101–110 of 337 posts
Earlier quoted context omitted.
I assure you it is not untrue. People failing to realize a truth doesn't make it less true. Peaceful death is suicide, if chosen. Period.
> Peaceful death is suicide, if chosen. Period. Then suicide is preferable. Stop using the word suicide as if it was an insult.
Two sides show up here, fear and avoidance of pain and suffering :: fear and avoidance of death. Most of the comments here advocate accepting death to minimize pain, but it doesn't have to be one or the other. With the right mindset you can accept both gracefully. A life in pain can be worth living without running towards or away from death.
Fear and avoidance of worthlessness.
I want to go out as a result of a series of violent mistakes trying to save my life. Why would anyone want anything else? Peaceful death is basically suicide. Why do doctors continually perpetuate this notion that slipping softly into death (palliative care, hospice) is preferable to continually trying to avoid it by way of riskier and riskier attempts at treating the root cause? At the very least, we could be honest…
though I agree with you mostly I feel you are ignoring a couple of things 1) Pain, often pain management becomes a much bigger issue than going all out fighting vehemently to prolong your life by a few more days/weeks/months. Its hard to understand what chronic pain does to you and your mind unless you or a close loved one goes through it. Often pain management also aligns with 'slipping gently into the night'. 2) In…
This article reinforces my view even more. We as a society needs to allow people to end their life in a medical environment and only if they're capable of making the decision on their own in a rational manner. I've witnessed horrible situations where the life is not going to improve and is intolerable for the victim who wants an exit even if it means death. Why do we allow our own selfish desires to have these people…
Note. I do think we could be more flexible on this matter.
This article reinforces my view even more. We as a society needs to allow people to end their life in a medical environment and only if they're capable of making the decision on their own in a rational manner. I've witnessed horrible situations where the life is not going to improve and is intolerable for the victim who wants an exit even if it means death. Why do we allow our own selfish desires to have these people…
I'm in favor of letting terminal patients pull their own plugs. But I'm not sure it's a selfish thing when we don't allow it. I think it's because we value life so high that we would rather error on the side of caution.. Note. I do think we could be more flexible on this matter.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Sorry, but excruciating pain is always better than death, because death is eternal nothingness. At least excruciating pain is something.
You don't feel the same way about the """nothingness""" before you were born as you do after you die. You're just weirdly flexing your ego in the most pompous way possible in this thread.
Mark Twain was quipping, not building a life philosophy.
Wonderful article. This is a not-uncommon situation in end of life care. It's difficult for a family to accept a tragedy like this, a loved young woman dying in the prime of her life from something untreatable. The families often are in almost some sort of denial (understandably, I'm saying that without judgment) and demand that everything be tried, even when it's futile and ends up making the situation worse like in…
> seems to me like it's a cultural thing as well. This is true. I think that it's also a religious thing as well, and almost Christians. Other religions are more accepting of death, but Christianity has taught many to sincerely believe that Jesus himself would step into the room and heal their loved one, therefore every attempt must be made to save them. This is something I've seen first hand in my years as a Paramed…
It's not really a Christian thing, Catholics, Amish, and Mormons are pretty mature about dying.
From a study in the New England Journal of Medicine: "Conclusions: Family presence during CPR was associated with positive results on psychological variables and did not interfere with medical efforts, increase stress in the health care team, or result in medicolegal conflicts."
Full study: https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa1203366
DOI for Sci-Hub: DOI: 10.1056/NEJMoa1203366
Earlier quoted context omitted.
> seems to me like it's a cultural thing as well. This is true. I think that it's also a religious thing as well, and almost Christians. Other religions are more accepting of death, but Christianity has taught many to sincerely believe that Jesus himself would step into the room and heal their loved one, therefore every attempt must be made to save them. This is something I've seen first hand in my years as a Paramed…
It’s really strange to me. Christianity also teaches that death is temporary and you’ll be reunited with your loved ones (assuming everyone is righteous). Why such a fear of death?
- Christians take the afterlife very seriously. One must be judged by God. Regardless of how confident you are in your final destination, the prospect of being called to account for your actions in front of an omnipotent being is not something they take lightly.
- Protestant Christianity teaches that one must be "saved", that is, accept Jesus Christ and have a profound spiritual experience and subsequent spiritual connection with God. Many Christians are honest people who may not have had such an experience and are aware of this fact, which naturally creates fear when the end of life approaches. In other words, they may have doubts about whether or not they are indeed saved. The alternative to being saved of course, is spending an eternity in hell. As you might imagine, this can be nerve-wracking.
- Christians believe that whether or not someone ought to live or die is in God's hands. They take the view that whatever humans ought to do to extend life ought to be done, since death will come when God wills it. Choosing to stop life support is tantamount to choosing to end someone's life, a power they believe only God wields righteously.
- Lastly, regardless of one's personal or religious beliefs, death is scary. I think the appropriate reaction to a Christian (or any other religious person) who is terrified that they, or their loved one, may die, is not observing that this fear may be incompatible with their professed beliefs. The appropriate reaction is compassion.
Note: I'm an atheist, so telling me that all or part of the above is irrational is...uh...preaching to the choir.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
You don't feel the same way about the """nothingness""" before you were born as you do after you die. You're just weirdly flexing your ego in the most pompous way possible in this thread.
That's a crazy argument, of course I don't feel the same about something now that I have it... Mark Twain was quipping, not building a life philosophy.