Page 67 - IJSA, Vol. 7, No 1, 2024

International Journal of Science Annals, Vol. 7, No. 1, 2024
рrint ISSN: 2617-2682; online ISSN: 2707-3637; DOI:10.26697/ijsa

emotional ones) which certainly affect every choice of coping with her loneliness, loss of hope and unbearable
life. suffering.
In fact, rationality is an extraordinarily complex process, Her contacts with the Belgian doctors, as confirmed by
often fallible because it can be influenced by many choice the procedural reconstruction of the affair, were repeated
alternatives, which are in turn influenced by not only – this cannot be denied – but what seems to emerge is
cognitive but also emotional, social and environmental their ritual formality with the apparent renunciation of
processes. making any useful attempt to give the woman the support
At this point, we should ask ourselves if the selection of and comfort she needed.
those who are able to make a treatment decision from This could have been achieved not only by setting up a
those who are not can be operated with these diagnostic new therapeutic plan which, probably, would not have
tools and if the traditional scientific model, with its had the desired effect (due to the patient’s weak
logical spectrum with a hypothetical-deductive matrix, is compliance, also testified by her most complete distrust
a tool suitable for achieving this specific purpose and in psychiatric care), but above all by providing her with
whether or not it complies with the provisions of art. 12 the psychological support that the Italian law of 2017
of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with confirmed to be indispensable in all cases of therapeutic
Disabilities (CRPD) (Cembrani et al., 2022) and the need refusal.
not to discriminate against people in the exercise of their Support that could have strengthened relationships with
freedom rights. friends and recovered the family affections that
However, the question remains open, even if what is Mrs. de Troyer had interrupted for little-investigated
beyond dispute is that the decision to die of Madame de reasons, even admitting that her inner feeling could be
Troyer was not targeted by any particular verification, influenced by the aggressive behavior of her son, who
whose robustness was taken for granted by the two later became the true and only protagonist of the judicial
doctors who finalized her euthanasia, without dispute initiated for the alleged violation of Belgian law,
considering that major depressive disorder is capable of: which was then examined by the Supreme Court of
a) interfering with the generative process of emotional Justice.
responses (Joorman & Stanton, 2016) due to a frequent Moreover, her relationship with her daughter was not
distortion of information caused by cognitive biases in completely severed by the latter, given her reply to her
interpretation and memory processes; mother’s email in which she declared that she accepted
b) to compromise – more or less severely – the domains her decision to die, albeit with great pain. This confirms
of memory, attention and executive functions (Marazziti that an attempt should have been made in re-establishing
et al., 2010) with overall cognitive dysfunction emerging family relations, if only for a better accompaniment of
in demanding rather than automatic processes (Hartlage the woman in her last life project.
et al., 2018). However, friends (who therefore existed) took part in it.
The result is impaired executive functions and a Mr. P. D., met on 20 March 2012, and described as a
dysregulation of emotion control (Vazquez & trusted person, was the one the woman confided the inner
Hernangómez, 2009). need to write a farewell letter addressed to her children.
The result is also a reduced cognitive control over the
cognitive biases that make depressive symptoms chronic Conclusions
and dysregulation in the control of negative emotions Formulating definitive conclusions from cases that have
(Grahek et al., 2018) the neurobiological cause of which reached trial in the courtrooms is almost always a
could be identified in the reduced functioning of the gamble, not only because the procedural reconstruction
anterior cingulate cortex, of the ventral prefrontal cortex of events usually shows profiles of incompleteness but
(Beevers, 2005) and the dorsolateral one (Li et al., 2010). above all because the decision taken in sentence by the
What really were the cognitive impairments of Judges is a confounding factor that may influence the
Mrs. Godelieva de Troyer is evident from the final comment.
reconstruction of the facts carried out by the Judges of Nonetheless, news stories are an extraordinary training
the European Court of Justice: the robustness of her ground that motivates and trains reflection.
decision-making capacity has been only partially In the story here described, we wanted to try our hand
investigated. without the ambition of arriving at an absolute truth.
Only by Dr. T. the woman was described as lucid and The case of Mrs. de Troyer raises many questions
reasonable, even if it is not known whether these general concerning the robustness of the decision-making
notes have been confirmed by a more in-depth test capacity of people suffering from major depressive
evaluation so as to investigate those cognitive and disorder, which – in our opinion – must always be careful
emotional domains (and, with them, suggestibility) that and in-depth, considering that their management cannot
may be negatively affected by major depressive disorder. be limited to the pharmacological approach alone.
On the Need to Also Give Depressed People the This assumes particular importance when the legal asset
Necessary Support for the Maturation of Life Choices put at risk is the defence of life.
In addition to evaluating the robustness of Mrs. de To all effects – even in the Italian legislation – this is the
Troyer’s decision-making capacity, we still have to ask cornerstone of democratic life, which opens up to all the
ourselves in what concrete ways her taking charge could other rights and freedoms inscribed in the human person.
and should have been strengthened with the aim of

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