VICE just put out an article on a Canadian climate activist that is so severely depressed that he wants medically assisted suicide.
In 2017, Howard Breen was diagnosed with clinical "eco-anxiety" and "biosphere-related" depression. In the past, the 68-year-old activist was arrested for super-gluing himself to log booms and stopping air traffic on tarmacs.
He has also gone on hunger strikes – which is something VICE seems to want us to celebrate in this glowing profile where they portray him as a brave hero.
VICE starts off with saying this: Howard Breen isn't afraid to die to save the planet. In fact, he may just want to—in order to save himself.
Is this where we all applaud???
VICE calls climate change an "existential threat" and explains how climate-related depression is becoming more and more common.
Canada has some of the loosest guidelines/rules for Medical Assistance in Dying (MAID) in the world and perhaps articles like VICE's have something to do with it.
VICE is practically cheering this man on as he applies for assisted suicide for a second time! Breen applied in February 2021 and was denied.
But don't worry, as Vice puts it, Breen "hasn't given up."
YAY?
Cue applause again?
"If you're on the front lines, you may find yourself at the far end of the spectrum and having a lot of suicidal thoughts," Breen told VICE News. "For me, I envision just laughing at the Grim Reaper as I stand on my head for the last moment of my life."
Yeah... Breen is out "on the front lines" for us.
So stunning... so brave...
This article is full of praise and awe for the extreme activist.
They go into his past when he "lost nearly 40 pounds and suffered cognitive decline before deciding to start eating again." Breen is now on his second attempt to apply for MAID, and if he is not accepted this time, he says he will reapply next March.
(He's committed... I'll give him that.)
One of the saddest parts of this story is that Breen has the support of his general practitioner, his wife, two daughters, and son.
Breen's motivations, after all, are to call attention to the climate crisis. But he assured VICE News that having autonomy over his body and a dignified death in the face of impending climate catastrophe is no stunt. He also has the support of his general practitioner, his wife, two daughters, and son.
None of them are fighting him on this?
Really???
"I'm not afraid of death. I'm afraid of what could happen if we don't act on climate change," Breen told VICE. "I don't think many people love the planet—they're too caught up living on it. I don't want to live on a planet where I have to kill to survive."
Why not put that commitment into something other than... um... lunacy?
This man is clearly unwell. He drank the Kool Aid and doesn't seem to want to stop the extravagant showboating.
Below Breen is pictured pretending to hang himself at a protest in Vancouver Island.
That looks like someone who needs help. Not someone to kill him.
Breen told VICE that he believes his climate anxiety is enough for him to be accepted for assisted suicide because it's more than just a mental illness.
"If you reflect on it, the climate emergency is bigger than anything humanity has faced before," he said.
I think we found the one person who watches CNN 24/7.
Then the article brings in an eco-therapist for her take.
Yup... an "eco-therapist."
"I've had clients who have homes that have [been] flooded or taken from forest fires, and a young client who doesn't want to bring kids into the world," eco-therapist Samantha Young told VICE. "There's a patient I have in my practice right now who has suicidal ideation. They'd prefer the world to end sooner than deal with their life if it came later."
Sadly, this was the only therapist VICE spoke to for this article. No professional psychiatrist, no medical doctor.
Just some wacky eco-therapist!
A constitutional and criminal law professor at the University of Victoria, Rebecca Johnson, says even if Breen's application is a stunt, the conversation around eco-anxiety and death needs to change.
But if we all think this may just be a cruel stunt, why are we entertaining the idea? Why did VICE put out a glowing profile on a mentally ill man who wants to die because of climate hysteria?
There must be something more productive than glorifying suicide.
Reading through VICE's piece on this guy feels so wrong.
Instead of pointing out how sad it is for a person to be so overwhelmed by what is essentially a progressive talking point based on hotly debated science, VICE promotes Breen as some type of martyr dying for the cause of the climate religion.
Almost ironically, at the end of the article VICE shares the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline.
(I would have thought they'd link to the MAID application...)
I hope this goes without saying, but DEATH AND SUICIDE are not the answer to climate change.
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