(August 24, 2023 at 5:42 am)BrianSoddingBoru4 Wrote: Same same. Anyone who can give informed consent should have access to physician assisted suicide. But how reliable is the informed consent of a delusional paranoid schizophrenic?
Speaking as the surviving brother of a delusional paranoid schizophrenic I'm of several minds about this. Absolutely no joke intended.
On the one hand, you are entirely correct. My brother's judgement was so utterly impaired that I'd have gone outside to double check if he'd told me that the sky was blue. He believed that he was King Arthur, was actively seeking the Holy Grail, and thought that he was being persecuted by Leprechauns. We couldn't trust him not to accidentally burn the house down trying to cook frozen vegetables (He neglected to add water to the pot. Nowhere was this included in the instructions.) much less make any sort of medical decisions.
That said, I have seen what this sort of illness does to a person and if I ever develop anything similar I'll be checking out on my own terms while there's still something of me left. Unsurprisingly, my other siblings share this view. I would rather have bone cancer. It would only take my body.
All of that said, I really don't trust the government to get this right on anybody's behalf. And I don't mean the current administration, I mean any government, ever. Given the difficulty in even diagnosing many disorders there's no way that any politician or judge is going to be able to get this right. When it comes to health care we talk a good fight in Canada. The system has been under stress for decades due to underfunding and mental health has always been a low priority.
And all of that said I feel like there has to be some sort of system to allow for this. Perhaps a panel of properly qualified psychologists and psychiatrists that could evaluate such a request and determine that, "Yes, this person may be crazier than a shit house rat, but their suffering is real and their request to end it is rational." and that either the condition is incurable and untreatable or that a treatment shall be undertaken and provided by the province expediently. Hard deadlines to be written out for the government with the penalties for missing them including the immediate dismissal of the overseeing entities up to and including the ministers of health and finance. Fire a half dozen political flunkies and even those cretins will clue to the fact that a life is more important than their appointed positions.
At the end of the day, all suffering is mental suffering. The pain may originate in your big toe, but the perception is all in your head.
