If the law were changed to allow for it, I’d sign a directive stating that when I’ve arrived at (or passed) certain milestones in my mental deterioration, I should be euthanized if my death is expected to be more than a matter of weeks away.
That is why, even though I really like to keep my position private, I always try to post in these threads. There are so many people who “just don’t understand” it’s worth providing an alternate view.
My cultural/religious background is not very focused on death or an afterlife, and most us are probably perfectly fine with euthanasia in these cases. But I personally have a very strong sense of the value of life, and of my own value as a person, aside from any religious belief. Dead Cat’s story really resonates with me. If I can sing, or dance, or fingerpaint, and feel joy from that, then my life is still worth living.
I appreciate that you respect this position. It bothers me when people start talking about how the money should be left to the grandchildren. I can so easily see someone who takes my position being pressured into agreeing to euthanasia by greedy family, or family who just doesn’t want to bear any burden.
Absolutely possible. Also possible for family members who can’t bear to let go to keep someone alive far past the the point that person wanted.
The reality for pretty much everyone reading this thread is that 3rd-party euthanasia is not going to be a reality. I can’t imagine that happening for a very long time, if at all. Even if legal euthanasia is an option, it will need to be carried out by the individual. So, unfortunately, that means each of us will likely need to take our own actions if that’s how we want to deal with dementia.
Which is why it’s important to discuss these things in advance and make sure that everyone is clear on your position. As I said above, I’m fortunate that my family has had these discussions, and we’ve all agreed to accept each others’ positions, even where they disagree.
Interesting that most of the responses in favor of euthanasia are predicated on the burden and hardship to the family members that had to take care of the Alzheimer or dementia patient, not necessarily being a patient with memory issues. Just curious if you were a caregiver, family member etc. did you or do you wish that the person with the memory issues were dead, so that it would relieve you of these burdens?
I never wished that they were dead, and I was sad when they died, but I also felt a huge amount of relief after it was over–for both them and myself.
One similar situation is having to put a pet to sleep. Intellectually I know I should do it while my dog is in good spirits, but emotionally I just can’t take that step. I end up waiting until the point where my dog is probably in more pain or discomfort than I should have allowed.
Even though I’m in full favor of euthanasia for myself, I don’t think I could carry it out on someone else no matter how bad off they were. I think it would be too much of an emotional wall to get over based on how tough it’s been with my dogs. I don’t think I could do the same for a person. And even if I did, I think I’d be racked with guilt afterwards even if it was according to their wishes.
I’d hate to force other people to take care of me in a demented state, so I’d wish for professionally assisted euthanasia. I wish the law would facilitate that, everyplace.
But…
I had a weird conversation with my doctor. We’ve talked a little about end of life issues, in a distant and hypothetical way, but this conversation felt more like a social conversation, which he likes to do. He told me that many of his patients have expressed a variety of wishes about the end of their lives, including many who would like euthanasia. However, he said that if they wind up hospitalized and aware that the end of life is very near and he gets to see them in that condition, every single one of them have begged him to do absolutely anything at all in his power to keep them alive.
It sounds like the animal wish to keep living pulls rank on everything else near the end, based on his professional experiences.
Watched my mother in law spend her last days in hospice, escorted from this world by Mr. Cancer and his trusty sidekick, Dementia. She was an extremely proud woman in her prime. She would have been mortified to know the wreck her conditions would make of her. Dementia and large doses of morphine, mercifully, annihilated anything she had resembling self awareness. Or consciousness, for that matter. The last thing she said in this world was “Fuck.” About 40 times an hour for 2 days. Pretty much every day of those 2+ weeks I wished would be her last not for us, but for herself.
Perhaps it was anonymous. I just don’t recall. At any rate the prosecution would have to prove it and the evidence wouldn’t exist, especially if she was cremated and the ashes spread.
My personal reasons are, in order of importance to me:
Not wanting to be in a state where I wasn’t me.
Not wanting to burden my family.
Not wanting to throw away all my money in an utterly useless expense.
Ideally, I would want to sign a directive directing the government to euthanize me when I no longer had an executive function. Put whatever restrictions you want on it, but just do it. I hope and expect to have a sudden heart attack and drop dead, but not all our hopes are fulfilled.
Waitaminnit. . . . ! Weren’t we supposed to be getting Death Panels with Obamacare to take care of some of these issues?
I would never commit suicide.
However, I would allow the plug to be pulled if I were deemed hopelessly brain dead and only alive via artificial means.
I wouldn’t ask (or “allow”, as you put it) somebody else to do it if I still could.