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Assisted Suicide

2

Comments

  • #32
    Tokyo
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 22,655 ✭✭✭✭Tokyo


    Mrs OBumble wrote: »
    It's absolutely an issue.

    Greedy grasping kids who want to inherit have an even greater incentive to make their aging parents feel like a burden, so the the parent decides to ask to be killed.

    What a bizarre interpretation.

    Even if we do take your scenario as fact, if a person is able to push another into suicide, whether it's legal or not would probably be the least of their concerns.

    Back in the real world, I'd imagine with assisted suicide, there would be some form of psychological evaluation first. "The young lad want's me to do it so he can get the farm" is not likely to meet the required criteria.


  • #33
    Tell me how
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2, Paid Member Posts: 24,759 ✭✭✭✭Tell me how


    minikin wrote:
    I would rather see someone who is suicidal being assisted, and potentially giving life to those who wish to live through organ donation, rather than stepping in front of a train - traumatising everyone involved.

    I was suicidal in the past. And was an adult. And told Dr's I didn't want to be here.

    Thankfully that's a few years ago but I still remember that feeling, how absolutely real it was. Now, I get pleasure in things that I could see or participate in then but not comprehend fully or enjoy.


  • #34
    Mutant z
    Closed Accounts Posts: 1,487 ✭✭✭Mutant z


    People should be allowed to decide for themselves whether to end their own lives i know i would want that option for myself.


  • #35
    minikin
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,977 ✭✭✭minikin


    Tell me how wrote: »
    I was suicidal in the past. And was an adult. And told Dr's I didn't want to be here.

    Thankfully that's a few years ago but I still remember that feeling, how absolutely real it was. Now, I get pleasure in things that I could see or participate in then but not comprehend fully or enjoy.

    Genuinely delighted for you that this worked out, but if it had been the case that doctors / psychologists / philosophy brought you no comfort and you were in mental pain then I would understand an alternative decision. I don’t want anyone suffering. A life without joy is a prison sentence without parole.

    Again - I don’t like the idea of anyone being forced to live or forced to die.


  • #36
    punisher5112
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 24,519 ✭✭✭✭punisher5112


    Tell me how wrote: »
    I was suicidal in the past. And was an adult. And told Dr's I didn't want to be here.

    Thankfully that's a few years ago but I still remember that feeling, how absolutely real it was. Now, I get pleasure in things that I could see or participate in then but not comprehend fully or enjoy.

    That's great you got through but assisted passing as I would call it wouldn't be there for the reasons you say.

    It could be in place where a panel of no less then 3 doctors and that the person has some serious condition such as motor neuron disease etc.

    Horrible horrible way for someone to go and lose all their dignity.

    People in such circumstances should have a choice and they would have a very good reason for wanting to.

    Such a sad way to go.

    I really feel for those that have to go through such torture.


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  • #37
    ELM327
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2, Paid Member Posts: 19,933 ✭✭✭✭ELM327


    Working class heroes wrote: »
    Sounds like prison.


    Gordon, is that you?


  • #38
    Irish Guitarist
    Closed Accounts Posts: 5,736 ✭✭✭Irish Guitarist


    Not 'anyone over 18', no. Someone suffering from depression shouldn't just be able to get a lethal injection in a hospital. But if someone is in absolute physical agony and can't do anything to stop their pain I don't see why they shouldn't be allowed to get help to put an end to it.

    There's a comment comparing it to abortion. No, they're two completely different things considering one is about ending the life of someone who has no say in the matter and the other is about giving people in excruciating pain the legal right to end their own life.


  • #39
    Silane
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 176 ✭✭Silane


    I'd be for assisted suicide in all situations, not just in the case of terminal illness, if somebody doesn't want to be alive anymore who are we to force them? It's their life to do as they please with. Assisted suicide would reduce the burden on emergency services, and prevent family members coming across a traumatising scene.


  • #40
    minikin
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,977 ✭✭✭minikin


    Irish Guitarist wrote: »
    Not 'anyone over 18', no. Someone suffering from depression shouldn't just be able to get a lethal injection in a hospital. But if someone is in absolute physical agony and can't do anything to stop their pain I don't see why they shouldn't be allowed to get help to put an end to it.

    Is psychological pain not as bad as physiological pain?

    I would argue it is worse in some instances and can have a worse outcome for those around the sufferer.

    Look at the cases where people have killed their partner or kids before taking their own life... wouldn’t it have been better if they had been allowed to end their own lives and their pain peacefully without taking others with them?


