Thedocumentary ‘Liefs, Melissa’ tells us about Melissa, a young woman strugglingwith depressions and borderline, a mental disorder. After more than ten yearsof therapy, heavy medication, living in institutions and trying to find waysfor her to ’live’, Melissa was convinced she could only find the peace andquiet which she so badly needed in death. But finding a humane way of suicideturned out to be a struggle all on its own. After several euthanasia requests were turned down, Melissa took her own life on November 7, 2009, at the age of 27.
 
TheWorld Health Organization estimates that every year about a million people diebecause of suicide. In the past 45 years suicide rates have gone up about 60%.Despite all the regulations we have in the Netherlands, suicide and assistingsuicide are still an unsolved problem. Because the lack of regulation on(physician-)assisted suicide it often happens that people see no other way outexcept a violent one.
 
Aphysician asked by a patient to assist during suicide is committing a criminaloffense unless he follows the ‘demands concerning meticulousness’, whichincludes judging the physical and mental suffering of the patient. Thissuffering has to be ‘hopeless and unbearable’ before the physician is legallyallowed to facilitate the voluntary death. But when exactly is suffering‘hopeless and unbearable’ and is it even possible to judge someone else’ssuffering?
 
Thesephotographs were taken between March 2007 and June 2010.