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Euthanasia/assisted killing
Former Member
Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
Oxford Dictionary:
euthanasia
the painless killing of a patient suffering from an incurable and painful disease or in an irreversible coma.
I watched a film last night, it was about a woman who had cancer and died from an overdose of morphine, it had a bit of a twist to it and the father thought it was the daughter who did it and the daughter thought it was the father who did it but none of them said anything to each other until the end where you find out it wasnt any of them and in fact it was the woman herself who had ended her life to stop the pain she was going through and it was just really sad because it was about this amazing woman who was a great person friend and a mother who her husband thought was capable of anything she put her mind to and at the end it proved right by what she had done.
Anyway the mother actually asked the daughter to help her die and it has really got me thinking about 'mercy killing' and assisted suicide etc etc..
Most of you know that my mother is HIV positive and last night i was thinking about it, and i thought would i do it if i was in that position? and im not quite sure, i say i would but you never know until your in that situation yourself do you.
Like i said i dont know if i would do something like that unless i was in that situation myself, i have heard quite a few peoples opinions on this subject and i cant help but be a little bewildered with the people who say something to the affect of 'no its totally wrong i would never do it, its murder people shouldnt take thier own lives or help another individual to do so' etc etc.
I really think if i was in the situation where i was watching a family member or a very muched loved friend in an emense amount of pain and suffering and they were begging me to help them end it i really dont think i would have the heart to say no to them, and i really dont think i could live with myself knowing that i had not helped them to do something they so very much wanted.
I also know i would probably find it hard to live with myself afterwards knowing that i had a hand in helping them to die, but to know that i had helped them to die peacefully and out of pain would mean a lot to me, and to know that their last days werent spent just wishing they were dead because all they felt was suffering.
I cant help but think that someone who has been through something like cancer or another deadly desease has already had enough suffering without having to live their life out in pain and suffering, i think those people are very strong to have gotten to the point they have done, is it not enough torture to have to go through the kemotherapy (sp?), operations, hospital/doctors appointments, the falling apart of your family and friends, to have to carry on suffering until your last breath??
If you are one of those people who is totally against this well i think when you have walked in a persons shoes in that situation most likely your mind would change then, if you were the one begging for peace and painlessness.
If i was ever put in the situation where someone wanted me to help them end thier life i really dont know if i could do it, but i dont know if i could turn my back either but when i look at a situation like eg; dot cotton and ethel in eastenders, i would not put dot to prison for what she had done, and i would not class her as a murderer.
What is the difference between euthanasia and assisted suicide?
Answer: In euthanasia, one person does something that directly kills another. For example, a doctor gives a lethal injection to a patient. In assisted suicide, a non-suicidal person knowingly and intentionally provides the means or acts in some way to help a suicidal person kill himself or herself.
Assisted suicide i definitely could do (i think), its the euthanasia im not too sure about.
Do you think people who are living in pain and want to die should be forced to stay alive?
Personally i dont think its is fair, we all know when we are pushed to the limits and we all know when weve had enough of something, i think to keep someone alive against their wishes would be inhumane.
someone said this somewhere but i dont know who (sorry):
There comes a time when continued attempts to cure are not compassionate, wise, or medically sound.
That's where hospice, including in-home hospice care, can be of such help
I agree with this, especially if it is against a persons wishes.
I dont know much about the legal sides of all this but i know it is wrong if someone doesnt want ongoing treatment for something and they are forced to do so.
the same person said this:
That is the time when all efforts should be placed on making the patient's remaining time comfortable. Then, all interventions should be directed to alleviating pain and other symptoms as well as to the provision of emotional and spiritual support for both the patient and the patient's loved ones
I totally agree with this as well, i mean its more important for people to be comfortable to live thier days out as well as they can and with as little pain as possible. And i think when they feel like its too much for them to cope with any more why should they have to live through it??
Studies have shown that if pain and depression are adequately treated in a dying person, as they would be in a suicidal non-dying person, the desire to commit suicide evaporates.
Surely if this is true then more effort should b made to counsel a dying person? or because their life is coming to and end are their feelings not worth anything?
I am aware that this is a very touchy subject and some people have very strong opinions about it all.
What is your take on it?
Has anyone been in this situation where they have been asked by a family member to help them to die, and if so how did it make you feel? etc etc
I mean obviously im not asking someone if they have hepled someone to die because i have no idea if you might get arrested for it or anything like that, and i think its quite a personal thing and obviously quite traumatic for you to discuss if you have been in that stituation.
Really im just wondering if anyone has any opinions/thoughts/feelings on euthanaisa and assisted suicide.
I sort of stopped this post when i was half way through and i was on one of them rolls when i started it and sort of lost the plot when i went away from it, sorry if ive been a bit repetetive in certain areas which i probably have, and no doubt i have contradicted myself about ten times too lol.
Ill probably remember a few points i was going to raise when ive been to sleep and wake up and ill no doubt have something to add about it later.
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I really dont know what I'd do in that situation. I dont think that I could watch someone I love go through so much pain though.
