KuriGohan&Kamehameha
想死不能 - 想活不能
- Nov 23, 2020
- 1,740
Now, I know that there are some countries like the Netherlands, Belgium, and a couple others who have legalised euthanasia and assisted dying for people with long-term, intractable physical or mental health conditions, but in the vast majority of the world, this is not the case.
Once you fall ill with something incurable or become permanently injured, you are expected to put up with it the rest of your life, to not complain about it, to suck it up, and move on. There is something so unjust and cruel about this supposition, because it robs you of all power and agency. Others get to make decisions about your life for you, the person who is deeply suffering doesn't get a say in the matter because if you attempt ctb and fail it's a one way ticket to the psychiatric ward.
I'm tired of having no legal authority over my own body. It makes me crestfallen and angry that I don't get a say in what happens to me, I'm expected to suffer until death comes naturally, with no say in my own mortality. While I know people and by extension, the legislators who make laws, are not deliberately being cruel, the consequences of their belief system being embedded into the fabric of society- their deep seated fear of death and fear mongering about slippery slopes- have been nothing but harmful to the chronically ill who have no hope of improvement.
I have spent years dealing with problem after problem, knowing there's no relief in sight. You would think that for a world that harps on about prolonging life at all costs, there would be a strong initiative to alleviate pain, and to develop treatments for ailments which currently have no cure.. But the reality is no one cares unless you're imminently dying. No one sees the young person with autoimmune diseases, the old man whose joints burn and ache every day, the 20 something year old who has been tied down, forced on every medication under the sun and administered ECT for incurable mental illness, the middle aged worker who gets no reprieve from chronic neuropathic pain, we are like ghosts to the public and the medical industry's field of focus. The chronically sick and ailing mythical creatures of legends, irrelevant and unimportant.
Lots of people say that the lives of the disabled would become less valuable if euthanasia were sanctioned, but I think this is an appeal to emotion and not true in the slightest. In our current world, disabled lives are inherently less valued by default, unless we are the object of someone's motivation porn. No one will admit it, but it's true, people do not care about sick and disabled people unless we have some positive hidden talent which is impressive or useful. When you can't cope with a disabling health condition, you are called weak, you are shunned, outcasted, and become a leper among your peers.
When you are desperate for relief, you'll try anything to get better, and other people will expect you to endure every useless, damaging, or traumatising thing possible if there's even a 1% chance it could improve your health. Often times, you'll already know something isn't going to work because you've tried other drugs and remedies of similar pharmacological composition, but people act like you're being unreasonable if you don't want to keep playing russian roulette with things that don't work or even make you worse.
Even if there is something which could marginally help, doctors often won't give it to you. Like pain medication. If you're a young person with chronic pain, you're given iduprofen and paracetamol, and told to suck it up, despite your stomach burning from these useless drugs which don't make a dent in the pain. But at least they kept someone away from the big bad opioids!
I don't want to be a "survivor" anymore. I don't want to keep waiting for miracles which will never happen. Once you've lived with chronic health problems for 5+ years, it takes a massive toll on your body. My mind will never be the same. It is only going to get worse with time because I have damage to my spine and multiple nerve issues already, in addition my CFS, PTSD, etc, and I have to feel the nerve burning and pinging in my spine leg and toes 24/7.
Yet I'm expected to live like this, my mind deteriorating, my body deteriorating, with no choice or say in the matter? No, I shouldn't have to. It is disgustingly cruel to take away people's autonomy when they have long-term health issues, whether that be mental or physical, that have not responsed to any treatment. It is ironic that a news rag reported that a man selling methods was "playing god", when the legal system in most countries plays god everyday by denying the suffering and ailing a right to death.
Death is a natural part of life. It is an inevitability that can only be delayed so long, and life becomes meaningful because of the experiences one can partake in and cherish before they become enfeeble, then pass away and return to the earth forever. When someone is so ill or impaired that they cannot take part in the things in this world which would bring them joy, when they have been deprived of these pleasures, it is ignorance to call this "life." That is merely waiting for death, yet most do not realize this. It is not cowardly to fear death, but it is cowardly to deny and shun other's acceptance of death, to deprive others of any choice or free will so that those who live in fear of mortality may satiate their moral panic over the shocking prospect of individuals having bodily autonomy.
