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?

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

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?

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

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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

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.

I really really hope so.

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?

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.

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

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.

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.

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

100%. No one should be forced to live when their physical or mental capacity has declined so far that they have to live out their days in a nursing home or hospice, in pain or unable to recognise their loved ones, eat, toilet, communicate etc. Pumping people full of drugs with the sole aim of keeping them alive for as long as possible is barbaric.

I'd like to think so. I hope I'm brave enough when the time comes.

I watched a programme about assisted dying in a certain country, sadly I can’t remember where in the world or which programme…
Patients who were terminally ill were vetted & given a prescription - pre-approved assisted euthanasia. If things got bad, the prescription was there & they could make the choice to use it if things got too bad, the prescription would dispensed & assisted euthanasia could take place.
It turned out the majority of patients didn’t request to use their prescription but they found knowing the way out was there comforting & eased them to the end.
It sounded a really good idea - the ‘for use when needed’ approach.
I’d be interested to know if anyone else had seen the programme.

As for me, yes I would go for it but I have to say that having the prescription on stand-by ready to be used at my choosing sounds good.
Obviously for illnesses where you suddenly lose mental capacity to decide, my advance decision should be followed & I’m to receive pain relief & that’s all.
With dementia, any assisted euthanasia sadly would have be done sooner rather later but I suspect in such cases it would be a matter of non-assisted suicide by the patient whilst they still have capacity.

Best way I could put it is this.

I’m not afraid of death. I am afraid of dying.

100% yes, having been through an incredibly inhumane death of my mother. We all die, I cannot comprehend why it cannot be with dignity and by choice.

I was watching greys anatomy this evening and there was an assisted dying storyline so I was thinking about this earlier. I don't know if I would be brave enough? I don't know I think its hard to say. This summer I lost almost half of my blood and nearly died. I remember at one point as they were rushing me to surgery thinking oop this could be it, I was very weak and drifting in and out of consciousness. I wasn't scared though, afterwards I was freaked out about how much of a close call it was but at the time I was very chill and accepting of the fact that my time might be up. All of that is to say who knows how I would feel staring death in the face? I'd like to think that I would be brave enough but I don't know.

I would like to be put to sleep, unaware, like a pet. Especially if I develop dementia.