Progressives in Belgium have begun to argue for the right of individuals with mental illness to decide their own fate. Last year, three per cent of euthanasia cases in Belgium were for people with psychiatric conditions. In the last month, a highly publicised decision will allow Laura, a 24-year-old woman, to receive a lethal injection to end her psychological pain. Laura, who is otherwise physically healthy, has depression. She reportedly told Belgian newspaper, De Morgan, ‘Life, that’s not for me.’

The DSM-5’s publication has generated something of a backlash, as professionals and non-professionals – using an internet that wasn’t available when DSM-4 appeared – articulate what everyone has known for yonks: that the DSM is unreliable, unsafe and promotes models of mental health that look positively Orwellian.