There's a good chance I would have been eligible since treatment had been only somewhat effective for 20 years and I was still experiencing bouts of depression.
They are two different things. A crisis is fleeting. You have a crisis and you get help. When you have a mental illness, you live with the suffering and problems over a long period of time. During that time, you can seek help and you can find out whether you are eligible for MAID. The real problem is access to treatment.
I am a psychologist, and I can't choose to turn away clients. I just received an email from the government asking me to make my services available to the public. Services are desperately needed, and those who are suffering don't have access to the services they need.
No matter how it is structured and no matter what protocols are in place to regulate MAID, it doesn't change the situation. People like me and others are being told that they can access MAID, that they can die, that they can have help to die, and that death is an option. We are told that suicide is not a solution, but that assisted dying is. That sends the message that our situation is hopeless.
When that is presented as an option, the person may choose it because, morally and socially, it is seen as an acceptable solution. Whatever protocols are put in place, it won't change things. That thinking will become mainstream.