My mother-in-law, who was completely bedridden and crippled in her final years, often contemplated suicide, but she said that the thing that kept her from going through with it was that her neighbor, who had had terminal cancer, tried to OD, but survived and got sent to a psychiatric hospital for a month as a result. She didn't want this to happen to her, so she hung in there 'til the bitter end.
It's not. Her mom (my husband's grandma) had dementia for years before she passed and MIL is scared of the same fate.
Her original plan was to start saving up pills in her late 60s so she could OD if her mind goes, but her daughter pointed out that if she has dementia she may not be mentally or physically capable of ending her life with pills.
Edit: the pills were actually her second plan. Her first plan was to jump off a specific bridge. She told her daughters (who are in their late 50s, we're not spring chickens anymore) and they were absolutely horrified. That's why she moved onto the idea of pills, it would be less gruesome and she thought she could have more control over the situation.
She really, really, REALLY does not want to live with dementia.
Yeah I understand that fear, it is something I would like to avoid as well. Unfortunate that there's no good way to avoid dementia excepting outside help, since your mind may not be able to do what needs to be done when the time comes
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u/little_tavlia Aug 13 '21
Happened in Latvia - they jumped from the 4th floor and the firefighter caught them from a neighbour’s flat on the floor below.
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