Assisted Dying

[Anna B 1,417]

15 hours ago, echo beach said:

I’ll go against the trend on here and say that I don’t agree with it.

I can visualise avaricious relatives persuading an elderly person who isn’t in good health that they are a burden and it’s better to end it all prematurely, particularly if they are having to be cared for and the cost is diminishing the inheritance sum.

Currently money and materialism are the Western religions.

There’s more to life than that.

 

echo.
 

Sadly, I fear you are probably right.

 

More to the point will it become an unwritten  'duty' for the elderly to die so as not to be a burden on the state or anyone else.

Edited October 31, 2023 by Anna B

[Anna B 1,417]

6 hours ago, Chekhov said:

Very sad to hear Z.

My Mum's Dementia has had a many sad effects on me. My Mum and Dad died not far apart, my Dad was still sharp right up to the end, but my Mum hadn't been so for years, so long that I had to consciously think what she used to be like. Thus, whenever I feel sad I went from two parents to no parents in 15 months, it's my Dad I think of more than my Mum, which makes me feel very guilty.

Dementia really is a terrible thing, I really do not ever want to end up like that, for me or my family, and the fact the government would effectively be forcing me to go through it, is totally unacceptable.

 

As it happens my parents didn't agree with assisted dying, but my Mother In Law (who also had Dementia) very much did, and my wife and I knew that but had to watch her going downhill for years. It was incredibly sad.

The saddest thing is you never know what is going on inside a dementia patient's head. They might be quite happily living their dreams and fantasies. They just don't fit into our neuro typical world.

 

In my experience (which I admit is limited) go with them, and you can see them become quite perky, happy and animated. They need company and the right stimulation.

 

Our treatment of dementia in this country is appalling, and hasn't got much past the old Victorian 'insane' asylums. They handle it much better in Scandinavian countries, but of course that costs  money.

 

Thank goodness they are making some progress with research and new medication.

[francypants 441]

16 hours ago, echo beach said:

I’ll go against the trend on here and say that I don’t agree with it.

I can visualise avaricious relatives persuading an elderly person who isn’t in good health that they are a burden and it’s better to end it all prematurely, particularly if they are having to be cared for and the cost is diminishing the inheritance sum.

Currently money and materialism are the Western religions.

There’s more to life than that.

 

echo.
 

If I'd got horrible relatives like that  .....  I wouldn't want to live anyway  !

[Chekhov 488]

10 minutes ago, Anna B said:

>>Chekhov said : As it happens my parents didn't agree with assisted dying, but my Mother In Law (who also had Dementia) very much did, and my wife and I knew that but had to watch her going downhill for years. It was incredibly sad.<<

 

The saddest thing is you never know what is going on inside a dementia patient's head. They might be quite happily living their dreams and fantasies. They just don't fit into our neuro typical world.

 

In my experience (which I admit is limited) go with them, and you can see them become quite perky, happy and animated. They need company and the right stimulation.

 

Our treatment of dementia in this country is appalling, and hasn't got much past the old Victorian 'insane' asylums. They handle it much better in Scandinavian countries, but of course that costs  money.

 

Thank goodness they are making some progress with research and new medication.

In the case of my Mother In Law she was a proud woman, there is no way she'd have countenanced people having to feed and dress her and wash her, plus having to wear pads, to say nothing of being locked in etc etc. To see her like that would make me feel like crying. It really did remind me that QUALITY of life is what's important, not LENGTH of life.

[Anna B 1,417]

3 hours ago, Chekhov said:

In the case of my Mother In Law she was a proud woman, there is no way she'd have countenanced people having to feed and dress her and wash her, plus having to wear pads, to say nothing of being locked in etc etc. To see her like that would make me feel like crying. It really did remind me that QUALITY of life is what's important, not LENGTH of life.

I remember my relative, a very smart lady, before she went into a residential home, who had been put into incontinence pads; crying, most distressed and saying, "But I'm not incontinent! When I ring for them to come, it takes them an hour, and then it's too late!"

 

She also bought a smart new wardrobe of clothes, all carefully labelled, but they went missing and she was always in somebody else's clothes. The promised trips and activities never happened. (Beware the glossy brochure.)

She  had two falls and went downhill very quickly. 

 

 

 

 

Edited October 31, 2023 by Anna B

[cuttsie 1,091]

1 hour ago, Anna B said:

I remember my relative, a very smart lady, before she went into a residential home, who had been put into incontinence pads, wailing, most distressed, "But I'm not incontinent! When I ring for them to come, it takes them an hour, and then it's too late!"

She also bought a smart new wardrobe of clothes, all carefully labelled, but they went missing and she was always in somebody else's clothes. The promised trips and activities never happened. (Beware the glossy brochure.)

She  had two falls and went downhill very quickly. 

 

 

 

 

Been there , seen that, my mother in law was as bright as a button before the dreaded old folks home became a reality due to falls , within weeks she was a shadow of her former self . 

 

In contrast my own mother (who I met when she was ninety ), Was a boozing , singing , local bloody character , the corner shop looked after her pension book so as they could get the money she owed for the daily whisky bottle and the odd bit of food she would eat( if she remembered to even eat at all ). Her medical pills were put out of reach on the top of kitchen units by the  home help so as she did not swallow the lot but she still got to them then slept for a day or two . She died at 99 years old still full of whisky and pills, the church was packed to the rafters , I have never heard so much laughter at a funeral .

 

So two lives , Two entirely different ends , One mother was frugal and saved money as a hobby , the other had nothing in the bank and ended up shouting and laughing to the end .

[echo beach 591]

2 hours ago, Chekhov said:

In the case of my Mother In Law she was a proud woman, there is no way she'd have countenanced people having to feed and dress her and wash her, plus having to wear pads, to say nothing of being locked in etc etc. To see her like that would make me feel like crying. It really did remind me that QUALITY of life is what's important, not LENGTH of life.

Then heaven help those who are unfortunately born with any form of handicap!

It’s the slippery slope.

 

echo.

[Chekhov 488]

1 hour ago, echo beach said:

Then heaven help those who are unfortunately born with any form of handicap!

It’s the slippery slope.

I suspect someone born with a handicap would probably find it easier to cope with, but the point is I am not even implying that others with handicaps or poor health should want to end it all. I am simply talking about myself.

 

Why is it a slippery slope anyway ?

To me it's about personal freedom and personal responsibility.

[onewheeldave 22]

17 hours ago, Jack Grey said:

I've never really understood assisted dying

 

Why don't they just take a massive overdose? 

 

Why do they need permission from the government to go to a place to kill themselves 

None of the drugs obtainable legally in the UK are suitable for reliable euthanasia- in overdose they tend to leave you alive while destroying liver or kidney function.

Barbiturates are viable, but, made illegal, in large part because so many people used them successfully for suicide. 

 

[Anna B 1,417]

1 hour ago, echo beach said:

Then heaven help those who are unfortunately born with any form of handicap!

It’s the slippery slope.

 

echo.

True up to a point, but life is what you make it and some seriously  handicapped people enjoy life as much as anyone else. I know they fear being 'put to sleep' as a matter of course if euthanasia becomes the norm.

And don't forget 99% of us will become handicapped in some way, if we live long enough, as the body deteriorates. 

Edited October 31, 2023 by Anna B