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(July 5, 2015 at 2:04 pm)Pyrrho Wrote: Many times, self-inflicted suicide attempts can go badly. For example, people who shoot themselves in the head with a gun do not always die. And if they do not die, then they are generally worse off than they were before. The point isn't to suffer and then die; the point is to die as cleanly and easily as possible.
Also, many means of death are unavailable to the general public. I cannot go and buy any drugs I want from a pharmacy. I need a prescription for many of the drugs they sell. So if I want to use some of the better drugs for this purpose, I need to get someone's permission to get them.
If they sold death kits "over the counter," then it might eliminate the need to get someone's help in choosing a good death in most cases. But they do not sell such things.
The problem is endemic to suicide. Basically you're trying to damage the body or brain enough that it can't be resuscitated. So if you fail, odds are you will do significant damage to yourself in the attempt. If you only partially damage your brain you could end up in a much more serious situation than prior to the attempt. The most reliable method, as recommended in the book Final Exit is to basically put a baggy over your head and go to sleep. This is depriving the brain of oxygen and if you are interrupted before death, you will inevitably be left with some brain damage. I was lucky in a sense in that the only damage I did to myself last time was to lose 9 of my fingers.
Suicide failure is a very serious concern for anyone contemplating it. Even with a "death kit", nothing would be guaranteed.
Yes. But a good death kit would be better than not having a death kit as is presently the case. I think the most humane way is to have euthanasia for people who want it, so that they are not left brain damaged or otherwise worse off than they were before.
I really get angry with people who want to force other people to continue living against their will. Such fascist assholes deserve to have someone else decide whether they live or die. If I were contemplating shooting myself, I would have no hesitation in shooting any asshole who tried to stop me. And if the first shot did not kill them, I would shoot them again to drive the point home. If someone else tries to decide whether I live or die, it is only fitting that I get to decide whether they live or die.
"A wise man ... proportions his belief to the evidence."
— David Hume, An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding, Section X, Part I.
