Possible TW - do you see yourself choosing Assisted dying?

Yes

there is no reason to suffer for myself or my family to see me suffering. And by the time many of us are older I am sure it will not be as restricted as the proposed laws now

This is a sore subject for me right now.
My always fit and healthy 69-year-old dad has just been diagnosed with a stage 4 brain tumor. It's is incurable. He won't live for much longer, months most likely.
I am terrified for him. I know what is coming. I don't want this for him. He's currently relatively well, and is only newly diagnosed.
Before the diagnosis we did discuss about dnacpr as he was in hospital with a different diagnosis; they thought it was Encephalitis for 2 weeks initially, but then brought him a respect form out of nowhere which was a total surprise which is how we had this discussion. The next day he was told it was a brain tumor. We both felt exactly the same before and after the news. We both would choose quality of life over quantity any day. But now it's his reality. And the option for a dignified death may not be there. That pains me so much. To see a man I've always looked up to, and been proud of; reduced to someone who won't even know me sometime soon. Who won't be able to feed and clean himself. Who will be in agony at times. Who the fuck would choose that?
I'm just sorry that it will come too late for my dad.

In that case, if I was diagnosed with dementia, I’d take my own life while I still had capacity, even if it means sacrificing months of otherwise OK time, if that’s what was necessary to avoid the loss of mental acuity and memory and needing to live in residential care. That’s not for me, I’d rather be gone.

Yes, if I am facing a long and/or painful death or imprisonment in my own body (locked-in syndrome).

Absoloutly I do.

im not spending my last few years in some gos awful corner of my room with council paid workers calling in a couple of times a day to shove me about.

I am not sure dementia would be something you could use AD for.
My friend's mum is in a care home with dementia. She can no longer recognise my friend (her own daughter), but she is very happy.
Would you restrain her and kill her because of a previously signed contract about AD?

I really really hope so.

100%. If I’m diagnosed with dementia or MND for example, I will definitely be dying with some sort of dignity. We don’t allow animals to die in the manner we allow people to, and I’ll be glad when it’s brought in to reality.

Absolutely I would in circumstances where I had uncontrollable pain, advanced dementia or other circumstances where I had no quality of life.

I do often think about how I would do it if I felt it was time. Like the poster below. I hate the idea of messing it up and also of family finding me and maybe thinking I was depressed rather than executing a careful long thought out plan. All the DIY methods have drawbacks.

It is not illegal to take your own life. But if your family is found to assist in anyway, then they will be in trouble. I think the Assisted Dying Bill would address stuff like that.
And taking your own life is often messy or scary to find. Jump off a car park.... that is not nice. Be found after an overdose... not nice either.

I have was in a psychiatric hospital and a patient there was terminally ill with cancer and admitted because she tried to take her own life. She ended up being let go to go home in the end... she should have never been there to start with.

After watching a parent die slowly from dementia, I really really hope it's an option for me in the future.

Yes.
We treat our pets better. Humans are just expected to get on with it, regardless of what their path is.
It is awful and inhumane.

For me it’s because it’s impossible to know if you’d actually do enough to kill yourself or whether you’d wake up even more horribly disabled than you already were (in my case) and potentially unable to speak, in a coma but aware for the next god knows how many years. No thanks.

I'd have no difficulty with it for myself if it felt like the right thing to do 👍

Everyone seems to be saying yes, but quite a few mention dementia not being covered. I really hope people are given the option of being euthanised if they have it. It should be possible to have a form that any adult can complete, saying they want to be painlessly euthanised in x/y/z situation (for example, a diagnosis of x, unable to complete basic tasks for yourself.
I fully respect how ableist this world can be, and I completely respect we all have different religious/moral values, and that there is the possibility of someone being pressured into this. But we should not be forced to live in pain and horror, as I've seen some of my relatives do, so while my answer is you're not unreasonable, I think we should move beyond discussing assisted dying, and normalising allowing people to choose euthanasia, as least until there's no waiting in healthcare and palliative care/hospices are available to all.

I promise this isn’t intended to be a goady comment.

Those of you who would choose assisted dying, why would you not take your own life instead of asking for medical intervention?

I’ve thought about this, and I think I’d like to be alone if it comes to it. Bottle of wine, bottle of pills, some beautiful music.

Are you all talking about a time when you might not be able to do this yourself? Or are you worried about family members finding you?

Yes, I would, and so will my husband. He has a life-limiting illness, and may or may not make it until the law changes in the UK, but we have put money aside for him to travel overseas if necessary

Absolutely yes. I just watched my husband suffer with cancer for a year and he's now passed away. The pain looked horrific and he had no dignity at the end as he suffered delirium due to sepsis. I don't want to go through that and I don't want my kids to see me going through it either. The hospice he was in was wonderful but they still couldn't get rid of his pain sometimes.

Yep I would definitely choose it. In an ideal world, if diagnosed with dementia, I’d be able to write some sort of advance directive that specified I’m to be euthanised once I reach a specified point in my mental capability. I appreciate that wouldn’t be possible under the proposed law, so I’d just do it probably earlier than necessary to eliminate the chance I end up too far gone to be able to have it.

Yes I would definitely choose this. I have worked in end of life care and I think autonomy and advanced planning makes a very big difference to the dying person and to the loved ones who witness it.

Yes, immensely well stated💚

I do really worry about assisted dying becoming a way to manage out the poor and disabled.

And yet at the same time it's absolutely what I would choose once life was no longer much fun.

So that is completely inconsistent

Yes I would consider it definitely.

Having had a dog euthanised a few years ago, I saw how peacefully he died and was happy to give him a good ending as well as a good life for many years. Would appreciate being able to choose the same for myself.