One of the many reasons I am against Assisted Suicide is that the person requesting it may be depressed and not diagnosed. If a person is depressed, they will make decisions they otherwise would not. Depression makes it very hard to cope with the simplest of issues. There is medication today that can correct the chemical imbalance in the brain and bring you back to normal. (aside: tom cruise is an idiot)
So, for this reason, patients may want assisted suicide without being of right mind due to an illness. (Another reason is that our government pays for healthcare and it is cost effective so the slope is even slipperier but that is an issue for another day. Unless, of course, this is part of the issue in Britain).
There are now arguments in Europe for allowing assisted suicide for the depressed. Unbelievable! The slippery slope is now giving them a toboggan.
ASSISTED SUICIDE FOR DEPRESSED: "ASSISTED SUICIDE FOR DEPRESSED Britons suffering from severe depression may soon be able to opt for assisted suicide in a Swiss clinic, its founder claimed yesterday."
Thursday, September 21, 2006
ASSISTED SUICIDE FOR DEPRESSED - Slippery Slope now a Waterslide
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3 comments:
And with depressed patients whose typical response is: "What's the use", how much of an effort will be made to correct the depression before "complying with their wishes"!
It is true that there are depressed patients who are refractory to medications, but it is also true that one medication may work when others have failed, so it is very important to try different medications and different combinations of medication.
Of extreme interest is a neurosurgical approach to refractory depression that is similar to inserting a pacemaker into someones heart to maintain rhythm. In the case of depression,the "electrode" is placed while the patient is awake and able to answer questions as to how they feel. Many patients often report almost immediate relief to some degree. Since some reports show at least a 20% rate of non-resposiveness to drugs, think of the cost of this proceedure should it become prevalent. I hate when someone else has control of what I or my patients have access to. Imagine the scenario----No, you can't have that procedure, its too "experimental". But we can offer you euthanasia which has been shown to cure depression 100% of the time, and we have a special next week where we will throw in a free casket!
I don't have the background article for reference, sorry. I do recall in reading a Central Alberta paper ( Red Deer area ) where a lady who had struggled with depression all her life was trying to bring some assistance to her adult child's life re: depression taking its toll on the next generation.
Anyway, an area hog farmer referred to a condition of mineral insufficiency in pigs which caused them to bite their tails. I was startled to hear two days ago of a traditional cure for that, to add coal to hog ration.
Anyway, there's supposedly a supplement developed from that observation which is meeting some resistance from "conventional" medicine but has not been pulled from the market because of consumer support. I'll give you a holler when more info surfaces.
Hey Opit
I have actually seen the news stories on it. I believe there was actually a court case or appeal about it.
It is incomprehensible that in today's age with our options to aid in depression, assisted suicide would even be considered. It's getting scary out there.
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