I recently learned that in US states with assisted suicide, a doctor prescribes the medication and the ‘patient’ can administer it to themselves wherever and whenever they please. I’m not sure about this in terms of policy, but anyway…
Let’s say we have a retired socially isolated individual with no friends or family that has been given this prescription. Besides common places like a hospital bed or the (retirement) home, what are (some of the) best places to die? For example, compared to dying at or near the morgue, the police station, the hospital parking lot or some other place like out in the desert, which would be the least costly, disruptive or traumatic to others, for example?
If they drive their car to the location, should they kill themselves in their car or outside it? Would a rental be better?
In terms of clothing, would a bathrobe or just a towel be appropriate, or nothing at all?
Would shaving their whole body beforehand be beneficial?
What about a total liquid and solid fast, and for how long?
Should they film themselves doing it? Should they live-stream it, e.g. for potential forensic purposes, especially if they traveled to a state where assisted suicide is not legal?
How would they make sure that any good Samaritans, the police etc don’t get in the way?
(And any other relevant questions you may think of.)
But at the same time, they would want the people that find their body to be the most equipped to handle it. They would not want there to be any unnecessary resources spent in trying to find them either, and the sooner the better since a decaying body will start to damage or pollute many things in direct contact with it.
One more complication is that this individual will not inform the proper authorities or anyone else before killing themselves and they don’t want to die in the hospital or their own home. The reason for these is due to their paranoia, delusions, cognitive distortions, ignorance or plain stupidity. Maybe rational reasons too. Taking these things into account, where should they and what is the best time of the day, week, month and year for them to die ‘with dignity’?