Euthanasia requests of people with intellectual disability or autism in the Netherlands
Вставка
- Опубліковано 20 вер 2024
- Why do people who have an intellectual disability and/or autism ask for an assisted death? And what are the grounds on which doctors grant their request for help to end their lives? This video is a summary of a study looking into 39 such cases in the Netherlands, where euthanasia is legalised. The study was led by Prof Irene Tuffrey-Wijne (Kingston University London). Full paper in BrJPsychOpen: bit.ly/45qz1Dx
Interesting about the aging thing… I’m autistic and absolutely terrified of aging and I sometimes feel like death is preferable to seing my life pass me by and realising that I haven’t been able to do anything with it. I feel like I’m in a glass box and I can’t break free and I can only observe more and more time passing. I feel locked in and I’ve felt like that for about a decade. I don’t know what happened with me but I lost all the strength I once had…
Celine, I am newly diagnosed with ADHD and Autism at 50. I can totally relate to feeling trapped and afraid of aging and yes, dying alone. I feel like my life is pointless as all my hopes and dreams have come to nothing.
Even so, I can't believe that ending my life now is the answer, this is giving into despair and I will never do that never mind how hard life gets.
Please don't give up, you are precious, you are loved, God loves you and so do I.❤
Thank you!
Celine I totally understand your issue as I have the same current thoughts and worries. I’m in my 30s and physically fit but I feel more tired - I definitely feel like an observer as well. I just don’t have much urge or motivation to do much .. day after day it can get maddening - it’s like my
Brain lacks a spark plug. For the life of me I cannot fathom what old age will bring.. that will be hell
@@brianmeen2158
I'm less than a year shy of 60 now. My older wife says I'm still young, and some people tell me I'm older than dirt. Whatever the case may be, in my case getting old is bringing aches and pains, along with some grumpy old fart looking back at me from the mirror.
I am 31. I may be on the spectrum. I cant form relationships. Im so antisocial. I already have bipolar disorder. Attempted suicide twice in my teens. All i can say after watching this makes tremendously emotional. I tear up from frustration knowing these people are lonely. That loneliness lead them to the euthanize route. I just read about the Netherlands 2 days ago legally offing these people. I wish these people had more hope. This cannot be the way.
Same. I'm undiagnosed but pretty sure I'm autistic and have such a hard time with friendships. I've thought about ending things because people are social beings and I'm bad at the one thing we're supposed to do naturally
I am from the Netherlands, but I'm sorry to say, legalised suïcide is not as simple as it sounds. Apparently people need to get permission to die these days.
Furthermore, people still consider suicide as unethical or selfish and of course we have the known religious threads of going to hell for it because apparently there's a God out there who's considered benevolent yet prefers people to suffer out their lives for whatever reason that goes over my head.
Like I've said, I don't understand all of it.
But if you 'suffer enough' then you could get a doctor's approval for this type of suicide. You've read that right: someone else will decide for you if you suffer enough.
Jumping in front of a train is much quicker of course, but that will delay people going to destinations and has a tendency to give the train drivers ptsd. No need for that.
So yeah, things aren't as easy here as it may sound.
I understand both viewpoints. The young guy feeling depressed due to inability to form relationships I’m afraid is just going to have a tougher battle the older he gets. The medication for depression tends to make one even more tired. They really need to work on more effective treatments
@@LifeisaBeautifultingyou should talk to a doctor and see if you get diagnosed. See what he recommends you in terms of treatment .
❤
Very sad that most of their depression is related to societal stereotypes.
I honestly believe this is more humane than the American method of just letting them become homeless and victimized on the street.
But then you wouldn't get so much free labor as a result of their attachment to false hope.
So true...
Exactly. People need to put their self righteous religious prerogatives aside and allow people to make their own decisions.
However, far less humane than actually devising adequate support programs that provide the necessary support for these individuals. Intellectual disability and/or autism, and the factors associated with these conditions, should NOT be reasons for euthanasia .........they should be reasons to provide the necessary support so the individual no longer wishes to die !
@@bonwrentaylor2743 the only reason that the government sometimes helps disabled people is to maintain the just world hypothesis. That way when you see a disabled person that isn't getting help you assume it must somehow be their fault.
This is hard hitting but important. I read about the guy in his 20s that is depressed due to inability to form relationships and intellectual disabilities and I feel for him because it’s not something that gets easier with age. The older you get the more tired you are of everything. Oh and the constant anxiety ..
I can't help but wonder if community and medicine has failed some of these people
Its a disability man.. no amount of medicine or community is going to change that fact.
Opponents of euthanasia often cite scriptures pertaining to stupid Christianity. Very seldom have they endured ostracism, persecution, huge sums of medical debt, substance abuse, etc.
