dutch adults who had experienced the MAID of a relative, including 110 whose relative received MAID on psychiatric grounds and 506 on somatic grounds. The anonymous online survey was conducted from April 2023 to February 2025 and assessed emotions, views on the duration of the process, involvement and judgments of due-care criteria using rating scales. Participants were recruited through convenience sampling, including social media, pamphlets and newspapers.
Among respondents connected to psychiatric MAID, gratitude, resignation, relief and sadness were the most strongly reported emotions, with mean scores of 3.5–4.2 on a five-point scale. More than one-quarter of respondents overall felt insufficiently involved, and more than 80% in both groups judged the due-care criteria positively. Compared with relatives of people receiving somatic MAID, those in the psychiatric group reported greater powerlessness and guilt and were more likely to consider the trajectory too long (68.3% versus 21%; p<0.001).
The findings point to areas where clinicians may need to attend to relatives’ experiences and involvement, while respecting the requirement that MAID requests be voluntary and free from undue influence. The cross-sectional, self-selected survey relies on respondents’ reports and cannot establish causation or represent all relatives. The authors call for further research on how involvement can be optimised.
In practice
For clinicians involved in MAID assessments or care in the Netherlands, the survey identifies relatives of people receiving psychiatric MAID as more likely than relatives in somatic cases to report powerlessness, guilt and a trajectory they considered too long. More than one-quarter of respondents felt insufficiently involved, while most positively judged the due-care criteria. These findings support attention to relatives’ experiences and support needs, but the self-selected cross-sectional survey does not show that a particular approach improves outcomes or justify changes to assessment or legal safeguards.
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The British Journal of Psychiatry: Medical assistance in dying on psychiatric versus somatic grounds: survey on the experiences of relatives ↗This is an automated AI-condensed summary that has not yet been reviewed by an editor. Always consult the full item at the original source.