One common objection to these laws is that patients who request an earlier death may simply be depressed. It’s extremely difficult to diagnose depression in dying patients because the symptoms overlap almost entirely with those of terminal illness. But studies from Oregon — which requires referral for counseling if a physician believes that depression is impairing a patient’s judgment — show that depression is no more common in patients who request assisted dying than in other terminally ill patients. And a recent study showed that dying patients who receive a prescription for lethal medication become less depressed and anxious than those who don’t.