  • #41
    Wanderer78
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 32,740 ✭✭✭✭Wanderer78


    minikin wrote:
    Is psychological pain not as bad as physiological pain? I would argue it is worse in some instances and can have a worse income for those around the sufferer. Look at the cases where people have killed their partner or kids before taking their own life... wouldn’t it have been better if they had been allowed to end their own lives and their pain peacefully without taking others with them?


    I would agree, and can confirm, it indeed can be far worse than physical pain. We need to truly start discussing assisted suicide, and possibly allowing it in our country for these reasons


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  • #42
    super_furry
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 27,387 ✭✭✭✭super_furry


    For people who have a terminal illness that's going to rob them of their facilities and abilities to continue to function as they want to, I can't see any reason against it.


  • #43
    Ursus Horribilis
    Closed Accounts Posts: 6,168 ✭✭✭Ursus Horribilis


    Definitely. I've had to watch someone I loved fall apart and die horribly and slowly over several weeks. Even with help from palliative care there was pain and suffering. All we could do was stand by helplessly. Nobody bats an eyelid when an animal is euthanized but humans are denied that.

    I wonder how many people commit suicide before their debilitating illness fully takes hold? Once you get to a stage where you're helpless, you're relying on other people to help you get to that Swiss clinic. Then it's in the lap of the gods whether they're going to help it if they'll be stopped.


  • #44
    wexie
    Closed Accounts Posts: 7,478 ✭✭✭wexie


    Wanderer78 wrote: »
    I would agree, and can confirm, it indeed can be far worse than physical pain.

    I think the big difference here is that everybody will have some experience with physical pain and can have a reasonable understanding of it and therefor sympathy of it.

    Psychological pain is an entirely different beast. It's difficult to explain to someone who hasn't experienced it and I'd imagine pretty much impossible to comprehend.


  • #45
    Irish Guitarist
    Closed Accounts Posts: 5,736 ✭✭✭Irish Guitarist


    minikin wrote: »
    Is psychological pain not as bad as physiological pain?
    I would argue it is worse in some instances and can have a worse income for those around the sufferer. Look at the cases where people have killed their partner or kids before taking their own life... wouldn’t it have been better if they had been allowed to end their own lives and their pain peacefully without taking others with them?

    Someone with a terminal illness nearing the end of their life might not have the physical strength to do anything to put an end to their suffering. That's why they would need assistance. Also psychological pain may well come to and end but an incurable physical illness isn't. And how many doctors are going to volunteer to kill healthy people?

    I don't really see what killing your family has to do with euthanasia. It's not like killing your wife and kids is an integral part of suicide. If someones mind is that sick that they want to murder their family I don't see how having euthanasia as an option is going to stop them.


  • #46
    Sin City
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,375 ✭✭✭Sin City


    As was said by previous posters it should be legalized

    If anyone who is compus mentus wants to do it they should be allowed

    If their bodies are shutting down and the quality of life reduces they should be allowed

    We are forcing people to live in a prison of their own bodies to make ourselves feel better


  • #47
    Kiith
    Moderators, Computer Games Moderators Posts: 23,908 Mod ✭✭✭✭Kiith


    Definitely in favour of it. If i was terminally ill, i don't want to have to hang around in pain for months on end, and i sure as hell don't want my family to have to go through that. If it was an option, i'd absolutely do it.


  • #48
    Ursus Horribilis
    Closed Accounts Posts: 6,168 ✭✭✭Ursus Horribilis


    We also should have living wills so that people's wishes are respected. A friend has an aunt who took a turn and who the doctors wanted to let die. Her daughter refused to listen and insisted she be resuscitated. The poor woman spent a couple of years, possibly with locked in syndrome. She never came home from hospital and needed constant care. How is that good for anyone?


  • #49
    eviltwin
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 17,495 ✭✭✭✭eviltwin


    If I ever become terminally ill I want to die on my own terms. I'd support making provision for those who want to do the same.


  • #50
    Wanderer78
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 32,740 ✭✭✭✭Wanderer78


    Irish Guitarist wrote:
    I don't really see what killing your family has to do with euthanasia. It's not like killing your wife and kids is an integral part of suicide. If someones mind is that sick that they want to murder their family I don't see how having euthanasia as an option is going to stop them.


    Strange logic there, the psychologically ill mind is a strange place, it enters a state I can only describe as 'anti-logic', but I suspect only those that have experienced this state, as others have mentioned, truly understand it. It's a scary place


  • #51
    Your Face
    Closed Accounts Posts: 7,275 ✭✭✭Your Face


    Legalise everything!


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  • #52
    beertons
    Hosted Moderators Posts: 23,489 ✭✭✭✭beertons


    I know loads that need to be euthanised. Deadly.


