Editorial

Welcome to the second issue of 2026. More than two years ago, in an historic House of Commons vote, MPs gave their backing to proposed legislation which would introduce assisted dying in England and Wales. In its current form, the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill would allow people over the age of 18, who are expected to die within six months, to be given help to end their own life, subject to certain safeguards. The bill was first read in the House of Lords in June 2025 and is currently still in the committee stage. It appears unlikely to pass into legislation during this parliamentary session meaning that, because it is a private member’s bill, it will fall. Meanwhile, in Scotland, a similar bill was defeated by MSPs on 17 March 2026. In our first paper, Rachel Gibbons explores some of the psychological processes involved in this complex field. ‘Preventing Suicide vs Assisting in Dying? Unravelling a Clinical Paradox. The Importance of Mourning in Life and Death Decisions’ draws on psychoanalytic theory, suicide research, bereavement studies, and international evidence to explore the difference between assisted dying and suicide. Gibbons argues that, although often treated as psychologically equivalent, they represent fundamentally distinct psychic configurations, differentiated by the work of mourning. She conceptualises suicide as a pre-mourning state in which unbearable affect is evacuated through acting out, often with traumatic consequences for the bereaved. In contrast, assisted dying may represent the culmination of a process in which mortality has been acknowledged, symbolised, and shared. She illustrates how these configurations may diverge or overlap using clinical vignettes to consider bereavement outcomes, fluctuating desire for hastened death, and the physician’s symbolic and countertransferential role. Understanding these psychological processes is essential in supporting patients, their families, clinicians, and the integrity of clinical saf