Existential suffering as a motive for assisted suicide: difficulties, acceptability, management and roles from the perspectives of Swiss professionals

Abstract

Background Existential suffering is often a part of the requests for assisted suicide (AS). Its definitions have gained in clarity recently and refer to a distress arising from an inner realization that life has lost its meaning. There is however a lack of consensus on how to manage existential suffering, especially in a country where AS is legal and little is known about the difficulties faced by professionals confronted with these situations.