Journey towards 'assisted suicide': Bipolar artist awaits nod for euthanasia plea
“I am not saying that life (as a phenomenon) isn’t worth living. It absolutely is. What I am saying is that the mental weight of mine has become entirely unbearable,” reads an Instagram post of Joseph Awuah-Darko, 28, a British-Ghanaian artist who suffers from bipolar disorder.
“I am bipolar and I moved to the Netherlands to legally end my life,” says Darko, who is currently awaiting approval for his request to end his life through euthanasia (mercy killing) from the authorities in Netherland.
Euthanasia is the intentional procedure of ending a person's life to relieve him from suffering. Darko chose to shift from the UK to the Netherlands as it is among a small number of countries that permit the procedure under strict conditions.
Darko was diagnosed with bipolar disorder when he was barely 16.
He has shared his struggles with the mental illness, saying he wakes up every day in "severe pain", which led him to opt for an “assisted suicide”. “I’m a bit tired. I’m just so tired. I’m so tired,” he is seen wailing in a video, which he has described as one of his lowest depressive episodes.
“I am not special, like many people in their 20s; the constant burnout, the burden of debt, paralysing depression, violent media cycle and the dystopian reality of AI …all weigh heavy. The reality I face of being bipolar exacerbates all this,” Darko writes.
For Joseph, who grew up as a Catholic, taking this step to pursue euthanasia was tough. “But I owe it to the community of artists that look to my words for encouragement to be transparent,” he states.
“Now more than ever, the possibility of being humanely put to rest with dignity matters. I am at beginning of this process and approved euthanasia has several stages. So I will still be alive when my book “DearArtists” is published in Spring next year. And I have arranged for all my royalties to be given to a mental health charity. I am also selling my entire collection of contemporary art and concluding other affairs,” he states.
Has has launched a “Last Supper” project tour of the world as he awaits a decision on his plea. As part of the project, he shares suppers with strangers. He says he has always been a “closeted foodie”. But now, at this final stage of life, he wants to embrace it fully and experience it deeply, he states.
As far as his decision to rest in peace, Darko's mind is made up.
“I’m ready to go home,” he pens.
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