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I am in strong support of having peaceful means for people to choose to end their own lives. The laws in Washington State and Oregon are the first baby steps toward that in the US. But they are only in place for people with terminal diagnoses, so rather restrictive.
I am glad these laws were passed because it opens the dialogue and eventually more progress can be made.
This is an excellent documentary on the subject, featured on Frontline a few years back - you can watch it on their website. The responses to it are also worth reading- many people sharing deeply personal experiences with death and their opinions about this topic
anything will and can be abused and euthanasia is no different. Those sitting there waiting for a huge inheritance can end someone's life to get rich quick. ......There has to be laws and guidelines in place but the choice should be up to the person suffering. Not anyone else. It's up to the individual to decide how much is enough and what they consider enough quality of life to stay alive....... And why should they have to risk "doing it wrong" when it comes to suicide? Guns and other means are not foolproof plus there's a chance you end up in worse shape than before if you survive an attempt, so there should be a legal, less violent way to end one's life with dignity.
I agree there needs to be guidelines to prevent abuse. The person suffering should have the final say-so and this is why living wills are SO important. Even a spouse should not be the one making that decision unless it looks like there's no hope of survival. It's still and will always be a controversial subject.
It's not hard at all, to get drugs, (even legal ones) to end your life...people do it all the time...the drugs might not be prescribed for "suicide", but that doesn't mean they're not available.
That's not exactly correct. While they may be available, getting the proper amount is the problem. Too much, they may vomit it all up, too little, and they may end up with brain damage, not death.
The accidental overdoses are usually from mixing drugs that shouldn't be taken together. Here again, you need to know.
There is nothing quite like the person that attempts suicide and fails. Friends and family never forget the attempt.
I remember one patient we had at our hospital. He had tried twice and failed. The third time, he got a gun, place it in his mouth and fired. Should have been successful that time, but his aim was a little downward, missed his brain completly, severed his spinal cord and spent the rest of his life unable to move anything from the neck down.
You're right Maryjane55us (except that I wasn't really talkin "street drugs" as much as presription, or over the counter drugs)...and Padget2...you've definitely given me something to think about, you're right too!!
I am in strong support of having peaceful means for people to choose to end their own lives. The laws in Washington State and Oregon are the first baby steps toward that in the US. But they are only in place for people with terminal diagnoses, so rather restrictive.
I am glad these laws were passed because it opens the dialogue and eventually more progress can be made.
This is an excellent documentary on the subject, featured on Frontline a few years back - you can watch it on their website. The responses to it are also worth reading- many people sharing deeply personal experiences with death and their opinions about this topic
I know many of my generation that would have taken advantage of such an idea. Assisted suicide should absolutely be legalized. Why does there have to be a criteria? Silly.
I know many of my generation that would have taken advantage of such an idea. Assisted suicide should absolutely be legalized. Why does there have to be a criteria? Silly.
What is *your* generation? I'm confused.. not sure why one would consider this a generational thing. I know lots of 70-90 yr olds living fulfilling lives. It's an individual thing, for the most part, depending on the status of health and prognosis for the future... basically terminal, in pain.
I think there needs to be some sort of criteria.. elsewise, you'd have despondent, depressed people committing suicide for all sorts of "silly" reasons instead of working thru it, waiting it out, and really trying to improve their condition.
I know of a woman in her late 80's that's lived with crippling rhematoid arthritis for the last several decades, in a wheelchair, can't see, can't walk, her hands don't work.. and she has been more inspiring to me than anyone I've ever met. She just lost her 90 yr old husband who took care of her. You would think of all people she would be one to want to give up on life.
I know of a woman in her late 80's that's lived with crippling rhematoid arthritis for the last several decades, in a wheelchair, can't see, can't walk, her hands don't work.. and she has been more inspiring to me than anyone I've ever met. She just lost her 90 yr old husband who took care of her. You would think of all people she would be one to want to give up on life. .
Anecdotes like this always rub me the wrong way, because they imply that there is something admirable about choosing to endure tremendous suffering, and that its something we should all strive for.
Maybe there are some people who wouldn't want to live under such conditions as the woman described in this quote. And I don't see anything wrong with that.
I believe we all need to decide what we are willing to tolerate in life, and not push our choices in that area onto others.
And given the extensive medical technology we have available in the US (and other developed nations), it seems inhuman, to me, that we will provide a peaceful means of death for our pets when we realize that to do so is to relieve them of suffering, but we decide that humans should be kept alive at all costs.
