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Grocklette t1_jc7ajv9 wrote

My friend wrote a book called Two Arms and a Head. It was his real life story about how he became a paraplegic after a motorcycle crash. In the book he rages about the stigma of wanting to die. People didn't want to hear it, so they would just gaslight him and pretend nothing was wrong. He suffered so much and in the end he killed himself. He died all alone in secret. Would've been much better to be able to say goodbye and send him out with a bang, but no. People who are too scared to face mortality force it on the rest of us. It's so sickening. Probably one of the cruelest things you can do to someone is forcd them to live when they're suffering a nightmare reality they can't escape. I hate people sometimes.

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Vallkyrie t1_jc7dtut wrote

So sorry your friend had to deal with that. Feels like a lot of suffering in the world exists just because people don't want to update their understanding of something or empathize with another's experience.

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Grocklette t1_jc7f3nh wrote

A big part of it is religion, which in my opinion, is just a tool some people use to shield themselves from the fact that life inevitably ends for us all. My friend was 100% convinced that there is no God, no afterlife, no nothing. So it was incredibly infuriating to him when people insisted he go on living for their religious morality. It's just so vile that society's religious delusion can impact the lives of others in such ways.

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Dangerous-Possible72 t1_jc8r2f8 wrote

It’s all religion. In the US the Catholic Church is the biggest obstacle to decent right to die legislation moving forward.

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phaedrus71 t1_jc901r4 wrote

The sanctity of human life. They only care when you’re a zygote or a near vegetable

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meatball77 t1_jc9gv8e wrote

Even different burial options. The Catholic Church went against eco-burials because even having the option for other people was wrong for them.

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lifeofblair t1_jc841uf wrote

I had a family member say that we don’t get to decide when and how we die that’s for god. My mom is very much would look into assisted suicide if she ever got sick or terminally ill but others are so convinced about god.

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metalshoes t1_jc9mbls wrote

Well if god decided you get to die of stage four cancer while sucking the life and joy out of all of your loved ones, fuck god, I’m taking the kill pill.

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tuxedo_jack t1_jcamg79 wrote

Yep. Thanatophobia is a motherfucker to them, and they're terrified of the concept that their existence won't matter to anything or anyone in the end, hence why they come up with increasingly crazy and desperate theological ideas (like the Quiverfull movement) in order to see if they can feel like they left a lasting mark on the world.

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OneHumanPeOple t1_jc8uhjo wrote

I’m an atheist but I believe in preserving life. That doesn’t mean I would force that philosophical belief on someone else though. People should have the right to live or to die.

The atheist perspective tells me that there isn’t evidence that we continue to experience anything after death. We stop existing. So, we can’t experience relief from suffering. However, in life, there exists the possibility of relief or pleasure or cure in some cases.

I suffer from cluster headaches. Some people call them “suicide headaches” because they make want to die. I know what extreme suffering is.

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ChubbiestLamb6 t1_jc92hui wrote

>We stop existing. So, we can’t experience relief from suffering.

Pretty sure the part people care about is just to stop experiencing the suffering. Which dying handily takes care of.

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LordoftheSynth t1_jc8zi46 wrote

We put down our pets when they finally have no quality of life left.

But if you're a human? Fuck you, sanctity of life, suffer nobly for the rest of us because how dare you NOT keep on going with ALS or some other condition that robs you of all dignity or quality of life.

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tuxedo_jack t1_jcamv2i wrote

Yup, fuck that noise.

I've got a standing order and a signed and witnessed letter in my safe deposit box stating that if my mind ever goes and it definitely isn't coming back, the bearer of the letter has permission to off me so long as it's done in a particularly humorous or ironic way so's to get the media's attention.

I've seen what dementia does, and fuck that noise. That's no way to live.

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dofffman t1_jc8gpkw wrote

You get that glorifying with "so brave". Well thats great and maybe I want to "be brave" but maybe I don't. The only one who can judge their lifes pain and well being is themselves.

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ilikewc3 t1_jc9fwhu wrote

Halfway through this now. Heavy stuff.

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Grocklette t1_jc9gc7i wrote

I feel ya. I waited over 10 years to read it. Didn't make it at all easier. Saddest part for me was remembering how much he loved life, like more than most people. He wanted to live so badly, but just couldn't. Sending you a ghost hug rn

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