French court rejects disfigured woman's euthanasia plea

Personally, you are a very bright guy in at least the upper 10%ile of intelligence compared to the average population. But you'd be surprised to know how ill-informed ordinary people are on these matters (and even then, you don't know everything: did you know that an overdose of oral sedatives can make you throw them up again?). Having worked in mental health I can assure you that people can resort to extremely dumb and ineffectual ways to commit suicide --even those who really want to die.

One of them was a running joke in the team. He tried to kill himself by an overdose of anti-depressants and alcohol first. That didn't work --he threw up. So he goes to the local train track to jump in front of the train. But that is a difficult thing to do --goes against your reflexes, and the shock wave of air traveling ahead of a fast moving train pushes you away from the track (the correct way to do it is to wait on the track for the train). So he ends with only a severed leg. He then drags himself into the canal alongside the track to drown himself. He is saved by a well-intentioned passer-by walking his dog.

I'm really not making this up.

The body is designed to survive, so has many failsafe's and protection systems. So let's hope that the combination of drink and drugs does not simply make you feel sick and make you puke your guts out before enough can get in your system to kill you (else the hangover will make you wish you were dead). And it takes quite a bit of nerve to jump off a high building, wondering how the impact is going to hurt. Goes against reflexes again, see? Try a bungie jump and see.

In any case, not an option for a blind woman. How is she going to get up there? How is she going to make sure she doesn't land on some unfortunate passer-by?

I also could go on a bit about the psychologically traumatising and disempowering impact of her condition, rendering her totally helpless and dependent and unable to rationally plan and execute her own demise.

QFT.

 

During my EMT class one of the doctors asserted that you could probably cut your entire hand off and not bleed to death, which makes the whole slashing your wrists thing pretty pointless. Like several people have mentioned, killing yourself is harder than you think.

That's one of the reasons that doctors, dentists, and vetrinarians have the highest suicide rates of any profession. They KNOW what it takes and can get at it.

 

It's not the stress. Most doctors, and certainly vetrinarians have pretty routine schedules. They are people too, with problems like the rest of us, they just know how to end it painlessley and get it right the first time.

 

I Think the poor woman did succeed in killing herself. Glad that she got what she wanted in the end. Though its a difficult thing to legislate for. But as long as safe guards work I'd support it, 1 safeguard would be that persons estate must end up benefiting society.