Right to commit suicide...

What do you think about a case scenario in which you have a terminal illness... You don't know how long you have left to live.. You could be gone within seconds, minutes, hours, months, or possibly years. But ultimately, you're suffering from a consistent pain day by day. Do you think patients should have the right to commit suicide? If so, should it be assisted by doctors?

Hi Kaaayly,

I have a differing view of suicide than most of the western world. So, I'm hardly biased. I do believe that one should be able to make choices for themselves that they are able to make for their animals.

I hope you're not asking for yourself, but more to stimulate intellectual dialogue. If you are hurting reach out for help.

Love and Huggles,
Shady

Unfortunately you have just described the human condition, we all are ageing and die and don't know when it will happen. What if you have a chronic pain condition but could have an accident tomorrow or live for years it's no difference.

If you don't know when then how is that different to a person with a chronic condition?

I believe in the right to choose, but its not simple.

You could argue choosing to die could be depression, in which case mentally ill. Does that mean you do not have the mental capacity to make that decision because your unwell?
I don't think it is as simple as only thinking in context of the terminally ill either. The only condition that I'm resolute the person should be allowed to die is if you were a vegetable, or a mind locked inside your body then you should have the right to choose in case of that happening.

In terms of mentally ill or terminally ill I'm not so clear cut in my opinions. I have tried to kill myself numerous times, if I had the choice I would have taken it as living is too painful. Then I know it's a matter of riding the wave until I'm stable, I'm mentally ill and should not have the power to choose.

Tricky question with no right answer for sure!

I believe that people have a right to die with dignity and if that means euthanasia, then I think it should be accepted by the medical community (and legal community). However, as a former suicide prevention and crisis counselor, most people thinking about suicide tend to be thinking about putting out the pain of one part of themselves because another part of them wants to live without the pain. In the literature, this is called "egocide." I've seen many approaching death with a renewed sense that every moment is full and precious, even if great pain and suffering is also present. In our modern culture, we fear death, old age, and sickness so have unrealistic expectations that everyone should be happy, youthful, able bodied, not to mention looking like a movie star. That is a sad cultural myth that makes people feel that if they don't have those things, something is terribly wrong. Some people who face serious problems with health or other things telescope their lives too narrowly which is completely normal as a human response. Being able to open up again and embrace even small treasures in life is quite meaningful and can turn even a feeling of hopelessness into a great gift. Also other people are affected by suicide so that has to be considered. We are all connected by an intricate web of relationships to each other. Those relationships may not even be that apparent in the foreground but are still there. Humans are hard-wired to be connected to others. Our culture believes in individualism, but that is also a myth. We are social primates; we want to interact, do things for others, be a part of community, have meaningful interactions. If you are asking about yourself or someone in your life, don't take my word for it. Call a hotline and discuss what suicide means and what effects it has on others who survive. These calls are confidential and the people who answer are well informed and well trained.

I am against suicide, assisted or otherwise. I am also against under-treating and under-medicating patients who are in pain, yet I believe that does go on.

There are books about suicide, and I sometimes hear it suggested that a person who is considering killing themselves should read about it first. Often finding out how easily it can go wrong will tend to discourage people from trying it themselves. Legally I don't think that they want to allow medical professionals to help, because so many people manage to do it even without help. Already in many parts of the world suicide is beating accidents, terrorism, and many health conditions. I think in Japan they have the biggest problem with suicide. They even have suicide parties. Their efforts to educate people are beginning to have an effect, and the numbers are starting to go down. Or so I read.

On one hand, if it isn't your life to do with as you choose, whose life is it anyway? On the other hand, it really isn't just your life to do with as you choose because you are a part of other people's lives. People you never knew existed are used to seeing you on a regular basis and they would wonder where you went. This goes double for being online. The more you participate online, the more likely it is that thousands or tens of thousands of people are watching you. That doesn't even begin to address family and friends. Even people who don't like you - and we all have them - still count on seeing you on a regular basis. It is your life, but all those people think that you are a part of their life and they would feel your absence.

Something to think about. There was a rule started about threads where people say they are leaving the forum. They were discouraged because they tend to make people sad. Some people find it triggering even. This isn't suicide; this is just choosing not to come back to the forum. It offers an interesting parallel. It shows you how people feel about losing someone even just from their online life. It doesn't matter that they've never met in person, and it is possible they've never even posted a reply to that person. All that matters is that the person said they are leaving and not coming back and they feel like part of themselves is being torn away, too.

And there are many ways of addressing chronic pain, you know. Unfortunately most people end up having to do a lot of the research themselves, because their doctors are too busy. They do this research and many end up joining discussion and support groups online where they can tell you what worked for them and what was a waste of time. It isn't just you and your local library, all by yourself, anymore. When you do manage to overcome it, you're still around to offer support to people going through the same thing.

.....so insightful.....

......i think about this every night before i sleep. because i know peoples online presence isnt forever. and i dread when i will never be able to talk to them again. it saddens me deeply. you are right though. i remember a couple of forums where i said i was going to leave and i did - the people were saddened...and i got posts from people that never talked to me.

i was comparing forum life to real life for a couple of nights now....
thinking...
the parallels of them.
the relationships built and the background you know of the regular people that come around...
...and then you stick around long enough and you wonder in your mind about how they are outside of the forum topics.

forums become a special kind of intimacy on many different levels.....

it can come across also as a round table dicussion or on more casual topics it can come across as a meeting point equivalent to a school homeroom or a coffee shop discussion...


i find a lot of times psychiatrists arent too welcoming to patients researching help for themselves...unfortunately.

