Do you think euthanasia should be available to humans?

I know I would like euthanasia to be legal, I would use it. I have been depressed for years. Yes, I have good days, but deep down I ALWAYS want to die. I don’t want my life, this life. I self harm and I cry everyday. I’m so tired of waking up in the morning.

@Dibley I know how you feel, I’m at that point myself. The only self-harming I’m doing though is with cigarettes and whiskey. I’ll not need euthanasia, I can do it myself (a .44 Magnum is reliable and foolproof). The only thing stopping me is maybe the next medication will work.

Euthansia prsents an ethical problem to me. When does the right to die become an obligation to die? People could be pressured for various reasons to give advance consent, eliminating the need for nursing homes, etc. A slippery slope.

I think that the right to take ones own life should never be questioned, especially people who have no one dependent on them. Materials and information should be available without restriction on how to accomplish this efficiently and effectively. It’s a decision that should be made rationally, but even someone non compos mentis has that right. Some jurisdictions still have the archaic standard of government intervention if an individual is dangerous to self or others rather than the acceptable standard of danger only to others. These should be repealed. My life is my property to do with as I please, as long as I harm no other in person or property.

I thought there were plentiful teenagers in that fine continent. What, has the chidcatcher struck again. “Ice cream, lollipops & all free today” Damn his eyes!!

@Dibley – It should be the choice of us all to own our own lives, I believe that, I truly do.
In Europe (and possibly elsewhere) it is available, assisted suicide they call it. Unfortunately It’s a VERY grey area legally in most countries and it’s the people who assist that are punished. we hear about it a lot here in the UK.
I wonder if we as a society will ever allow it to be a personal choice.? I doubt it.
I wish you….peace.

I’ve also suffered (and still do suffer from) depression, have entertained suicidal thoughts and attempted it in the past, I am lucky, I got and get help. I can’t help thinking this may be a cry for help in some way….........

@stranger_in_a_strange_land Your very right. We should all be allowed to end our lives. I have felt like this since I was 17 and I’m sick of feeling it. I would love someone to press the button on my life.

@scotsbloke Assisted suicide is for those who are “proper physically sick”, I think mental illness is a proper illness. Maybe I should spend a day with Gordon Brown, he’d soon put me on the list and make it legal!

I don’t think that it would be ethical. I’m just following what I believe in my heart, and I think that too many people would be depressed for a few months and decide that it would be time to end their life. And even in other situations, I’m sorry, but I just feel that it’s immoral to commit suicide.

I realize that my answer isn’t the popular one, and I understand that people can and will argue. But I’m just following my beliefs.

@Pseudonym Everyone is entitled to their own opinions. I won’t argue with you. I thoink the problem is that people don’t know the difference between feeling depressed or bein depressed, Someone could be “down” for a few months and want to day but then they perk up. Or the other, is that, like me I have been depressed for years, I am getting worse as I get older. I feel that people that have been diagnosed with depression for a number of years should have the right to die. Mental illness can be as painful as anything else.

@scotsbloke It’s not a cry for help. I’m beyond help.

@Pseudonym I actually agree with you in a way,
Depression is a monster that needs to be fought tooth and nail before entertaining any idea of suicide.
Suicide and Euthanasia is a little different anyway. Euthanasia is effectively being killed, Suicide is D.I.Y.
@Dibley – you say: I would love someone to press the button on my life. – Isn’t that asking WAY too much of someone? If you want the responsibility to take your life that’s one thing, but to ask someone to do it for you is a whole different kettle of fish.

We can put our pets to sleep so that they won’t be in pain anymore. So why can’t we do the same for humans? I mean if there is absolutly no way that person is going to live much longer and the only reason they are not in pain is because we keep them drugged to the point that they are no longer coherant then why not allow euthanasia?

@Dibley You see what I was saying first was that though I feel something against suicide in general, I do believe that if it were legal, too many not-so-bright people would try to get euthanasia if they felt sad for a small amount of time.

