Dignity and Depression
April 24, 2006
If you do an internet search for “suicide depression” you get a ton of results that also include some form of the word prevent. UPI reports, however, that the Dignitas clinic in Zurich, Switzerland “Proposes Assisted Suicide for Depressed.”
Dignitas is Latin for dignity, but this organization if founded on a seriously misguided view of dignity. Human dignity is the recognition that human beings are worthy of esteem or respect. It is an inherent aspect of being human. It is not bestowed, nor can it be taken away. Rather, human dignity is recognized, and out of that recognition flow requirements for how we treat one another.
The dignity of human beings who are chronically depressed demands compassion. Compassion, literally meaning “suffering with,” is the opposite of assisting suicide. Compassion means assisting life, preventing suicide.