News Euthanasia In Netherlands For 'incurable' Ptsd

[Tinyflame]

To be honest, I think comparing ptsd with some end of life illnesses is off track, I say it because I have ptsd, I have much genetic-based cancer in my family, & I work providing personal care to clients often who are palliative, & have planned deaths at home.

JMHO, but it actually minimizes ptsd's effects, & does not recognize that those approaching end of life can have good- even very good times & days, just as they have poor ones (physically +/or emotionally). For the most part however the people I care for are experiencing less distress than I (their self-reports & engagement with others); if their pain is managed & they are supported & understood they carry on 'living' very well. Therein l think lays some of the problem- underestimating the suffering which is 'hidden', versus the fear & expectation of suffering when one sees the obvious deterioration & challenges.

I have come to the conclusion many people, especially those speaking on it, may not have actually spent time with or cared for many dying people, nor are familiar with ptsd. Nor are they familiar with the internal thoughts of those aging or ill or suffering. Hands down, no matter terminal illness or mental illness, the greatest suffering people express is the loss of love, support, community, often due to the physical limitations but also others' response.

As far as accepting help goes, most elderly or ill, after a lifetime of everything else, do not make a big deal about it whatsoever, and if there is trepidation initially it's quickly replaced with gratitude, laughter, and quite frankly- connection & friendship.(As well as conserving their energy for what they need to communicate & to do other things they want, as well as feeling comfort/ comfortable,.)

They also have an opportunity to do what no one is talking about in political spheres- express their questions, thoughts & fears, of death included; their stories; their secrets. The topics no one stops long enough or listens to breach.

And most of all, much of what they worry will occur, or 'how' it will occur, is misinformed or never occurs.

 

[Tinyflame]

ETA, they will have to amend it here, it's already been challenged, because the current criteria they're proposing would actually have excluded the very woman who's case overturned the ban, as decided by the Supreme Court of Canada. The possibility remains that one can argue, or will be able to try, that they themself can no longer live with intolerable suffering

But originally, when I was about 23, a woman with ALS was unsuccessful in her attempt to challenge the ban. What they don't mention is that her requests followed her husband leaving her- which was what she was talking about, if anyone listened. Similarly, a brilliant doctor who dealt with an epidemic here, made a video 2 days or so before he died, expressing his wish for this law to be in place, & how he feared incapacitation & loss of dignity, including the fear of requiring being 'carried around' (to the toilet, etc). What no one mentions, is not what he said, but the context of it. He was (obviously) fiercely independent, but it was also 2 days before his death. Naturally, he 'knew'/ felt out of strength to do more- most people (the common experience) would have been bedridden or virtually so, though usually some mobility is possible, for days or even a few weeks. (Not to mention, mechanical equipment is used, not brute force unless it's 'off the record'/ family. People also stop eating etc, the body does not function in the manner we do when such illness is not present.)

But most of all, what I didn't understand, is that the newspaper said, "Unfortunately, he died peacefully 2 days later in his wife's arms."-:wideeyed: How better could one go?

And yet I know, with little doubt, I could argue sufficiently to show the impact/ limits of suffering I can endure that the presence of ptsd has had/ has on my life. I thought, why do I have no doubt of it? Because I would be honest & tell the truth.

But then, yes, I think I would/ do stop looking for how to get through, even one more day. But really, for everyone, it's where we're (all) told to focus.