Euthanasia for the Depressed?

[brewer]

On a strictly personal note, I fully support this. I need to be with my Sam one way or another so bad I can't breathe.

Don't really know you but have to ask, would Sam want this?

[The Valkyrie]

Disagree with this entirely.

I suffer from depression, myself.

[Pyrrho]

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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.

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 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.

[Whateverist]

Disagree with this entirely.

I suffer from depression, myself.

Sorry, not following.  Do you think people should be restrained or discouraged from suicide while depressed or that they should be granted the right to choose and perhaps even be given a kit to ensure a cleaner, surer end?

Sorry to hear you are another sufferer of depression.  You obviously don't let it stop you.

[Cyberman]

On a strictly personal note, I fully support this. I need to be with my Sam one way or another so bad I can't breathe.

Don't really know you but have to ask, would Sam want this?

For us to be tgother? In a hearteat. Faling that sam not here to wan anything. It s my life.

[Regina]

Personally I disagree. Mental illness is not the same as a terminal physical illness where a slow and painful death is imminent, or being paralysed and living life as a vegetable. I feel like death when going through mental illness is giving up when there is still a future and something to live for.

I agree with what some others have said though in that it's none of my business. I don't agree with it myself but if that girl genuinely feels there's no coming back from her mental illness, I think it's her choice.

[The Valkyrie]

Disagree with this entirely.

I suffer from depression, myself.

Sorry, not following.  Do you think people should be restrained or discouraged from suicide while depressed or that they should be granted the right to choose and perhaps even be given a kit to ensure a cleaner, surer end?

Sorry to hear you are another sufferer of depression.  You obviously don't let it stop you.

No, what I'm saying is that people should not be granted euthanasia for depression.

They should also be discouraged from committing suicide and provided with support/help if they are suffering.

Yes, suicidal people will often find ways of killing themselves, but depression can be battled.

Around this time last year I was suicidal because of depression.  I didn't seek help (stupidly, I admit), but depression goes away, death, not so much)

[Pyrrho]

If you look back at the original article, she has been supposedly been treated for the past 3 years in a psychiatric facility.  So she has tried treatment.  If it were working, she would not be wanting to die.

Those of you who are against her doing this, do you think that mental problems produce less suffering than physical problems?  How long should she have to suffer to please you?

[Little lunch]

Unfortunately she has to suffer indefinately or until she does it herself.
Otherwise a greater proportion of people will make mistakes that they would wish they hadn't if they were still alive.

That tragedy is already unfolded.
This will just make it greater.

[rexbeccarox]

Sorry, not following.  Do you think people should be restrained or discouraged from suicide while depressed or that they should be granted the right to choose and perhaps even be given a kit to ensure a cleaner, surer end?

Sorry to hear you are another sufferer of depression.  You obviously don't let it stop you.

No, what I'm saying is that people should not be granted euthanasia for depression.

They should also be discouraged from committing suicide and provided with support/help if they are suffering.

Yes, suicidal people will often find ways of killing themselves, but depression can be battled.

Around this time last year I was suicidal because of depression.  I didn't seek help (stupidly, I admit), but depression goes away, death, not so much)

(bold mine)

Mine never has.