Warning: a sensitive topic
I don’t want to encourage anyone into anything stupid or reckless. If you’re in danger of hurting yourself, please ask for help – you can do so here.
I wish I could have the opportunity to die when I want and the way I want, which is through euthanasia.
Just one of the reasons for this is that I’m afraid to die through suicide.
The path to this is not easy but can be done if you’re very ill and have enough money to pay for this luxury (you can read more about this under further reading below).
There is also a suicide – I have already failed when I wanted to die through this (obviously), so my fear of something going wrong this way increased, and I’m not even trying anymore. It’s not so easy to kill yourself, as some might imagine.
I’m also against this way of death because it might be even more painful for friends and relatives.
This didn’t come overnight
I struggle with my mental health for a long time and I’m really tired of this.
My long story short is the neverending existential crisis which came from my inability to cope with my inner parts after CPTSD.
Why are so many people against euthanasia?
I’ve done research about suicide in Slovenia and came to the economic aspect of suicide (among others).
The answer might lie here somewhere.
How much is one person worth in the terms of money?
Experts still disagree on this. A person who commits suicide is a burden to society , as his work no longer contributes to it.
The economic value of life is expected to increase throughout childhood. It reaches its highest value at the beginning of the productive period, and around the age of 45, it drops to zero. This value of life is expressed by the amount of money society loses if a person dies too quickly. However, even here, experts are not unanimous. The question also arises as to how to calculate it.
So, here is the answer. People must not die of free will, because they won’t make the money anymore nor will they spend other people’s $$.
I hope I didn’t scare you with this topic.
What do you think about this?
Do you ever think about your own death, or do you avoid thinking about this?
Further reading:
– Assisted suicide
– Dignitas
– https://www.dignityindying.org.uk/assisted-dying/international-examples/switzerland/
– Existential crisis – short video
– Viewpoints: should euthanasia be available for people with existential suffering?
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I find it ludicrous we are expecting to euthanize pets suffering,yet humans are to endure it. It is just wrong.
Euthanasia is legal in Canada (it’s referred to as medical assistance in dying, or MAiD). It used to be only for people whose natural death was reasonably foreseeable, but the government revised the law last year after a court challenge. Now, death doesn’t need to be foreseeable, and starting next year, it’s going to be available to people whose only condition is a mental illness. I hope that I’ll be able to get that at some point.
I’m really glad to hear that. It’s a good opportunity.
Do you know maybe if it’s only for Canadians, or is it possible for other people to come there for that reason too?
I wasn’t sure about that so had to look it up, and none of the eligibility requirements is that people “be eligible for health services publicly funded by a government in Canada,” so it would only be for Canadians. I believe Switzerland allows assisted suicide for foreighners.
Indeed, they do. Thanks, Ashley.
It should be everyone’s right, but it is a very tricky topic and very sensitive. There are no doubt those who would take advantage, so there must be safeguards against that. A good friend of mine chose to end her life this way (in California). We had talked about it and I understood completely how she felt, yet when it happened I was far more upset than I expected. I had other friends who chose to die together. One was terminally ill. In the event, he died and she did not which must have been horrifying for her. She succeeded two weeks later. More trauma for the family, I have no doubt. Yet another acquaintance died in a murder/suicide. Those last two cases need not have been so dreadful if there had been a better option. Euthanasia not suicide, as you say, should be one’s right.
I believe it must have been really hard for you, when your good friend died.
Perhaps is tricky. On the other hand, I’m wondering why would we need a safeguard here really? To protect other people who don’t want the person to go, or to protect the person who wants to go?
This is a very provocative topic depending you ask but for me at the end of the day, it is about one’s right to live their life with dignity, including choosing how to end it.
I often feel that when it comes with those that struggle with mental health issues, a society must provide the proper supports and structures in place to help those that are most vulnerable as a first step. I would like to think, perhaps I’m too optimistic, that it can make a huge difference in helping alleviate the pain and suffering of many.
I think countries in Europe, in particular places like Scandinavia, are quite progressive in their policies around this.
I’m sorry that you have endured so much pain, Maja. It continues to be inspiring that you share it to help inform and inspire others.
Thank you Ab.
I’m afraid that some who are elderly or disabled in some way may still wish to live but could be persuaded to sign documents indicating their wish to terminate their life. Who would do such a thing? Family who no longer wish to care for them or who are anxious to inherit. It is very cynical to think this way, but sadly it is a fact. Hence the safeguards. My friend had to have two psychologists and she had to be able to take the medication herself.
This is sad, indeed. 😢
In Belgium they abolished the right to euthanasia for unbearable mental suffering. The only option for us is to drag ourself a long through pain or commit suicide.
I just heard about Canada’s euthanasia law and find it appalling. So, as I understand it, people who are poor and cannot support themselves will be allowed to undergo euthanasia? is that correct? This sounds like Nazi Germany killing the disabled and mentally ill. Is that really the path people want to go down?
I don’t think that’s comparable, because people here have the choice, unlike those who got captured by the Nazis.
But Germany didn’t start that way, it progressively moved in that direction. I feel bad for anyone who is so unhappy that they want to die, but I understand because I worked in mental health for 13 years.
😢❤️
What is really sad is that many families are desperate because they have so little help from the government and they just cannot cope. Who to choose between your child or your parent?
Two of my relatives died in Zürich at Dignitas in different years. That was really in dignity and even with style. Now we know we want to die self-determined as well.
Thanks and cheers
The Fab Four of Cley
🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂
I’m glad to hear that. Thanks for stopping by Klaus.
This is quite an evocative topic, painful to read but it made me think. I watched a horror movie few months ago called Hereditary and though it was not a typical scare, conceptually it terrified me. The events that the characters went through looked so traumatizing that I solemnly concluded that if I ever was caught in a (although highly implausible) horror movie type situation I would choose to end my life right then than face the horrors and live to tell the tale.
This is of course, luckily for me, all fictional, however for some people this is their reality. Albeit not physical gore or possessions, but mental or metaphorical horror. I cannot imagine not having the possibility to end it if I was in that situation. I do not believe that any individual is beyond fixing, but I do believe that no one consents to pain, and the right to die with dignity, although quite tough to talk about, is a right nonetheless.
Thank you for giving your insight on such a taboo topic. I hope the best for you ahead 🙂
My late husband was an attorney who advocated for assistance in dying. He presented amicus briefs to the US Supreme Court and the FL Supreme Court. I too, would like to have some control over the manner of my death, and I have an advance directive on file.
❤️