Euthanasia

[MatrixPrisoner]

I think it's more than many commenters may think. Wayyyyyy more. Way less people are having children these days. And it's probably because people don't want to be here themselves.

 

[sserafim]

I think it's more than many commenters may think. Wayyyyyy more. Way less people are having children these days. And it's probably because people don't want to be here themselves.

Like how many?

 

[divinemistress36]

Suicides have gone up 30% since 2011. So the world is getting more depressed

 

[MatrixPrisoner]

Like how many?

Well, it's estimated that1 in 25 attempts is successful. If my math serves me right, that would be 17.5 million in just attempts alone worldwide, based off 700,000 sucessful acts. I would say that there has to be at least 5 times as many people that that contempate it as there are that attempt it, or 85 million people worldwide. That would translate to at least 1in 100 people that would go if they had an easy way to do so. (17.5 million attempts x5 = 85 million, 85 million/8.5 billion =100).

 

[strangelife]

Unlike suicide, which can be a spontaneous and impulsive decision, euthanasia requires several interviews and a balanced decision, and I also think that depression and many types of mental problems will never be a reason for euthanasia in most countries. So I think the percentage of people approved for euthanasia would not be at all large and would be based on the identification of terminal diseases, unbearable pain.

 

[Linda]

ASD doesn't make you an untermensch, even if it makes you feel like one. It just makes you different from the majority. There is nothing wrong with being different from the majority, though it can be inconvenient.

I dislike the "D" in the abbreviation ASD. Anything as common as autism can not be a "disorder" as far as biology is concerned. It is simply a variant, and it must have survival value in some circumstances, or else natural selection would have eliminated it. (I am referring to autism that arises naturally, not autism that is the result of actual brain damage during or after birth.)

Any trait that occurs naturally (i.e. is not the result of an accident) at a frequency greater than the mutation rate can not be a disorder. Roughly speaking, that means that any trait that you see in more than about 1 person in 30,000 must have survival value in some circumstances, so "disorder" is the wrong word. It may have undesirable consequences in other circumstances - the classic example is the sickling gene - but it is not wholly bad. Traits like homosexuality, left-handedness, gender variance, blue eyes, etc. also can not be regarded as disorders, for the same reason; they are much too common.

I hate to see any minority getting squashed by the majority, whether it is done deliberately or simply as a result of thoughtlesness and lack of understanding. It seems to me that the best response is not to hate yourself, but to fight back if you can. (I know that not everyone has the strength, or even the motivation to fight back.)

 

[ijustwishtodie]

I don't think that it would be a lot. Yes, the numbers would rise when compared to now but it still won't be significant enough to affect the world population too much.

ASD doesn't make you an untermensch, even if it makes you feel like one. It just makes you different from the majority. There is nothing wrong with being different from the majority, though it can be inconvenient.

I dislike the "D" in the abbreviation ASD. Anything as common as autism can not be a "disorder" as far as biology is concerned. It is simply a variant, and it must have survival value in some circumstances, or else natural selection would have eliminated it. (I am referring to autism that arises naturally, not autism that is the result of actual brain damage during or after birth.)

How can autism not be a disorder? Just because it hasn't been wiped out by selection pressures doesn't mean that it isn't a disorder. Autism is disabling for everybody who has it as it gives them a "varient" which makes life significantly harder. Sure, life is still possible to go through for some autistic people but it's still significantly harder and, for most, it has no advantages. Autism is a disorder by definition as it causes those who have it to have to overcome obstacles which neurotypicals don't have.

That's just for "high functioning" autistics too. There are autistic people who are significantly worse than the autistic people you see here. Those people can't even express themselves as they aren't integrated into society at all. They have issues that are worse than social issues. I remember reading a thread on here recently about an autistic person taking care of "low functioning" autistics and they describe how they can't even go to the bathroom on their own

 

[divinemistress36]

I don't think that it would be a lot. Yes, the numbers would rise when compared to now but it still won't be significant enough to affect the world population too much.

