Meanwhile Theo Boer, a healthcare ethics professor who served for a decade on a euthanasia review board in the Netherlands, says, “I entered the review committee in 2005, and I was there until 2014,” Boer said, explaining he resigned. “In those years, I saw the Dutch euthanasia practice evolve from death being a last resort to death being a default option.”

Boer suggests that people are being encouraged to “kill themselves by laws that destigmatize suicide, a social media culture that glamorizes it, and radical right-to-die activists who insist we should be free to kill ourselves.”

‘It’s not normal’

Meanwhile, the online community is expressing shock over ter Beek’s decision to give up her gift of life. One woman writes, “Please get help. It’s not normal for any human to want death.I too felt this way…Friends who you can talk to are also very helpful.”

A second shares, “The psychiatrist who told her “there’s nothing more we can do for you. It’s never going to get any better.” Should be criminally charged, or at least have their license to practice counseling revoked. What a monstrous thing to do.”