Tough scenario, as a suicide survivor and as a suicide attempt survivor, I understand that it serves a purpose. It is sad that for some people, it would take something so extreme to fix the mess inside. I understand this anguish and hell that life can bring. My husband says it is a sin because it takes your life into your own hand, not God's. I figure, if God is God, He knows already when we die whether we take our own life, or it's taken for us. I do not think that suicide is as selfish as everyone says it is. If someone lives with such demons inside that they would rather die than go on for one more second...I would find it hard to not let him/her choose.

Not for mental illness.

The only issue I have with suicide for mental health reasons is that it is too taboo and therefore you can't express your suicidal ideas. There's also this myth that mentioning suicide in the media will prompt it in others, whereas suicide foundations recognise that there is no evidence to support this. It's only glamourising suicide that can cause problems, any frank and explicit discussion of it will only turn people away from the idea. And here I'm talking about self-styled suicides, not the legal forms such as euthanasia.

I believe we don't have control over when we're born so we shouldn't have control of our deaths.

I believe life is not ours to take.

I would say in that case one should have the right, that is if there is not really a way to increase quality of life or reduce the pain sufficiently.

I've always seen it as my right and it's gotten me through a lot of rough times. I chose to stay alive and fight. It somehow gives me more motivation knowing that I do have an alternative. Sick, maybe, but it has always worked for me...

My uncle had terminal cancer. He was opened in surgery, they saw how bad it was, they closed him, and told him he had three months tops to live. He went home, put his affairs in order, and shot himself in the basement. I don't know my feelings of the matter. The family, after so many suffering from cancer, understood why and didn't feel any sadder or begrudge his decision. I just think it's sad that someone feels the need to make such a decision in the first place.

My uncle shot himself while in bed recovering from a stroke when he felt a second stroke was coming on. I would have done the same.

I kind of disagree as this sort of thinking typically makes me feel worse if I get suicidal. I mean why should you stick around for people who don't like you and might even treat you wrong...because they might be dissapointed they have to go find someone else to bother? and becauses people you've never met on a forum might miss you? I suppose the reason it bothers me is it seems to indicate other peoples inconvieniance is more important than the pain you can't take anymore and it seems to be kind of a guilt trip...I find it more helpful to find other ways of managing the mental health issues and pain it causes rather than trying to think of how guilty I should feel about considering it as it just feeds the cycle of feeling like crap.

Yes. Hell yes.

I agree that it angers me thinking of living just for people, or that insist that a person must live on in unbearable pain just because it will upset people and make them feel bad. It's not like anyone went out of their way to improve the quality of life whilst life still flows why should they even be a consideration when deciding to die. This is how it is for me anyhow only exception to that I think is if children were involved. I am only going to put my family and friends through mb a few months of upset at most instead of a life sentence of pain and misery for me if I only stayed alive to stop them from feeling bad. They should have tried harder when they had the chance then mb they wouldn't feel so guilty if it did happen.

Some states, like Oregon, have "death with dignity" acts that allow for assisted suicide. I am not in so much chronic pain that I feel I can offer an opinion. I know it's a knarly question :-) Here's how each state deals with it:

Assisted Suicide Laws in the United States | Patients Rights Council

Cancer is painful and if it's terminal--really very soon--I don't see the need to stick around. However, doctors are so often wrong, and miracles do also still occur!

I personally live with chronic pain and for myself, see no reason to continue to live. HOWEVER, along with that chronic pain comes other maladies one of which is depression, so I KNOW I am not always thinking rationally.

We all have a sexually transmitted terminal disease! It's called life.

My father was given 6 months, he made it 5 weeks. My neighbor was given 1 year and he's still alive now 7 years later.

This is not a yes-no question. People will respond to any terminal disease as they will, but they might be wrong. (With that said, if I knew when I was injured what I would go through and where I'd still be now, I would have made a different choice. Now, I'm committed to the decision.)

i had a neighbor die a couple of months ago.

his situation was id say at least borderline suicidal. he was given 10 years to live for idk what was wrong. it had only been a few years into that and his sister died and his wife divorced him 6 months apart. he was doing well until his parents said that he mentioned stopping his meds. (for a physical illness. he had a lot but one of them was getting worse). so he stopped his meds. he invited all his friends/fam out for a gettogether. they thought since he stopped his meds he prob had a few months or a bit less. so we went over there to help out and see if anyone need any food/drink before anyone arrived. and he had already died that morning.

its been haunting me for a few months.

I have no doubt if I was told that I was going to die and it was going to painful such as cancer then I would kill myself, Why suffer?

i just added a story. idk if this would be considered suicide but it sure seems like it.

Hmm - for and against.

People should be able to - especially for certain things.

But then again like Gerard says - Pissing your life away on suicide is ****ing ********.

Actually I agree with you.

On the other hand, how can I say that I am in favor of suicide when I am obviously still alive to type this? It would look like I don't really mean it. Worse, it would look like I mean that other people out there should go off themselves but not me. If I was serious about being in favor of suicide I couldn't tell you about it.