  • #53
    Irish Guitarist
    Closed Accounts Posts: 5,736 ✭✭✭Irish Guitarist


    Wanderer78 wrote: »
    Strange logic there, the psychologically ill mind is a strange place, it enters a state I can only describe as 'anti-logic', but I suspect only those that have experienced this state, as others have mentioned, truly understand it. It's a scary place

    That's a load of nonsense. What makes you think I haven't experienced this? I took a bunch of pills to try and kill myself when I was younger and since then I've often had suicidal thoughts. I've never considered butchering my family though.

    Do you really think that someone who is going to murder their wife and kids is not going to do it because assisted suicide is available? Talk about strange logic.


  • #54
    Arrival
    Closed Accounts Posts: 779 ✭✭✭Arrival


    Anyone that is absolutely against this is a moron that feels entitled to force other people to continue past a bearable point of suffering. If I have an illness that is going to result in agonising pain and me being bedbound permanently requiring assistance then it should be my choice whether or not I continue leading that existence and **** anyone that thinks they should be able to stop me having a choice in it. The only thing that should be debated on this topic is in which instances people should be able to avail of the option.

    Personally I believe everyone should be allowed to do it if they wish. I know this will seem shocking but suicidal people do not wish to continue living, existence is pain to them and they should be given the option to leave this world surrounded by their loved ones rather than harmfully committing suicide on their own. Would people rather they jump off bridges and have to be searched for by emergency services? How about off a building and permanently traumatise passerbys? How about in the privacy of their own rooms through painless means such as an overdose, leaving them to be discovered by their family who will enter a permanent journey of self doubt and wondering about what they could've done better to help? The thing about euthanasia is that it at least opens these people up to the possibility of regretting their decision and allowing them the opportunity to maybe look up and see their family and friends around them and change their mind, making them wish to try something else to help themselves which may work. This isn't a possibility when they're forced to try and end their lives through harmful means while nobody is around. None of us have any choice in being brought into existence but once we become adults we should absolutely have the choice over how to continue it


  • #55
    wexie
    Closed Accounts Posts: 7,478 ✭✭✭wexie


    Irish Guitarist wrote: »
    Do you really think that someone who is going to murder their wife and kids is not going to do it because assisted suicide is available? Talk about strange logic.

    What makes you think they are considering it 'murdering' their wife and kids rather than saving them from a life of pain and misery?

    In the same post you manage to explain you understand the lack of logical thinking in the mind of a suicidal person and then apply logic to that very same situation?


  • #56
    P_1
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 14,681 ✭✭✭✭P_1


    When I go out i want to go on my terms. I don't want anyone who assists me in this to be criminalised. It's that simple


  • #57
    sothatsthat
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 5 ✭sothatsthat


    Having sat there on two occasions for a week the 1st time, 10 days the 2nd time to watch someone I love slowly pass away I am completely in favour of it!

    They should have had the choice before hand that if it had gotten to the point where the had 'slipped under' and were not coming back that some drug could have been administered to just end it.


  • #58
    minikin
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,977 ✭✭✭minikin


    I can understand that someone who is suicidal might think they are doing their family a favour by not leaving them behind to deal with the devastation of the suicidal persons death.

    For clarity: I’m not agreeing with them, just can see why they might think it.


  • #59
    Call Me Jimmy
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 8,449 ✭✭✭Call Me Jimmy


    I feel a bit weird about it, on the one the hand it sounds like a straightforward solution to a lot of suffering, on the other I wonder what it effects it will have in the long term.

    Is it possible that it would it be kept to very strict criteria, or, as is common, will people argue that their pain which isn't terminal is no less than someone elses and so forth. On the one hand I think everyone should have the autonomy to decide for themselves, on the other, it could have devastating unforeseen consequences if we can't agree on the parameters.


  • #60
    Rory28
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,185 ✭✭✭Rory28


    It should most definitely be made available for terminal cases and being paralysed from the neck down. I would not want to be stuck in a shell of a body and have to have a nurse wash me, brush my teeth, wipe my asre etc. That sounds like torture and it could potentially go on for decades. If I was bed ridden for the rest of my life I'd want the assisted death pronto.


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  • #61
    wexie
    Closed Accounts Posts: 7,478 ✭✭✭wexie


    Call Me Jimmy wrote: »
    Is it possible that it would it be kept to very strict criteria, or, as is common, will people argue that their pain which isn't terminal is no less than someone elses and so forth.

    In the countries I'm aware of it's all guided and signed off on by medical professionals so yes very strict criteria


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