Once you fall ill with something incurable or become permanently injured, you are expected to put up with it the rest of your life, to not complain about it, to suck it up, and move on. There is something so unjust and cruel about this supposition, because it robs you of all power and agency. Others get to make decisions about your life for you, the person who is deeply suffering doesn't get a say in the matter because if you attempt ctb and fail it's a one way ticket to the psychiatric ward.
I'm tired of having no legal authority over my own body. It makes me crestfallen and angry that I don't get a say in what happens to me, I'm expected to suffer until death comes naturally, with no say in my own mortality. While I know people and by extension, the legislators who make laws, are not deliberately being cruel, the consequences of their belief system being embedded into the fabric of society- their deep seated fear of death and fear mongering about slippery slopes- have been nothing but harmful to the chronically ill who have no hope of improvement.
I have spent years dealing with problem after problem, knowing there's no relief in sight. You would think that for a world that harps on about prolonging life at all costs, there would be a strong initiative to alleviate pain, and to develop treatments for ailments which currently have no cure.. But the reality is no one cares unless you're imminently dying. No one sees the young person with autoimmune diseases, the old man whose joints burn and ache every day, the 20 something year old who has been tied down, forced on every medication under the sun and administered ECT for incurable mental illness, the middle aged worker who gets no reprieve from chronic neuropathic pain, we are like ghosts to the public and the medical industry's field of focus. The chronically sick and ailing mythical creatures of legends, irrelevant and unimportant.
Lots of people say that the lives of the disabled would become less valuable if euthanasia were sanctioned, but I think this is an appeal to emotion and not true in the slightest. In our current world, disabled lives are inherently less valued by default, unless we are the object of someone's motivation porn. No one will admit it, but it's true, people do not care about sick and disabled people unless we have some positive hidden talent which is impressive or useful. When you can't cope with a disabling health condition, you are called weak, you are shunned, outcasted, and become a leper among your peers.
When you are desperate for relief, you'll try anything to get better, and other people will expect you to endure every useless, damaging, or traumatising thing possible if there's even a 1% chance it could improve your health. Often times, you'll already know something isn't going to work because you've tried other drugs and remedies of similar pharmacological composition, but people act like you're being unreasonable if you don't want to keep playing russian roulette with things that don't work or even make you worse.
Even if there is something which could marginally help, doctors often won't give it to you. Like pain medication. If you're a young person with chronic pain, you're given iduprofen and paracetamol, and told to suck it up, despite your stomach burning from these useless drugs which don't make a dent in the pain. But at least they kept someone away from the big bad opioids!
I don't want to be a "survivor" anymore. I don't want to keep waiting for miracles which will never happen. Once you've lived with chronic health problems for 5+ years, it takes a massive toll on your body. My mind will never be the same. It is only going to get worse with time because I have damage to my spine and multiple nerve issues already, in addition my CFS, PTSD, etc, and I have to feel the nerve burning and pinging in my spine leg and toes 24/7.
Yet I'm expected to live like this, my mind deteriorating, my body deteriorating, with no choice or say in the matter? No, I shouldn't have to. It is disgustingly cruel to take away people's autonomy when they have long-term health issues, whether that be mental or physical, that have not responsed to any treatment. It is ironic that a news rag reported that a man selling methods was "playing god", when the legal system in most countries plays god everyday by denying the suffering and ailing a right to death.
Death is a natural part of life. It is an inevitability that can only be delayed so long, and life becomes meaningful because of the experiences one can partake in and cherish before they become enfeeble, then pass away and return to the earth forever. When someone is so ill or impaired that they cannot take part in the things in this world which would bring them joy, when they have been deprived of these pleasures, it is ignorance to call this "life." That is merely waiting for death, yet most do not realize this. It is not cowardly to fear death, but it is cowardly to deny and shun other's acceptance of death, to deprive others of any choice or free will so that those who live in fear of mortality may satiate their moral panic over the shocking prospect of individuals having bodily autonomy.
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