A Canadian actress who is physically healthy and admitted she has an “embarrassment of riches’’ is begging a court to allow her to die by assisted suicide because of crippling mental illness.
Claire Brosseau, 49 — a Montreal-based actress who has appeared in dozens of movies alongside the likes of James Franco and other stars — said she hasn’t left home in months because of severe bipolar and post traumatic disorders.
“It’s unbearable. Every morning I wake up, I don’t think I’m going to make it through the day,” Brosseau said outside the Ontario Superior Court of Justice on Monday, according to the Canadian Press.
The actress said she is in court pushing for her right to die because — despite having “an embarrassment of riches,” including friends, a devoted family and a beloved Maltipoo, Olive — she can’t endure the “unrelenting suffering” any more.
Brosseau said she was forced to seek assisted suicide when she failed multiple past attempts to end her life, including by OD’ing on drugs, slashing her wrists and even eating peanuts, which she is severely allergic to, the New York Times said.
“This is an extraordinary remedy which we are pursuing, but the situation that Claire finds herself in is also extraordinary,” Brosseau’s lawyer, Michael Fenrick said Monday, adding that he hopes a court date will be set before summer.
Brosseau’s parents and sister have said they were horrified when the actress first told them of her plans to try to die despite the fact that she is physically healthy, a situation the law bans.
“I was furious. I really saw it as giving up,” her sibling, Melissa Morris, 51, told the Times.
Her mother, Mary Louise Kinahan, told the outlet, “No mother ever wants to lose a child before them, but no mother wants to see incredible suffering.’’
Even one of Brosseau’s two psychiatrists said, “I believe she can get well.
“I don’t think [assisted suicide is the best or only choice for her,’’ Dr. Mark Fefergrad told the Times.
Brosseau’s other psychiatrist, Dr. Gail Robinson, said, “I would love her to change her mind.
“I would hope that she would not have to do this. But I will support her,” the expert told the outlet.
Brosseau had described writing in her Hello Kitty diary at age 8 that she hoped to die and sitting on train tracks and when young, thinking, “It would be better for me and for everyone else if I weren’t here,” the Times said.
She revealed in an open letter published last year that she’s tried over two dozen medications, several types of behavioral, talk, and art therapies, and electroconvulsive therapy over the years but to no avail.
She has been fighting since 2021 for access to euthanasia under Canada’s controversial Medical Aid in Dying.
In 2024, she and advocacy group Dying with Dignity sued the Canadian government arguing that MAID excludes those whose underlying condition is a mental illness rather than a physical condition, which violates the constitution.
Brosseau, who is single and has no children, is now seeking a constitutional exemption that would allow her to commit suicide despite not having a physical ailment.
She said she would reluctantly die in a hospital, so she could donate her organs, but in her final moments, she wants to be alone to save her loved ones the trauma of watching her go.
“And it’s been too much already,” she told the Times. “It’s enough.”
If you are struggling with suicidal thoughts or are experiencing a mental health crisis and live in New York City, you can call 1-888-NYC-WELL for free and confidential crisis counseling.
If you live outside the five boroughs, you can dial the 24/7 National Suicide Prevention hotline at 988 or go to SuicidePreventionLifeline.org.