So instead of improving society to be more empathetic and accepting and providing financial assistance for Healthcare we should just kill the marginalized?
Christianity is not stupid. I've endured ostracism, persecution, discrimination, substance abuse. I still do. I was also bullied relentlessly as a child. For the first time, late in life I might add, I am about to be assessed for autism. It's been Jesus that I've always been turning to, to help me get through life.
Okay, but pertaining to the subject at hand, Do you oppose euthanasia in any or all circumstances? Sorry to sound crass in my original comment.
Well to each his own. I’ve been seeking to obtain a DNR order as well as an advanced directive but I keep getting discriminated against for my mental health condition. It’s all about the money.
@@user-jq9oo2tx8i Facts! You nailed it!...
Thank you for this. I totally agree that anyone who lacks hope for very valid reasons because their circumstances will never change can be regarded as "terminally ill".
waiting for this to be legal in the US because yeah fuck this, im out.
Go to Switzerland if you have the money. Voluntary assisted death is legal for anyone who has a desire to end their life.
I'm from the Netherlands and have known a person who finally got her wish fulfilled to have her life ended. I'm proud of her. She was very young which means she didn't have to wait anymore meaningless years. It's freaking brave to do it as you step into the unknown.
Why on Earth people need permission from others to end their own lives though is beyond me. I find it selfish. It should be a simple decission and one that only one person can make. But ah well, Healthcare is still improving, so who knows.
The fact they have to ask that question at this point proves no one ever will understand. We don't need doctors
Im high functioning, and challenged by the shock of ASD diagnosis, and the fallout associated wiht it. As soon as I was diagnosed, my life fell further, to a point where I dont beleive I can recover. There is no support, which, for the most part, for high functioning autisitics, is just simple understanding, compassion and education for society at large. I feel so much for the more severly affected, including those with additional significant disabilities. That autism is a "different type of brain", and not a disability in itself, makes this more tragic - the path to their irrepreble pain, has been through living in a society that refuses to try and understand - albeit - undoutably also challenged by the genes they have been given. This said, it is the anxiety that comes as somewhat foundational to their autism that has interacted with society to "make them a prisoner in their own life". This is a nightmare. This is truly the defenition of painfull anguish. I want to leave this world, and I know, that if we autistics were given the support to interact, and be accepted - 99% of these issues would disappear. Im one of the "better ones", and it still leaves a tragic, intergenerational scar on my life - stretching from my parents to my children. There is no understanding to make this better - and this is why much of us do not want to be here anymore.
I would chose assisted way out if it was available. I rather have been told I had terminal cancer than autism diagnosis at 52.
So true. I plan to off at 21. enough. It's time to fc off to the nonautistic society that doesn't want autistic people.
in society there is a place for everyone but they don't want us alone. because they dislike us
Thank you for sharing this info. This is overwhelming, heaving just received my diagnosis at 55. A lot of positive things are happening, but this hits home for me
I’ve got a family I appreciate and love but no place in the world really
That’s a huge difference. Mine has undermined my progresses and still do. And I have the feeling that my asd prevents me from going beyond trauma.
Where do I sign up?
This is not ok From an Autistic person How about we learn more to help Autistic people
I think it's fine. I wish the US would allow it as well. I can't keep living like this.
@@onemegabyteplays5870 damn I'm sad Even though I have autism I can live a full life and I don't have to unalive myself Just because we're different doesn't mean we shouldn't exist but, sometimes same.....
@@onemegabyteplays5870 Dear unknown to me person. Please Live! May God bless you and give you hope. " For God so loved the world, that he gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish , but have eternal life" Bible, John 3:16
@@melaniewantsabeer243 Absolutely! May God bless you! Please Live! May God give you hope. " For God so loved the world, that he gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish , but have eternal life" Bible, John 3:16
There is no way we can be helped. It’s not being different it’s being disabled in every way of life and I myself hope to get this one day because I have been living miserable my whole life with autism
It is a shame that internet trolls have invaded what is a medically and scientifically unbiased space. If afflicted people are indeed not permitted by law or so-called "God's Law" to choose to end their lives, I must ask what either is doing to a) bring hope to the utterly hopeless, and b) to alleviate their suffering, because - for the patients involved in this study - living is HELL! Like Prof. Tuffrey-Wijne, I welcome alternative suggestions that do not prolong ongoing anguish and suffering,
If i didnt had weed i wouldnt be here right now. UK is degenerate not to unlift the prohibition. Commplicit of death in deed. Case case of course in maybe Undefinited % of appliable case but still.
I have very mixed feelings about this subject matter. I used to be dead set against it, and for the most part, I probably still am in most cases. But having experienced some great physical pain and also anguish later in life, I was at a point for a while where I honestly felt that not being alive would have been preferable to what I was going through. From that point and on, I started to relate to and sympathize with others who feel they just don't feel that life is worth living.
