Possible TW - do you see yourself choosing Assisted dying?

[Threefullskips]

I hope this isn't too dark, but I've been thinking a lot about the legal and moral discussions in changing the legislation around assisted dying. And however we feel about it, it will be happening. In the context of NHS strain (and failure) , 'the market' taking care of the needs of elderly and infirm now more than families, properly prices, war on the horizon, increasing economic precarity - in a decade or so, we will all know people who have chosen to die by assisted dying. Is it something you have thought about? I hate to admit it, but I suspect it will be how I choose to go. And it feels like a defeat somehow. I'm perfectly healthy right now! Just looking into possible futures. This is a huge cultural change that will define our century imo. Sorry if this is too dark but I have tried to warn in title, I feel it surely merits a bit of discussion. Not sure what the AIBU is - AIBU to think more than 50% of the population will die this way in 50 years maybe?

I've always known that I will die at a time of my choosing. I just hope Ill be able to do so in my own country and not to have to die alone abroad.
I've worked in the NHS for more than 45 years and I believe it everyone's right to choose when they go.

i would happily choose this for myself. For practical reasons.

Problem is, people would be offing relatives they don't like/want the inheritance from.

Yes absolutely.

Yes. I saw my mum dying of cancer, I held her hand actually when it happened. Someone from the family has dementia and got maybe week left. Absolutely devastating for everyone involved. There is no way I want to go like this

I am a vet nurse and see euthanasia most days , it is a blessing that we can put to sleep an animal who otherwise could have a lingering stressful possibly painful death.
The manner in which we do it is peaceful dignified and filled with love , the advancement of sedation and euthanasia methods makes the days of less peaceful euthanasia a thing of the past thankfully -or it should do if vets and their team put thought into the protocols they follow.
Even though i absolutely understand that there are gray areas around euthanasia in humans i can't see how it can possibly be wrong when a sick dying person of sound mind asks to be 'put to sleep' in a similar manner with their loved ones surrounding them , holding them and soothing them as they pass peacefully on into the next life.
How i help my patients pass is exactly the end i would choose.

No.

Yes if I get the chance too if it seems dementia or horrible painful illness us imminent.

I would if it meant a pain free more dignified end but I doubt I would ever be able to afford to, I don’t think it would be available on the NHS, their mission is to save lives.

I have cancer ( well 2 cancers). If I ever get to a point where I’m in stupid amounts of pain and they want to slap a fentanyl patch on me, I will do what I can to be euthanised ( somehow!)

At 75 of course I will.

But not because of potential wars or the creeping privatisation of health care.

But because I no longer want to live.

Your, I mean the generations below me, concerns about war and climate change and all the ways humans could end, are, to an extent, not my problem any more.

I've done what I could do, if now I prefer to die, it really isn't your business, is it?

Absolutely. My mum died from a horrible disease that just made her get worse and worse physically and mentally. She died from an unrelated infection, probably due to neglect from care home (she was only 60 years old) but it could not be proven.

If I get the same illness I know what to do. No way I'm going to let my children see me suffer for years.

I suppose you have access to all you need then. The rest of us need to go to Switzerland/Belgium.

Yes

Yes, absolutely.
I’m off to Switzerland if I get a dementia diagnosis. I’m not living like my father is now or putting my kids through what my family are going through.

part of my father’s dementia is losing the ability to swallow. Eventually his only option for nutrition will be tube feeding which he’s already refused (he expressed his wishes when he was well). So he’ll slowly starve to death. Hopefully sedated so he’s not in too much pain discomfort. And we’ll all linger by his bedside waiting for him to die and might or might not be there with him and for each other when the time comes.

can someone explain how that is more humane than a doctor saying “right, it’s tube feeding time which he’s declined so get everyone together and we’ll send him on his way with a massive shot of morphine, surrounded by the people who love him.” Because to me starving sounds fucking barbaric and assisted dying would be better for everyone in those circumstances.

Definitely. I don't want to end up incapacitated in a care home. Luckily deaths in my family have all been painless and dignified. That's a lottery we can't keep winning.

Yes completely concur with you
Just made this very same statement a few days ago to one of our dear friends, whom's lovely father, is begging to be taken, he's in so much pain & suffering
We wouldn't think twice, for our Beloved Pets
💚🫂💚

Yes, absolutely, my DF chose to end his life after terminal diagnosis, never got to say goodbye, fortunately I’m at peace with it, I am a supporter of assisted suicide.

Yes, I couldn't agree with you more
Thank you for your compassionate comment 💚

God Bless You, Yes Me Too 🫂💯🙏

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.

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, immensely well stated💚

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.

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.

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.