Conceptual parity posits that both medical and mental illness are both simply illness, and thus should be considered as fundamentally the same, especially in health services and policy. Recent controversy over medical assistance in dying (MAID) highlights both the unequal treatment of physical and mental illnesses in end-of-life care and the need for more conceptual clarification of terminal mental illness. This article presents an argument for the necessary elements in terminal mental illness, the value of qualitative assessments, and important areas that require further research and clarity in order for terminal mental illness to be appropriately identified. Given current conceptual limitations, palliative psychiatry, and not MAID, is recommended in severely treatment-resistant cases of mental illness.

中文翻译：

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无用和末期精神疾病：概念澄清继续。

概念对等假定医疗和精神疾病都只是疾病，因此应该被视为基本相同，尤其是在卫生服务和政策方面。最近关于临终医疗援助 (MAID) 的争议凸显了临终关怀中对身体和精神疾病的不平等待遇，以及需要对晚期精神疾病进行更多概念性澄清。本文提出了关于晚期精神疾病的必要要素、定性评估的价值以及需要进一步研究和澄清以适当识别晚期精神疾病的重要领域的论点。鉴于目前的概念限制，建议在严重难以治疗的精神疾病病例中使用姑息性精神病学，而不是 MAID。