If you were terminally ill...

If you were told you had a terminal illness like cancer, ALS, cistic fibrosis..... would you or could you take your own life to avoid the pain and suffering that those types of awful awful awful diseases and conditions inflict? Or could you not do that/live to the full extent?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Thwe9HcKXU8

I always end up watching these kinds of videos and my god does it remind you of how lucky you are. I have to say though on a personal level, the thought of not taking my own life and allowing the condition to decline to something like being unable to move (ALS), struggling for basic breaths (CF) or in a dazed drugged state (cancer) is something I have pledged to myself I would never allow. And I know a lot of people may think oh people say things like that but I think if you've thought of it carefully then you know in your heart what you'd do, and I have always thought that when I go it will be in my hands as a sovereign being unless it is sudden (in which case no need to consider this). I've even thought of the method.

In terms of close people, that's another dilemma which I recently had a dream about: if you had a family member or friend with such a condition, and they asked for your help in ending their life, would you do it at the risk of prison or could you not do it morally? I would.

What about you? It's a gloomy topic but always consider the worst.

If I was in such a bad state that I couldn't move/struggled to breathe etc. with next to no hope of recovery or cure, I would choose euthanasia (even if I have to fly out to Switzerland). I think my quality of life would have degraded so much that just to end it all quicker than face years of suffering would be more favourable.

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Originally Posted by Intersocial

If I was in such a bad state that I couldn't move/struggled to breathe etc. with next to no hope of recovery or cure, I would choose euthanasia (even if I have to fly out to Switzerland). I think my quality of life would have degraded so much that just to end it all quicker than face years of suffering would be more favourable.

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But that is the point isn't it, most people will obviously say once they are unable to move they would like to fly to Switzerland and drink a cocktail of drugs... but how realistic really is that? The choice realistically is that you take your own life when you are healthy (in the knowledge in a few months you will likely be bedridden) or you end up bedridden and die of the disease. And you have to be able to do it yourself as to not put others in the position of having to do it for you, which they might not be able to.

Given we don't have guns easy to get either, the choices of suicide are limited. For the one I thought of, was either using a scalpal to cut the main blood artery in your neck (which is easy to get to and which you could cut yourself) or using on your arms. Short of that, an electric circular saw. An easy death within minutes.

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Originally Posted by -:Undertaker:-

using a scalpal to cut the main blood artery in your neck (which is easy to get to and which you could cut yourself) or using on your arms. Short of that, an electric circular saw. An easy death within minutes.

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https://sonnekfit.files.wordpress.co.../anchorman.jpg

I wouldn't take my own life but I would submit myself to all manner of clinical trials in the hope that I could either cure myself or help to advance the technology used to cure others after I die.

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Originally Posted by -:Undertaker:-

But that is the point isn't it, most people will obviously say once they are unable to move they would like to fly to Switzerland and drink a cocktail of drugs... but how realistic really is that?

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Not that unrealistic: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-28876130 (though I don't get how they got to 1 a fortnight ...surely it's 1 every 4 weeks based on the 4 year period?)

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The choice realistically is that you take your own life when you are healthy (in the knowledge in a few months you will likely be bedridden) or you end up bedridden and die of the disease. And you have to be able to do it yourself as to not put others in the position of having to do it for you, which they might not be able to.

Given we don't have guns easy to get either, the choices of suicide are limited. For the one I thought of, was either using a scalpal to cut the main blood artery in your neck (which is easy to get to and which you could cut yourself) or using on your arms. Short of that, an electric circular saw. An easy death within minutes.

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I obviously can't speak for anyone else here, but if I did find my life that miserable and physically incapacitating I would find a way regardless of whether it involved Euthanasia or not :p Like you said, cutting into the main artery would kill you in minutes but you'd have to have the mental willpower to actually do such a thing.

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Originally Posted by Kyle

I wouldn't take my own life but I would submit myself to all manner of clinical trials in the hope that I could either cure myself or help to advance the technology used to cure others after I die.

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http://intermountainhealthcare.org/h...artery-275.jpg

If that goes then it's pretty instant.

And interesting, although would they accept people who were ill with conditions for clinical trials?

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Originally Posted by Intersocial

but you'd have to have the mental willpower to actually do such a thing.

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Of course, but isn't it also mental willpower to go through with the disease?

Even if it takes throwing yourself off a multi-storey car park, better than going down with a condition like ALS.

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Originally Posted by -:Undertaker:-

http://intermountainhealthcare.org/h...artery-275.jpg

If that goes then it's pretty instant.