I think that if someone I loved had a terminal illness that couldn't be cured and they were in pain all the time that couldn't really be made easier by painkillers,
and they didn't have a good quality of life like they couldn't go out on their own anymore and they couldn't feed themselves and that. And if they asked me to help them end it all I think I could do it. Like you, I don't think I could do euthanasia. I think I could probably do assisted suicide. But I'd feel really guilty afterwards but also feel happy that the person wasn't in pain anymore.
I think that people who are living in pain and want to die should be able to. Isnt there a scheme in Holland or somewhere (sorry if I've got the place wrong but I watched a video on it when I was in school) and euthanasia is allowed if two doctors approve it and if the patient has a terminal illness.
I think I could do assisted suicide. But I hope i never have to be in that situation.
I don't know if any of you have ever heard of a Dr. Jack Kavorkian (AKA Dr.Death). Dr. Jack Kevorkian helped end the lives of 28 painfully ill people. He has been tried and acquitted three times of assisting suicide (well when I finished studying the topic).
Take a look at this article I found while looking through my old English file. Geoffrey Fieger is Dr. Jack Kavorkians lawyer, Andy Rooney is the interviewer:
OK Nobody will read any of that but basically Dr. Jack Kavorkian puts terminally ill people out of their misery by injecting his patient with a lethan overdose. Well Dr. Kavorkian doesn't actually kill the patient. There was one device where the patient would press the button to end own life.
All cases were recorded on video and every single patient wanted to die and Dr. Kavorkian only did what the patient and family wanted and thats to put her/him out of their misery.
Why should a human being be forced to suffer? If a dog is suffering then we put them to sleep. Why can't we do that with humans?
OK I've said enough waffle now!
I had an IQ test. The results came back negative
OK now your awake <IMG alt="image" alt="image" SRC="http://www.thesite.org/ubb/tongue.gif">
I had an IQ test. The results came back negative
From what ive heard of this Dr Kevorkian, i think what he did was ok.
I have heard about this letting people starve to death and not giving them any thing to drink, and i really find that quite disturbing actually, i mean do the people actually have a choice in the matter?
Or do two doctors just decide this person should die and they do?
The thing im more interested in i suppose is the side of it when ur at home with a loved one and not in hospital if u get me.
I find the whole hospital thing i dont know i just dont think it feels right especially starving someone to death, i mean if u dont want to eat u dont have to eat and if u dont want to drink u dont have to drink, so if u die then it has been ur choice but for someone to have that taken away from them is a bit cruel isnt it?
I mean surely there are quicker ways to kill them than leave them to starve to death, well we know there is!
And yet again ive lost the plot of my post as everyone is talking to me DOH!!
no doubt ill write a proper reply sometime, but for the record im pro-euthanasia totally.
It only takes one tree to make a thousand matches, only takes one match to burn a thousand trees
i spose its ok, if the person is really suffering but i know that i would never be able to bring myself to do it to anyone. i just wouldn't be able to let go <IMG alt="image" alt="image" SRC="http://www.thesite.org/ubb/frown.gif">
There's a girl in my mirror
I wonder who she is
Sometimes I think I know her
Sometimes I really wish I did
I have never been in a position myself where someone I love has been in such physical and emotional pain where a mercy killing would ease the pain, I hope I never do. If I ever do find myself in such a position I hope I can be strong enough to respect what my loved one's wishes. If it ever went to a public vote, I would vote in favour of it.
One thing that does get to me, is why people call it assisted suicide, which is a contradiction in terms <IMG alt="image" alt="image" SRC="http://www.thesite.org/ubb/frown.gif"> (sorry me being perdantic)
LUK
I think it's because I'm clumsy
I try not to talk to loud
I think it's because I'm crazy
I try not to act to proud
whether or not id be able to go through with assisting someone's suicide is another matter. i think, like drifter, i wouldnt be able to let go. at the end of an illness, when someone dies, there are so many mixed emotions. yes relief that they are no longer in pain and dont have to suffer as they were doing any more.. but then theres the loss. i still miss my grandad and sometimes i feel that hes still there and think about seeing him again, until suddenly it hits me: hes gone. and that was a year ago last xmas.
it was relatively quick, his death, he had cancer but no one realised until he went into hospital to have a minor operation, and then it all got worse and worse. i dont know what its like to witness someone going through a long, drawn out illness. i didnt even see my grandad after he got ill, my parents gave me the option of coming with them to see him in wales on xmas eve of 1999, but i wanted to remember him how he was, not in pain in a hospital bed. maybe goign to see him might have helped me accept his death and maybe then i wouldnt be expecting him to come down again soon. i dont think i could have helped him to die, i couldnt live with myself after it and i wouldnt want to lose him and would hold out every hope to the end. i cant imagine what it'd be like for someone i was really close to, like a best friend, my mum, or a partner.
id like to say id be strong enough to do it, but i just dont know. and i hope i never have to find out.
It only takes one tree to make a thousand matches, only takes one match to burn a thousand trees