Between Life and Death

Three depressed and suicidal young people engage in a unique experiment. Each of them is paired up with a terminally ill youngster. One of them is dying, but is doing everything possible to stay alive. The other one is alive, but wants to die. For one year, the series follows the lives of these young people, who at first glance do not seem to have much in common. What do they have to offer each other? And has their view on life/death changed after a year of spending time together? The aim was to provide insight and create understanding for people suffering from depression. It has made it easier for both suicidal people and those close to them to talk about this topic. The programme was part of a week about depression on NPO 3 (the Dutch youth channel) and was one of the most controversial. It is based on an existing form of therapy, which indeed pairs up terminally ill people with suicidal people - with incredible results. We worked closely with professionals specialised in this form of therapy, being aware of the ethical questions involved in using this form of therapy for television purposes. In the creation process we collaborated with the National Suicide Helpline and developed a chatbot that people could engage with to find out what it is like to be suicidal and learn what they could do to help.