Yes, indeed. The psychiatrist providing MAID must establish that the person has been suffering from a serious disorder over a long period of time which is chronic, and which does not respond to treatment. Often in reports, the period of time indicated is expressed in decades. It is clear that we are absolutely not talking about giving access to MAID to a person who is taken to ER after trying to commit suicide for the first time. This is absolutely not the case. As we have stressed, MAID must not be a way of responding to a lack of resources or to a problem in accessing care.
In all cases, there is a strong analogy to be made with physical illness. When we evaluate a request for MAID, we must be sure that the person has been able to access palliative care and treatment for their suffering. The same criteria apply to mental disorders. We must be sure that the person has received care aimed at reducing his or her suffering.
Medicine, however, has its limits. Medicine has its limits in cardiology, respirology and oncology, why wouldn't psychiatry? You could think that if the system were perfect, we could get a 100% success rate with psychiatric treatment, but that would be false. It's like believing in unicorns.