How can autism not be a disorder? Just because it hasn't been wiped out by selection pressures doesn't mean that it isn't a disorder. Autism is disabling for everybody who has it as it gives them a "varient" which makes life significantly harder. Sure, life is still possible to go through for some autistic people but it's still significantly harder and, for most, it has no advantages. Autism is a disorder by definition as it causes those who have it to have to overcome obstacles which neurotypicals don't have.

That's just for "high functioning" autistics too. There are autistic people who are significantly worse than the autistic people you see here. Those people can't even express themselves as they aren't integrated into society at all. They have issues that are worse than social issues. I remember reading a thread on here recently about an autistic person taking care of "low functioning" autistics and they describe how they can't even go to the bathroom on their own

Do most people with Autism suffer from depression?

 

[ijustwishtodie]

Do most people with Autism suffer from depression?

I can't say for certain as every autistic person is different due to autism being on a spectrum but, given how the suicide rate for autistic people is higher than the suicide rate for the general population (or so I heard), I can assume that most autistic people are depressed. Also, in my country at least, the unemployment rate is super high for autistic people - around 70% to 80% of autistics are unemployed. Not to mention at how autistic people can be more prone to getting burnout as they have to do more than a neurotypical would. Additionally, autistic people are also less likely to form meaningful friendships and relationships which can lead to depression too.

Overall, this is just speculation on my part but I would say that most autistic people are depressed. I'd be extremely surprised if that wasn't the case

 

[Linda]

I don't think that it would be a lot. Yes, the numbers would rise when compared to now but it still won't be significant enough to affect the world population too much.

How can autism not be a disorder? Just because it hasn't been wiped out by selection pressures doesn't mean that it isn't a disorder. Autism is disabling for everybody who has it as it gives them a "varient" which makes life significantly harder. Sure, life is still possible to go through for some autistic people but it's still significantly harder and, for most, it has no advantages. Autism is a disorder by definition as it causes those who have it to have to overcome obstacles which neurotypicals don't have.

That's just for "high functioning" autistics too. There are autistic people who are significantly worse than the autistic people you see here. Those people can't even express themselves as they aren't integrated into society at all. They have issues that are worse than social issues. I remember reading a thread on here recently about an autistic person taking care of "low functioning" autistics and they describe how they can't even go to the bathroom on their own

Depends on how you choose to define "disorder". Personally, I wouldn't describe something that falls within the normal range of human variation as a disorder.

I know perfectly well that, in our society, autism is a disadvantage, sometimes a serious disadvantage. But that is not relevant to the point I was making. It merely highlights one of the things that is wrong with our society.

Left-handed people have to deal with a world that was designed by right-handed people and that can be an inconvenience (though obviously not as bad an inconvenience as many autistic people have to put up with). But that doesn't make left-handedness a disorder. Gay people often have to put up with a lot of homophobia, which, when it is severe, can also be disabling. But that doesn't make being gay a disorder. And so on.

Look at the root cause of the problem that autistic people face. It is OTHER PEOPLE, and the fact that other people (usually unwittingly) create unnecessary problems for autistic people. Don't blame the victims. That leads to the victimised group hating themselves. If you are going to blame anyone, blame the people who cause the problems. Better still, educate those other people so that they stop causing the problems.

 

[Pluto]

I can think of 2 reasons this could be an interesting thought experiment.

1) Copycat suicides are a real thing, along with associated phenomena like suicide clusters and suicide contagion.
2) A culture normalising suicide could lead to a self-fulfilling prophecy; people making less effort to 'recover' since there's a plan B, yielding poor results and giving up. There are many challenges that can come at many stages of life, both short and long-term, that can only be navigated with the force of a fanatical will to survive. A lot of people would potentially not make that effort.

Combining the two, it's hard to predict what result there would be. It's also worth noting that in times of economic hardship, when suicide rates will rise anyway, there is again the theoretical potential for an epidemic.

In saying that, the historical precedent of Ancient Rome, which offered state-sanctioned suicides, did not appear to have the situation spiral out of control.