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Jun 2018
4:19pm, 17 Jun 2018
22,697 posts
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DocMoye
I think it’s a very individual view and something you can only decide for yourself. Rather like organ donation I think it’s something that needs to be discussed much more widely so a persons loved ones know their view
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Jun 2018
12:33pm, 18 Jun 2018
2,629 posts
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steve45
I agree with DocMoye.
The very thought of a "living hell" doesn't appeal to me and I suppose that being able to turn the lights off when there's too much pain etc would be a useful thing.
A friend of mine recently died from cancer and in the early stages always said that she would rather travel to Switzerland than only be able to manage pain through medications that also change the way you think/are as well as living out her days involved in hospitals, treatment, doctors etc. As it was her days ended miserably in exactly the way she had said she didn't want but the Switzerland thing somehow got lost during the course of the illness...
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Jun 2018
5:46pm, 18 Jun 2018
1,150 posts
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Flatlander
I've a pretty good idea of a selection of ways how I'm going to die, all of which will end with me being in hospital being given palliative care. I've already written somewhere that I'd much rather die at home rather than live an extra couple of months in hospital.
Sounds morbid but I'm a realist, although I won't know until I'm in that situation whether or not I'd want to have my life ended. After all, the will to live is very strong, but I'm sure there is a point where the pain of living overcomes that will.
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Jun 2018
5:56pm, 18 Jun 2018
3,487 posts
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Cyclops
My mother is currently in a care home very expensively existing with severe dementia. She hasn't known who I am for about 5 years. She said all her life that she wanted to be put down if she got like this.
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Jun 2018
9:06pm, 18 Jun 2018
1,414 posts
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JRitchie
Chatting with my mother a couple of months ago she said that she isn't afraid of dying but she is afraid of not living which I think is a nice summary of how a lot of folk feel.
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Jun 2018
9:21pm, 18 Jun 2018
1,152 posts
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Flatlander
The hospital where I used to work performs heart transplants which places great psychological stress on the recipient so patients who had the attitude "I want to live" coped better than those who felt "I don't want to die".
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Jun 2018
9:26pm, 18 Jun 2018
22,901 posts
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LazyDaisy
That's interesting, Flatlander.
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Jun 2018
10:26am, 19 Jun 2018
23,961 posts
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HellsBells
Thanks for the welcome 
My experience is that people who are currently fit and well look on physical frailty with horror and frequently express the opinion that they'd rather be dead. Often, however, when they get there they find that meaningful existence is possible in the most straitened of circumstances and change their minds.
If it is the individual deciding for themselves at the time then I'm all for euthanasia. However, if it is down to families or society to make the decision, even if the individual had said years before "put me down", then I would be more cautious.
On a brighter note, we're off to Trent Bridge to watch the cricket. Could England possibly go 3-0 up?
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Jun 2018
10:28am, 19 Jun 2018
22,906 posts
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LazyDaisy
HB my sister and BiL will be there too, give them a wave from me! Hope the weather holds up for you.
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Jun 2018
11:10am, 19 Jun 2018
7,097 posts
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Markymarkmark
I agree with you HB.
My mother and her best friend said years ago "Shoot us when we get to 60" - then when they got to 60 - "shoot us when we get to 70" - and so on.
Both are now in their late 80s, neither is "well" (friend currently in remission from cancer, mother severe osteoporosis and goodness knows how many other ailments), and both are saying "shoot us when we get to 90".
I think the point is that unless it's *you* who's there, it's almost impossible to say when is the right time to actually die, regardless of what you thought when you were younger.
And I'm pretty sure any life is precious. (More so if it's you believe it's the only one you're getting.)
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