It has always been tacitly assumed in the Netherlands that old people and/or severely ill people could only expedite their own death with the assistance of a physician. (In 2002 the Dutch passed laws permitted voluntary euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide.)
Recently, however, psychiatrist Boudewijn Chabot defended his Ph.D. thesis “Auto-Euthanasia “ in which he calculates that in the Netherlands over 4,000 people take matters in their own hands in order to die.
And die at home, peacefully, with dignity, interacting with trusted individuals but without active involvement of a physician.The methods used are desisting of food and fluids or taking an overdose of medicine. For comparison: in 2006 less than 2000 instances of doctor-assisted euthanasia were reported.