It can be a tough call. On the one hand I want to live a long and happy life, but if my beloved, who is older than me, should pass first, I'm feeling like I just want to go with her.
But as much as I may feel this way, I will leave the timing and means of my death in God's hands, as I trust Him more than I trust myself; I know better than to trust my own judgment in that matter. I was contemplating suicide in the past, when I was very sick and in terrible, horrible pain; yet here I am, years later, and I am glad I'm still alive - glad that I didn't follow through with it. But I can only speak for myself.
To those of you who suffer and wish for your life to end, I hope you will find happiness and resolution for your situation. I hope for better and happier times ahead for you.
In my opinion, i do not think this service is atrocious. Why?
Living with severe pain for extended periods is exhausting.
There is little scientific data that shows promise in the arena of medication or pain treatments, that last & work. Its very difficult to speak up about your ongoing pain with the stigma on controlled narcotics.
We are adults and have a right to choose death if we are living in unbearable pain.
I do not believe anyone under 21 can comprehend ramifications of immanent death.
Good topic!
As an autistic person I think this is wrong. You wouldn't let a drunk choose to drive, you should not let someone's condition make decisions for them. They would not feel they had to make this decision if there were more options for help and society was more accepting. If their depression was properly treated and they had assistance with changes these tragedies would be avoided. Their lives should be treasured and given what is needed to continue to a place of health.
THIS.
And what do you propose for somebody who has lost all hope that society will make meaningful changes toward more acceptance and support in their lifetime?
Of course these people's lives should be treasured. And every one of us deserves to have access to all the help we may need and to live in a community of understanding, supportive fellow human beings. The reality is that many do not and likely won't in the foreseeable future either. There is only so much you can do on your own to try and make life at least bearable, if not fulfilling, while completely socially isolated, or under constant financial pressure, or with such crippling anxiety or depression that going outside is a major undertaking each time. So yes, let us all treasure each other more, so that having this as an option will no longer be needed. I don't really see all too much happening in that direction, do you?
I am on the scale but I would never kill myself. Perhaps those who kill the mentally ill should be given a dose as a sort of kind response
YEah no. Stop grooming these people into killing themselves.
You have no clue what you’re talking about. Stop pretending like you know what it means to suffer, to live in stagnation and with no hope of ever improving your life in any meaningful sense. The world is a cruel place for autistic people.
Sad and evil.
Let me guess, the medical system will tend towards this "easy way out" instead of funding the research on ways to improve their condition with medications. They keep saying "incurable" but there are things that have been shown to help, scientifically, but maybe not yet enough studies to meet their criteria of settled science. Science can never move forward if they are only looking backward.
Does this also include gypsies, gays and transgenders?
What a weird comment! This is an option for all people with profound intellectual disabilities who themselves do not want to carry on living, the same as a patient suffering from a terminal physical illness may request.
Eugenics
They need go make this legal in the US already
Dear unknown to me person! Please Live! May God bless you and give you hope. There is life after death. " For God so loved the world, that he gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish , but have eternal life" Bible, John 3:16
God I hope it becomes legal in the US.
If I’m not mistaken, it’s already legal in a few states, but only under specific circumstances. Mental health condition(s) are exempt as far as I know.
@@yuliavel9051the inability to forgive without killing someone isn't love it's as evil as it is insane.
My god this is what Hitler did so they say.
Have you lost your mind? This is a study on voluntary euthanasia for people with intellectual disabilities who feel they cannot continue living and would prefer assisted death!.
Yes, Hitler and other eugenicists were very supportive of the self-determination/medical autonomy of autistic people. You are a genius.
This has always been the end goal of Socialism... eugenics.
Just like the end goal of hyper capitalism to have the average individual forever compete for mere scraps…
Those laws are not from God because only God gives live, create humanity and all that exists also only God takes live back!!!! Whoever that does the opposite is breaking the grace of the soul salvation.
God inspired my family to tell me at 17 that if I loved a man he would surely be a pedophile and an abuser. Which by logic meant I woud turn into one myself one day. Never recovered from that: devastated sex life. Now I am over 40 I get rejected because my sexual skilla are not up to the level neurotypical people expect. Thank you God: made sure I’ll be alone and lonely.
No one has the right to end a life,only God
A life time of suffering?
That most likely makes him happy after all he worships a sadist who will burn you forever for a finite crime or just not worshiping him.@@archerx68
@@archerx68he probably enjoys that fact
@@archerx68After all
He
Whose life is the one you are living? If it’s yours alone then you have the birthright to do with it as you wish, if ownership is shared then you are obligated to and at the mercy of other people including strangers.
Sign me up