'I am mine': Alzheimer's at 41 (2018)

Post by maxerickson » Sat, Dec 19, 2020, 4:44 PM UTC

eastbayjake wrote: post #4

> Families of people with dementia land in different places on this issue, but to her, it’s beyond question that Jo is not here anymore; most everything that made him Jo has been stolen. This was very sad, but it's a good articulation of the circumstances where I would rather die than continue living. Has anyone seen a good framework to help think through scenarios like these as part of a will or end-of-life directiv…

Post by greatpatton » Sat, Dec 19, 2020, 4:47 PM UTC

kibwen wrote: post #5

> But when medical assistance in dying became [Canadian] law in 2016, excluded were “advance requests” that would have permitted people with dementia to set out terms for their death while they still had capacity to consent. Tragic. In my country no form of assisted suicide is yet legal, but I've watched my grandmother languish and waste away like this and--should it come to that--I'm firm in my resolve not to subjec…

Post by ransom1538 » Sat, Dec 19, 2020, 4:55 PM UTC

Post by hobby-coder-guy » Sat, Dec 19, 2020, 4:59 PM UTC

maxerickson wrote: post #11

eastbayjake wrote: post #4

> Families of people with dementia land in different places on this issue, but to her, it’s beyond question that Jo is not here anymore; most everything that made him Jo has been stolen. This was very sad, but it's a good articulation of the circumstances where I would rather die than continue living. Has anyone seen a good framework to help think through scenarios like these as part of a will or end-of-life directiv…

There isn't a framework. One of the things the article talks about is that the assisted death law in Canada requires competency at the time of death. Without looking, I expect it's often similar in other places. When my mom's dementia progressed from a state where she needed a bit of help to where she needed regular attention, I had no qualms about removing myself from the equation, because I think that if she were h…

Post by lqet » Sat, Dec 19, 2020, 5:03 PM UTC

Konohamaru wrote: post #16

lqet wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> good articulation of the circumstances where I would rather die than continue living. I did my alternative civilian service in a nursing home for people with dementia when I was 19. I have noticed 6 stages: 1) Fear that something is wrong with their memory and incredible efforts to hide it (this is usually before they live in a nursing home). 2) Anger, shame and desperation. 3) Internalization, they then either mak…

This doesn't sound all that bad. There are people who lost the will to live in Nazi extermination camps or who died of radiation sickness from the atom bomb. Compared to those two, this is a very pleasant way to exit life.