And interesting, although would they accept people who were ill with conditions for clinical trials?



Of course, but isn't it also mental willpower to go through with the disease?

Even if it takes throwing yourself off a multi-storey car park, better than going down with a condition like ALS.

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To others it might seem more uh... not grateful...what's the word...gracious?.. to go through struggling with the disease and live life, but I am personally a very strong believer in the right to decide when you should 'call it a day' :P

I would end my life whilst I was still healthy. After watching someone close to me with a terminal illness insist on being resuscitated each time he has a stroke or (when the time comes) stops breathing, I know I'd rather live a shorter but pain-free life than drag out my survival down to the second. In my view, surviving isn't living.

If I had time I'd like to give myself a few weeks of happiness with family and friends and ticking small things off my bucket list before going away and never telling anybody where I'd gone. I think it's kindest not only to myself but to those close to me, who would otherwise have to watch me waste away but still have to keep visiting me and looking after me.

And to Kyle's point on drug trials, I would avoid those at all costs. The reason my family member is insisting on forcing his body to carry on living is because he's hoping there will be some miracle cure at the last second. Even if there was a cure for his illness (impossible as research is currently in the early stages and looking at how to identify it early on rather than on treatment/cures) it would not cure the damage the illness has already done to him. And it kills me to sit there and watch him hope for no reason because he refuses to accept the inevitable. Hope is supposed to be this wonderful thing but it's just plain cruel when there's no possibility of things getting better.

I'd live with it... i would hate the pain and the suffering but i would want to live for those around for me, make many happy memories with them before i die.

I like to think I would have the guts to do it. Opting out early seems preferable to living a hollow life with something like advanced Alzheimer's or spending your final years bedridden in hospital. Quality over quantity.

It would be difficult to say when the right time is though. You could go early and very preemptively in order to forgo as much suffering as possible. But with something that progressed only very slowly I think I'd have a hard time saying "right today is the day" when you know that tomorrow isn't going to be much worse than today. Then those 'tomorrows' add up and suddenly you're too far gone to make the decision or act. Not a pleasant situation for anyone to be in.

I fully support assisted suicide but I don't think I could do the deed and put a loved one out of their misery. I'd help them insofar as getting them to Dignitas or giving consent to pull a plug but I wouldn't do anything that the law could interpret as me being a part of their death.

Also before everyone starts taking power-saws to their necks I feel obliged to mention that there are painless methods that don't involve a trip to B&Q to pick up the latest Black & Decker. Look up inert gas asphyxiation or carbon monoxide poisoning if you're interested in such things.

I would try my best to live with it until i go away, 2 of my family members have done this, and i think i would myself.

I truly wouldn't, I would live through life the best I could.

I'd smoke and inject so much weed to hope it'd cure me

single and lonely with no kids? sure. otherwise, no i wouldnt want to

I would live with it. I don't think I would ever have the guts to take my own life, sounds scary! But at the same time, if I were a vegetable and I was just a hassle and making life x100 harder for everyone that would have to take care of me I would feel very guilty. I think if I were told I have a year to live I would have to go exploring or something rather than take my own life.

I wonder if people saying they'd stay has anything to do with not believing in a Heaven or afterlife? I can imagine if you don't believe in a Kingdom of Heaven (or Hell) after death then the thought of the complete end - which will come to all of us - must be quite scary so I can see why people would want to hold on.

I would probably keep going. May as well go down in a blaze of glory than end it too soon, as I feel like suffering a bit means I am stronger than not suffering at all. It all depends on if I have family or if I am alone, like @buttons said. That said, people do crazy things when they're ill. I could probably just kill myself with a cocktail of drugs if I was really bad and desperate. Going to Switzerland or other countries is a lot of hassle and causes too much of a media circus for something that ought to be private. Usually they target friends and family suggesting they assisted, which is not fair at all.

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Originally Posted by GommeInc

I would probably keep going. May as well go down in a blaze of glory than end it too soon, as I feel like suffering a bit means I am stronger than not suffering at all.

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I'm not sure if I'm reading this the wrong way or what, but I would disagree that dying of a terminal illness is "going down in a blaze of glory".

I'd be happy to take my own life in this scenario if:

A) I felt like I wanted to (I might not, wouldn't know unless it actually happened)
B) I knew a painless way to do it

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Originally Posted by Empired

I'm not sure if I'm reading this the wrong way or what, but I would disagree that dying of a terminal illness is "going down in a blaze of glory".

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Yes you did read it wrong. I would rather suffer than end it too soon. The blaze of glory is an exaggeration which shouldn't need to be read into :P