when are you capable of taking your own life

with progressive diseases ie, MS/ Alzheimers, you have to be sane to choose assisted suicide. but sometimes you can get worse before you officially make the decision. so it overtakes you and you are no longer mentally sane so not allowed to make the decision.

should you be able to make the decision in advance, to be put into action at a later date, even if they can only utter the word 'now' ?

 

And at a later date if you feel differently? Then what?

 

My 1st instinct is no, for what I think is the obvious reason... it has to be your choice to die or not and if you don't have the mental capacity to make that decision yourself, then someone else will be making that decision for you. I would want it to be my decision and mind alone. But at the same time if I were in a situation like that, I wouldn't want to be kept alive artificially, and would request that no one take any action to prolong my life if I were to reach a point where i could no longer express my wishes clearly. But in that case its more of letting the disease takes its course as apposed to someone actually ending my life.

I think certain things you can decide in advance but it becomes greyer when you no longer have the mental capacity to make life and death decisions and/or express your wishes clearly, specifically when it come to assisted suicide. I think you would be hard pressed to find a doc that would carry out assisted suicide without the patient being mentally capable to make that decision.

That being said I wish assisted suicide was legal here in canada as it seems futile to let people suffer needlessly.

 

if you are getting worse, but have reached a point at which you are no longer mentally capable, by the authorities and guidlines, to make the decision

 

This is very tricky.

Because, while of sound mind, it is a persons own actions that enable suicide.
But when not, it is anothers. The decision in real time has to be made by a person with awareness, of their self even.
Reason? People are allowed to change their mind, even if not of sound mind.
We must be careful. At what point does the suicide become assisted?
So Suicide............... or Pretty sure they wanted suicide?

 

yes!!!

 

by law(atleast in switzerland?), no one can make you drink the lethal drug. you have to do it yourself or else people could have been murdered instead of being assisted in taking their owns lifes.

i watched something on the ABC once about a guy with something that was slowly killing his nerves(similar to stephen hawking but not exactly that). so he took his wife to Zurich and then he when to one of the Dignitas(think thats the name) places to commit suicide. They do it in their company apartments, but I would rather do it on a nice day, on top of the building.

if i want to commit suicide and i had an illness that was making me only worse(not better), then i would do it before I was no longer able to do it myself.


.......but isn't life an illness that 'makes you worse, not better?'. the longer we live, the closer we get to dieing...so what's the difference?

:unsure: