Physically-healthy Dutch woman Zoraya ter Beek dies by euthanasia aged 29 because she did not want to live with depression

A physically healthy Dutch woman died shortly after the age of 29 due to euthanasia, because she did not want to live with depression and anxiety.

Zoraya ter Beek, who has also suffered trauma and borderline personality disorder, decided she wanted to die after struggling with mental health issues for more than a decade, claiming no treatment had helped her.

She died on May 22 at 1:25 PM local time – 20 days after her birthday – with the help of the Euthanasia Expertise Center, a blog post shared by a friend said.

A tweet shared by another friend called Martin said Beek died ‘humanely’. People who die by euthanasia are typically given a barbiturate solution that stops their heart, although the method of Beek’s death has not been shared.

A screenshot of Beek’s X account has been posted, which now shows Zoraya – Status: Departed with a clear nod to her death.

Another photo in the same post showed Beek’s date of birth – May 2, 1995 – and her date of death. The card also had May 2, 2024 printed on it, but crossed out, suggesting she originally planned to die on her 29th birthday.

A third image showed a bird flying away from a tree that had shed some leaves, which appears to be a symbolic depiction of Beek’s death.

She died “a dignified death, which she longed for for years due to unbearable psychological suffering,” according to an obituary published in the Dutch newspaper. Algemeen Dagblad.

Beek was with her boyfriend when she died, although further details about her death have not been shared.

A blog in her honor said: ‘Now it’s quiet…no more texts…no tweets…no vague shizzle…no cat pictures… …no motivational kick in the ass……

‘And I? I am sad but happy at the same time. It’s a shame to miss it, but there is so much understanding that the sadness doesn’t bother me. Happy because her greatest wish could come true the way she hoped and wished. That she could go to sleep forever.”

Beek, who hails from the small Dutch town of Oldenzaal, has been outspoken about her death wish and publicly shared her hope to die by euthanasia last October.

The 29-year-old, who celebrated her birthday on May 2, said she had had a good life but it wasn’t enough to live for.

‘I have a house. Two cheerful cats. And a partner who loves me very much, and I love him. I’ve got everything. But that ‘all’ is not enough to live for.’

Beek’s partner supported her wishes and he was by her side when she died.

Her account on X was closed and it was up to her friend Martin (@tintal1971 on X) to announce her death.

He wrote on Wednesday: ‘For the people who called it a bluff, who called her an attention whore. Excuse yourself and sit in a corner. Ask yourself: are you part of the problem, or part of the solution?’

The announcement read: “Zoraya passed away today at 1:25 p.m. Or as she saw it herself: she went to sleep. Her dying wish/request is to leave her loved ones alone and, if possible, to tolerate disrespectful responses. She understood that euthanasia for psychological suffering is still a ‘thing’ for some people.”

She had been on the waiting list for euthanasia for three years and while Beek shared her journey on social media, she became an ambassador for fellow sufferers.

As an advocate for death by euthanasia for those who want it, Beek was thrust into the public eye – where many people scrutinized her views.

‘Sometimes you really get a truckload of shit thrown at you from people who are already against it. Who accuse you of being an attention seeker. There is always some form of burden of proof,” she told the Dutch newspaper.

‘People want to see that you are suffering. That you cry. But yes, I put on makeup and dress well when I go out. They only see me happily doing my thing, not on the days when I lie in bed all day.’

Zoraya ter Beek received approval for assisted dying earlier this month. After the news was announced, she attacked critics, calling their protest against her death “offensive.” She suggested she planned to take her own life in June, but ultimately was granted euthanasia slightly earlier.

“People think that if you’re mentally ill you can’t think straight, which is insulting,” she said the guard.

‘I understand the fear that some people with disabilities have about assisted dying… bIn the Netherlands we have known this law for over twenty years. There are very strict rules and it is very safe.’

Euthanasia has been legal in the Netherlands since 2002 for people who experience ‘unbearable suffering without the prospect of improvement’.

Beek’s case has received worldwide attention and sparked the debate over assisted dying. Many who support euthanasia say that euthanasia should only be available to terminally ill people facing an imminent, painful and undignified death.

Others – like Beek – emphasize that comfortable, peaceful suicide should be an available option for people suffering from insurmountable mental suffering.

Those who are completely against euthanasia say it is a slippery slope and that offering it to the terminally ill will ultimately lead to it becoming an option for people whose disease can be cured or effectively treated.

Beek decided she wanted to die after a psychiatrist told her ‘there is nothing more we can do for you’ and that ‘it will never get better’. The free press reported.

She previously said she would be euthanized at home on the couch with her boyfriend by her side.

Beek said her crippling depression and anxiety caused her to self-harm and feel suicidal for years. She claimed that no mental health treatment – ​​including talking therapies, various medications and even electroconvulsive therapy so far – has worked to alleviate her condition.

When she was just 22, Beek opted to get a do-not-resuscitate badge, something typically worn by the elderly.

She had often considered killing herself, but resisted after seeing the devastating impact of a school friend’s violent suicide on her family.

The 29-year-old told The Free Press last month that she has always been “very clear that if things don’t get better, I can’t do this anymore.”

Her boyfriend will scatter her ashes in “a beautiful spot in the woods” they chose together, she said.

“I don’t see it as the departure of my soul, but more as liberating myself from life,” she said of her expected death, admitting, “I’m a little scared of dying because it’s the ultimate unknown is.

“We don’t really know what’s next, or is there nothing? That’s the scary part.’

The Netherlands is one of only three countries in the EU where the practice of assisted dying is legal. Human rights organizations argue that this gives people battling a terminal or crippling disease the right to humanely end their suffering.

Data showed that in 2022, 8,720 people in the Netherlands ended their lives via euthanasia – an increase of 14 percent compared to the previous year.