I want to talk to a friend about voluntary assisted dying, but I feel like I’m pressuring them

September 30, 2026 — 7:00pm

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I have three close friends living with progressive illnesses. Despite my 45-plus-year career as a psychologist, I’m grappling with how best to navigate the likely conversations about voluntary assisted dying (VAD). It’s daunting.

Sam* was diagnosed with Parkinson’s five years ago. After this bombshell, we discussed the options ahead, and I asked whether he’d considered “Plan B”. Sam knows me well enough to comprehend what I was alluding to, such is the shorthand between intimates. But feeling optimistic about treatment breakthroughs, he demurred.

Cut to now, and his condition is deteriorating. Sam understands that, because he is unlikely to die soon, he may be ineligible for VAD in Australia. His alternatives include travelling overseas, perhaps to Switzerland where the criteria are less restrictive. I’m now getting worried, however, that time is running out for him to fully investigate these possibilities and, if he decides to proceed, to finalise all the necessary arrangements.

This time pressure is a common experience. A 2023 Australian study of VAD patients’ loved ones........

© Brisbane Times