Feb 14, 2024 at 8:09 PM Update: 4 hours ago
Dennis Schouten will publish a book in April in which he announces his wish for euthanasia. The GossipTalk-maker says that he has tried “everything” to overcome his mental problems, but that he now wants to take control of his life.
28-year-old Schouten quits Instagram to want to live “a few more years”, “to leave everything and everyone dear to me behind in good health”.
Of Gossip Talk-maker has spoken about his mental problems several times in the past. So he moved back to Enschede in 2022 to work on himself. He also says he has spoken to psychologists and was taking medication.
Schouten previously said in an interview with Flair that his mother has Munchausen syndrome by proxy. This is a psychological disorder in which someone pretends that a child is ill. In the Instagram post, Schouten refers to his youth. “It is likely that years of experimenting with medication during my adolescence damaged certain things in my head. I have since resigned myself to it,” he writes.
Schouten says he struggles with feelings of emptiness, loneliness and unrest. These feelings are said to have worsened in recent years. “I know they’re wrong, but I can’t get them out of my body.” He wants to make “the best” of it in the coming years. “I like to maintain humor, self-mockery and a critical opinion. I am not looking for pity or help. I am looking for fun things, love or a drink.”
Jan Roos finds Schouten’s euthanasia wish ‘painful’
GossipTalkcolleague Jan Roos finds it “painful” to hear that Schouten has a wish for euthanasia. “It is your choice. I am very easy about that: you come to earth, you have not been asked to do that. And what you do have in your hands is that you leave the earth,” Roos addressed his colleague in the broadcast.
“And if it gives you peace or gives you satisfaction to live for a while, but not too long, then I think it is good that you take that into your own hands and decide for yourself. No matter how painful.”
The book Dennis Schouten: Damaged, on the way to death is available from April 2.
Are you thinking about suicide? You are not alone. Contact 113 Suicide Prevention via www.113.nl or call 113 (local rate) or 0800-0113 (free).