Why would a dog or cat's suffering be treated as worse than a human's? I believe its because the idea that people could decide they don't want to suffer anymore, and are ready to die, scares us (collectively) on some level. If that option is available, it would mean we need to question how much suffering a human being should endure. And each person is going to have a very different answer to that question.
I think there needs to be some sort of criteria.. elsewise, you'd have despondent, depressed people committing suicide for all sorts of "silly" reasons instead of working thru it, waiting it out, and really trying to improve their condition.
I said my generation. I didn't say any specifics or do I care to divulge into it. Further, I said I know many in my generation, I didn't say only my generation. But of that generation, 70 to 90, there are suicides weekly in a certain area. Some screw up the suicide and lay there for days unable to move. Others do it right and no one notices for a couple weeks. Why aren't they given the option? I'm guessing you are ok with people botching up suicide and laying there helpless, suffering, and it's ok?
The Swiss way of handling assisted suicide is absolutely amazing. Further, you're saying someone depressed for years and continually struggle with life doesn't deserve the choice to die? That they should just drudge through life? Some people just can't handle drama like others. Maybe enough suicides will open peoples eyes and realize something needs to change. I wonder how many group murders would be prevented by suicide as an option in the USA. Are we scared of mass exodus of youth throwing the human population in a down spiral? I'm confused here.
I said my generation. I didn't say any specifics or do I care to divulge into it. Further, I said I know many in my generation, I didn't say only my generation. But of that generation, 70 to 90, there are suicides weekly in a certain area. Some screw up the suicide and lay there for days unable to move. Others do it right and no one notices for a couple weeks. Why aren't they given the option? I'm guessing you are ok with people botching up suicide and laying there helpless, suffering, and it's ok?
The Swiss way of handling assisted suicide is absolutely amazing. Further, you're saying someone depressed for years and continually struggle with life doesn't deserve the choice to die? That they should just drudge through life? Some people just can't handle drama like others. Maybe enough suicides will open peoples eyes and realize something needs to change. I wonder how many group murders would be prevented by suicide as an option in the USA. Are we scared of mass exodus of youth throwing the human population in a down spiral? I'm confused here.
The 70+ age group, these are the ones I am adamantly in support of assisted suicide... including the woman I referred to, if it were her choice. But she doesn't choose it. I'm definitely NOT okay with botched suicides, from any age group, that was the whole point of my topic, that people should be allowed to choose their method/their time of dying when there's no hope left.
What I do question are the depressed ones "drudging" thru life. They may very well have a chance of making it thru their depression; like the 60yr old friend I wrote about who felt he had nothing left to live for after he lost his job. He has learned there's other things more valuable in life besides living to work.
I was a depressed 14yr old in the '60's who wanted to commit suicide. My mother was incensed when the doctor suggested a psychiatrist. I was forced to "drudge" on, suffer thru high school and lived to go thru another severe depressive episode in college. Hard years, lots of "drama" going on. But I eventually learned a lot by surviving through those hard times, and made it into my 60's. Lots of wonderful events/things I would have missed out on had I been given the choice to end it all.
Suicide in young people won't change anything in society. It won't "open people's eyes" to make anything change or make any difference at all. Our neighbor's 14yr old committed suicide 6 yrs ago. The mom remarried and the dad remarried. They've moved on. People go on living their lives and learn to re-adjust to the traumas in life.
Quote:
Why is it so controversial to die?
It's actually not. It happens everyday. The living, they go on living, doing the same things they did yesterday. They send their condolences and eventually get back to living their own lives. Death is something we all go through at some point in our life; but life keeps going on and the dead are simply absent from it.
Anecdotes like this always rub me the wrong way, because they imply that there is something admirable about choosing to endure tremendous suffering, and that its something we should all strive for.
Maybe there are some people who wouldn't want to live under such conditions as the woman described in this quote. And I don't see anything wrong with that.
I believe we all need to decide what we are willing to tolerate in life, and not push our choices in that area onto others.
And given the extensive medical technology we have available in the US (and other developed nations), it seems inhuman, to me, that we will provide a peaceful means of death for our pets when we realize that to do so is to relieve them of suffering, but we decide that humans should be kept alive at all costs.
Why would a dog or cat's suffering be treated as worse than a human's? I believe its because the idea that people could decide they don't want to suffer anymore, and are ready to die, scares us (collectively) on some level. If that option is available, it would mean we need to question how much suffering a human being should endure. And each person is going to have a very different answer to that question.
I never meant to imply there was anything admirable to suffering. I wouldn't have brought up this topic if that were so. That was her experience and what she was willing to accept. If it were me, I doubt I could handle her conditions and circumstances. Quality vs quantity of life means a lot to me. I'm not trying to push any agenda on this topic.
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