Now we debate the ethicality and morality of suicide, whether or not “my body my choice” includes the choice to make a blood-and-meat puddle on the sidewalk, and euthanasia and how accessible it should be.
whether or not “my body my choice” includes the choice to make a blood-and-meat puddle on the sidewalk
A person undergoing a psychotic episode cannot necessarily provide informed consent.
I'm not suggesting everyone who tries to die is undergoing a psychotic episode, but it's important to understand that there's a big difference between "feeling suicidal," "not wanting to live/exist," and "feeling compelled to go through with jumping off a building in order to complete an act of suicide," with lots of degrees in between that may change from second to second, minute to minute, or month to month. This is what's meant by the phrase "a permanent solution to a temporary problem."
There are also instances where someone is jumping at the prompting of- or to stop the prompting of- hallucinations, or perhaps because they're having a bad reaction to an anti-depressant, anti-psychotic, or other medication. There is the consideration over whether any of those reasons, or even seeking to eliminate existential suffering resembles anything that a reasonable person would consider being a genuine choice...And all that is a different animal from suicide attempts by people with certain personality disorders, who threaten others with as an act of desperate manipulation.
Edit: There was some confusion expressed, so I would like to clarify that I am not talking about end-of-life decisions made by people who have terminal, untreatable illnesses. These are niche scenarios that don't constitute any significant portion of reasons given for attempting suicide.
I am specifically referring to people who attempt suicide in the course of mental illness, who are experiencing a mental breakdown/psychotic episode, or otherwise experiencing intense psychological distress to the degree that you can't seriously suggest that their decision to kill themselves is rational or well-informed. These cases are the vast majority of suicides, as much as 90%.
That would be nice, but I don't have any reason to believe that would be the case in practicality, given the current state of affairs in mental healthcare- at least in the United States.
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u/MLGSwaglord1738 Aug 13 '21
Now we debate the ethicality and morality of suicide, whether or not “my body my choice” includes the choice to make a blood-and-meat puddle on the sidewalk, and euthanasia and how accessible it should be.