Forums Forums General Forums A - Z Lifestyle Are we all living too long?

ive told my daughters, that im going to top myself when the time comes, im not having anyone wipe my arse.

I started thinking seriously about this several years ago. I won't go into a nursing home; I have the necessary substance waiting in the fridge which will give me a rapid and, most importantly, a peaceful death. I belong to an organisation: http://www.exitinternational.net/ which many people have found helpful. I pay £50 every two years to have access to the on-line handbook and the discussion forum, which gave me the information on the various methods of self deliverance.

Are we living too long? No
Do we want to live that long? No

As i've grown older and witnessed care homes and how so many are there to exist almost on autopilot i can understand the many views on not wanting to go into a care home. I'm not saying care homes are bad or wrong, but its like being given the final ticket, the last innings. Prolonging the inevitable.

It takes a loving family with lots of time on there hands to give any one in a care home a reason to live, or a reason to exist.

We are living longer its just the body isn't designed to last that long. I know of a good few older people whom say there a young mind in a old frame. And this frame is nackard.

The right to check out when enough is enough. I most certainly hope so.

Reading these posting I am glad that I am not in a care home or disabled. There is an undercurrent here that the life of an old person is of no value.Many very infirm old people are happy to carry on living they enjoy seeing their grandchildren, watching television and days out.It is fine to say that people have a choice whether to take their own life but the comments here would make an elderly person feel very guilty by daring to carry on living when many on this forum believe that they should be disposed off.
A civilised society recogonises the value of all.

I have seen no post suggesting old people should be disposed of, merely a choice for ones self.

I agree with you dilly, everyone must have a choice, a good quality of life is what i want.

Which could cause a stroke and leave you in a very bad way, maybe un-able to move or talk for the next 20 years.

I totally agree with assisted suicide. I do hope the day arrives during my lifetime when we are allowed to choose if we live or die. As someone else mentioned here, it's fine and dandy if you can live til a ripe old age providing the body isn't knackered.

I'm sure there's a lot of people who believe that life is sacrosanct no matter the quality, but I know a lot of elderly people who simply exist. They are not particularly happy with the way things are in their life, and they're waiting for the day they don't wake up. Again, not everybody feels that way and I'm not judging anyone.

I just wonder why nowadays we're constantly bombarded and told to eat 5 fruits a day, exercise and keep fit, don't smoke, don't drink, don't eat salt or sugar blah blah blah the list goes on and on IF at the end of it we end up in a nursing home? AND, on top of that, any savings we've been able to accumulate through our long and healthy lives will be syphoned away to pay for the home

Before I reach that point I would have hopefully have prepared a plan for my demise

I was talking to a Lady and she said she would walk out to Hilbre Island when its her turn. But what if she is un-able to walk?. She`s gone back to the drawing board for plan b.

Re Chris Kays post on joining this.

http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=309407
This site shows a single bottle of Cyanide ! SCARY . From what Ive read, its not a nice way to die , nor quick. Is this the last part of several 'drugs' after you're sedated? I wonder why they chose to just show Cyanide? Doesnt instantly make you think they are empathic with potential clients lol.

You have linked to a different site. The Exit site I linked to does not "just show cyanide". The bottle is shown because there has been recently a renewed interest in it as a possible method of suicide. Misquoting on a subject as important as this is not appreciated.
The salts of cyanide do give a rapid death because the cyanide radical binds with the mitochondria in all the cells of the body and prevents oxygen exchange and leads rapidly to heart failure; time is on the order of a couple of minutes. Only two grams is needed, which is about enough to cover a penny. The problem with cyanide is that it is not always peaceful, which is one of the criteria which Exit attempts to assess. The criteria are:
Availability
Preparation
Undetectability
Speed
Safety (to others)
Storage
Cyanide is, in fact, not near the top of the list of available methods.
The favourite method is drinking a solution of 10-15 grams of pentobarbital sodium, previously marketed as Nembutal, which is a barbiturate and was popular sleeping medicine up until the development of benzodiazepines in the 1960's. It was very easy to take a fatal dose of a barbiturate; Marilyn Monroe was a victim. No presently available sleeping pill can provide a reliable death.
Pentobarbital sodium is still available for veterinary use in euthanasia,. It is also used at the Dignitas clinic in Switzerland where you can go if you are diagnosed with a fatal illness and drink it under medical supervision. Unlike Belgium, Switzerland does not allow active euthanasia but will provide facilities to allow you to take your own life. Unfortunately, it's expensive; about £8000.
Pentobarbital sodium is also used for lethal injection in those U.S. states where it is permitted. Also, a couple of states are allowing physician assisted suicide, under extremely stringent rules. They us the same product.
Pentobarbital sodium is unpleasant to drink as it is very bitter. People usually wash it down with some form of alcohol, which in fact potentiates its effect. The result is a falling asleep within 3-15 minutes and death a short time after. There are many videos of people at Dignitas taking it.
Nembutal is considered by Exit to be the "Gold Standard". It is available as the veterinary liquid from Mexico or as a powder from China. It costs about $400 for a reliably lethal quantity.
There's quite a lot of information available free on the Exit site I linked to, but you won't have access to the handbook or the forum without signing up.

Dont forget your life insurance policies, if you have one, wont pay up on suicide/assisted suicide. I watched my mum die a slow lingering death with parkinsons disease in a home over a few years when my dad could no longer care for her himself. So when my dad was getting a bit doddery i packed my job in to look after him--best decision ever made. Time came when through stroke and a broken vertebra i felt he would be bettered looked after in a home ---mercifully he passed after only a few months in there.

"yea though i walk through the shadow of the valley of death, thou art with me, thy rod and thy staff they comfort me"

Making that final decision, must be the hardest choice in the world. We will always have a sense of hope, even if it's about the next day being slightly better than the last.
People who consider that suicide is the best for them at a certain point in their lives (apart from those who are severely depressed for example) must be very strong in mind, because whatever ones beliefs, it's your last choice, with no return.
Doubt very much that I would be brave enough, therefore don't even consider it.

Thought provoking yet disturbing Topic this is....