@scotsbloke I am too chicken to take my own life. I have overdosed a number of times. People press the button for legally assisted suicides, it’s only the same thing. It’s their job.

@Pseudonym Yes I agree with that. That’s why it should only be for people with have been diagnosed for a number of years.

@Dibley. Yes. Many people don’t seem to realize that depression is a medical condition.

One of the most controversial issues centers on the use of active versus passive euthanasia. Active euthanasia occurs when something is done with the specific intention of ending a person’s life, such as injecting a lethal medication. Passive euthanasia occurs when interventions that might prolong life are withheld, such as deciding against connecting a dying person to a life support. This distinction, though, is not always so straightforward. Is “pulling the plug” a form of active or passive euthanasia? It might be considered active because it requires an intentional action to turn off life support services. However, the weight of opinion now considers withdrawal of interventions to be a passive form of euthanasia: one stops doing something.

The distinction is consequential because some people who reject active euthanasia do accept passive euthanasia as a practice that provides benefits to the dying person without violating ethical standards and religious values. Legislation and court decisions also tend to treat active and passive euthanasia differently. The situation is even more complicated. It can also be argued that it is an evasion to regard passive euthanasia as acceptable while condemning active interventions because both approaches result in an earlier death. Perhaps passive euthanasia is also sometimes unintentionally cruel because the person continues to suffer while life runs out (Rachels 1989). Whether or not we should continue to focus on the active versus passive distinction is a controversy that does not seem close to resolution.

Read more: Euthanasia – Euthanasia: History, Controversy, Facts

I do.

@Dibley Although I consider the right to end my own life as an absolute, I will not exercise that right until I have exhausted every option to get out of this tangle of depression and phobias. I have Aspergers Syndrome, a form of autism. For the first 38 years of my life I considered myself unlovable and incapable of feeling love. Everything changed when I offered help to one whose situation was far worse than my own.

@stranger_in_a_strange_land I am trying too, I have been on many different medications, but my Depression has spread to Anxiety and severe paranoia and that I really can’t handle.

should be available and free

@Dibley Sounds to me like you need a really good therapist, not just a pill-pusher. I can’t deal with “talking therapies” but you might benefit greatly from them.

I believe euthanasia should be an option for people with certain diseases that mean their quality of life is going to get worse and worse until they die. Things like Motor Neurone disease for example where sufferers are often left with a body that doesn’t work at all but I mind that does. It’s a slow death and you are aware of it the whole time and there is noothing you can do. In cases like this I don’t think that people should have to just wait until they die.

Now, in answer to your question, for depression? I just don’t know. I too have mental health issues (depression isn’t the main issue but other problems cause depression) and I have wanted to die and even now, although things are slightly better than they have been for a while, I can’t say that I don’t still think about suicide often.

However, many people feel they want to die for a few months while they are going through a bad time but many of these people also get through the hard time and live a fulfilling life. How would we judge those that are seriously depressed for the long term despite medical help etc compared to those that are seriously depressed for the short term that may want to end their lives NOW but get their lives back on track in few months and are glad that they didn’t. I think if suicide for depression were legal then a lot of people would die when they could be living a decent life if they had just waited. This would also cause A LOT of families a great deal of pain.

I think I am leaning more towards no, euthanasia probably shouldn’t be so easily available to depressed people. There would be far to many impulse suicides.

Edit: @Dibley The problem with saying it should only be available to people that have been diagnosed for a number of years is that, even many of those people have times when they want to die and times when they want to live and so if this option was available to them, simply because they have been diagnosed for a number of years, they may make the ultimate decision at the worst time when it wouldn’t be a decision they would make when things are ok. In most cases I believe it would be a rash decision.

@Dibley Wow…I would think the Meds would change all the time and then remembering to take them. The way things are now i think your Paranoia is pretty justified with all the criminals and kidnappings that happen- you have to keep wondering “Is that noise a guy coming behind me with Chloroform???”. I hope you have a great friend support system in place because just that Grounding can help anyone be Sane… ooops, what is that???