[Scienceisgood]

Hey Guys;

After watching a few documentaries about terminal illness, it got me thinking as to how people could go on living like this and if they had the choice, would they end their lives there and then if they could?

Personally, I view euthanasia as a relief from pain in the long run because, if I knew I had, say a brain tumour and it was inoperable and I would eventually lose my memories, I would rather just bit the bullet (literally or metaphorically, decide how you will) because, I saw my grandmother bedridden only a year ago and it got to such an extent that she had to have people take her to the toilet which she couldn't do in the end and had to wear changable underwear.

If I ever get to a stage where I can't wipe my own ass, please someone just put a gun to my head and pull the trigger.

Your Thoughts On Euthanasia?

[Scienceisgood]

Anyone care to comment?

[uttamo]

I agree with your views.

[Bellissima]

i hope not, i hope i'd never be in that position! i don't know if i could do it but you never know how you feel until you're in that situation... and at this stage in my life it's hard to think about ever even being comfortable in the fact i'm going to die, let alone welcoming it...

[Kiss]

Maybe, but I hope I wouldn't have to resort to it. I'm not against it at all either - if people have a right to live they should have a right to die, which will happen anyway.

[Elaborate Sheep]

Yep, i agree. But these things always depend on the situation, they need a lot of thought and should be based on an individual basis. But that's a given right?

[cl_steele]

it depends really, i want to die with a degree of dignity... not doped to the gills on enough morphine to sink a battleship or a dribbling vegie. So yes i would go for Euphanasia if such an incidence arose, although that being said whether id have the courage to go through with such an act, or not as the case may be, is another matter.

[Alexandra's Box]

(Original post by Scienceisgood)

If I ever get to a stage where I can't wipe my own ass, please someone just put a gun to my head and pull the trigger.

Same. You'd want to retain some dignity.

[Iron Lady]

Yes.

[TheHistoryStudent]

It's an absoloute last resort I think, but it is something I think should be allowed for people to decide upon if they are the ones who will die (so effectively it's the choice of when to end your life).

I guess though it's one of those things we'd never realise that we wanted to happen untill we're actually in that situation. To give an example, say you were the victim of a random acid attack in the street, and you were hideously disfigured, but otherwise fine, would you consider Euthanasia? And when I say hideously disfigured I mean even after you have things like reconstructive surgery and so on. I'd like to think I have the stomach to get some e.g. pics, but frankly I dont...

But yeah that's just one e.g., others could be things like Alzheimers, inoperable cancers and so on - where do you think your "limit" so to speak would be?

[AspiringGenius]

I can't seriously comprehend it at the moment, I enjoy my life too much, even if I have the odd trouble or two, they seem incomparable to those of people who ask for euthanasia.

It's a really horrible decision, I have avoided getting opinions on things like this but I struggle to think of what those peoplpe must be going through.

[bazinga45]

(Original post by AspiringGenius)
I can't seriously comprehend it at the moment, I enjoy my life too much, even if I have the odd trouble or two, they seem incomparable to those of people who ask for euthanasia.

It's a really horrible decision, I have avoided getting opinions on things like this but I struggle to think of what those peoplpe must be going through.

The toll on the families of the victims must be huge, sometimes I wonder who suffers more "/

[redwood_phoenix]

If I get Alzheimer's (like my grandmother did) then I do not want it to get so far that I don't remember who my family is, can no longer communicate with them or move around. It's horrible for the family to experience, and I can't imagine it's much fun for the patient either.

When my grandmother did eventually die, she hadn't been the person we knew in so long that it didn't effect us as much as it could have done. Having watched someone go through such a long, slow process - it's really no way to live. I don't want my family to suffer if I ever get like that. Although I imagine it'd be very difficult to draw the line and say at which point enough is enough...

[petromasha]

I have chronic pain and neurological conditions and they aren't controlled very well by medication. My options now are neurosurgery which could leave me with no sense of taste and no feeling in my face, or a type of radiation therapy. Neither of these are guaranteed to work and often people have repeat procedures many times over with no success. The pain I get is horrendous and at times it is just too much to bear, the condition is actually know as the suicide disease because of the number of people who do just that because of the pain.
It means you can't move, you can't eat and you can't look after yourself-whilst this is not the same as Alzheimers or some of the diseases that leave you unable to communicate at all, think that if you feel strongly that your quality of life is at zero, or you are aware that it's going to decrease to a point where you personally can not bear, you should be allowed to take your own life. You should have power over your life and a right to die in dignity.

[Spaz Man]

If I was in that situation, I would go on to the bitter end.

[SillyEddy]

(Original post by redwood_phoenix)
If I get Alzheimer's (like my grandmother did) then I do not want it to get so far that I don't remember who my family is, can no longer communicate with them or move around. It's horrible for the family to experience, and I can't imagine it's much fun for the patient either.

When my grandmother did eventually die, she hadn't been the person we knew in so long that it didn't effect us as much as it could have done. Having watched someone go through such a long, slow process - it's really no way to live. I don't want my family to suffer if I ever get like that. Although I imagine it'd be very difficult to draw the line and say at which point enough is enough...

The same thing occured to my family last autumn, for the same reasons. It's tough, and although death can be sad, it was a release for her. Some people might've said that she went to a better place, but in that state, she was just in the worst place she could've been at the time.


I think euthanasia should be allowed. I don't think our family ever asked our grandmother what she wanted... But she was up and down all the time that any decision would've been on the spur and could've changed 10 minutes later.



I would certainly consider it for myself. Maybe even get it in writing somewhere. As far as I'm concerned, if you're in such a state where euthanasia could even be considered, then you're beyond 'living' at all.

[asdalol]

Yes.

[for_healing_only]

It really depends, I am terrified of death but if my quality of life was non-existent to the point of not being able to move or do the simplest things for myself (Locked in syndrome seems truly aweful) then I would consider it. However for other disabilties i am not sure.

The only time I would do it with no hesitation would be if I got Alzheimers.I went through seeing my Grandmother suffer from Dementia / Alzheimer's and I never want that to happen to me. I would rather die on my own terms than to end up a shell who cannot recognise my family & friends.

[miser]

A person should decide what to do to their own body, their own life. You own you, not the state - even if it says it does. You should be able to do what you want to yourself for whatever reasons, and killing yourself to end an intolerable existence is the least controversial of all of them.

Why do we as a society feel the need to tell each other what we can and can't do when it imposes upon the freedoms of no-one? Why do people feel that the value of a human life is so impossibly great that we take it upon ourselves to force a person to suffer for as long as it takes? Well I'll tell you one thing, a slow fizzling out of an unendurable existence is not a noble thing, nor is to force it upon a person an act of respect for the dignity of human life, but an aberration to it.

[silverbolt]

(Original post by bazinga45)
The toll on the families of the victims must be huge, sometimes I wonder who suffers more "/

having been in the situation of being the family member i will catagorically tell you its the patient. The family hurts yes - but the person going through gets it worse

and yes im up for it, if my life gets that bad i hope someone has the mercy to kill me