The median age of this group was more than 77. The vast majority – around 96% - had a death deemed "reasonably foreseeable", due to severe medical conditions such as cancer.
In the small minority of other cases, patients may not have been terminally ill, but sought an assisted death due to a long and complicated illness that had significantly impacted their quality of life.
I’m completely for assisted death, but that percentage takes me off-guard. I would not expect even terminally ill people to be that… chill with dying? I tend to see a lot more denial in my work...
I’m completely for assisted death, but that percentage takes me off-guard. I would not expect even terminally ill people to be that… chill with dying? I tend to see a lot more denial in my work (healthcare).
Or maybe that’s just my own bias speaking. I am too terrified of death to even consider the idea, terminal or not.
(I'm gonna talk about suicide in general not just in an assisted dying sense so content warning) My partner is in constant pain, and is facing life in a wheelchair. He's been disabled for a long...
(I'm gonna talk about suicide in general not just in an assisted dying sense so content warning)
My partner is in constant pain, and is facing life in a wheelchair. He's been disabled for a long time but played football in high school and college and did manual labor and the wheelchair is less than 2 years old. He's not terminal and he could get more motor function back and maybe be able to stand or be more independent again. He's not terminal by any means just very dependent on others. But like the top two causes of death for paraplegics are infection and suicide.
I'm honestly scared that some day assisted dying is the route he'll choose. But I'd rather he choose this route than kill himself at home on a bad day. And I can't tell him that he can keep bearing the pain, I can just tell him I'll be there for him through it.
Thank you so much for sharing your story. That sounds incredibly rough. I mentioned in another comment my own health issues--though I am self-ambulatory again now thanks to surgery, I was totally...
Thank you so much for sharing your story. That sounds incredibly rough. I mentioned in another comment my own health issues--though I am self-ambulatory again now thanks to surgery, I was totally bedbound for two whole years as a result, and it was mentally devastating. I know being wheelchair-bound isn't the same, but any drastic change to your ability to do the things you used to do is pretty much the same kind of rough.
Yeah I obviously am not the one experiencing it but I have an up close view of it. It's been really hard and it will probably keep being hard in many ways. But we're mostly making it.
Yeah I obviously am not the one experiencing it but I have an up close view of it. It's been really hard and it will probably keep being hard in many ways. But we're mostly making it.
I sincerely believe that being a caretaker* is no less stressful than being the one with the illness/disability themself. You deserve all the credit (and rest!) in the world as well. *I'm aware...
I sincerely believe that being a caretaker* is no less stressful than being the one with the illness/disability themself. You deserve all the credit (and rest!) in the world as well.
*I'm aware people don't generally think of themselves this way in relation to their romantic partners, but I'm using the term more generally.
I definitely am a caretaker! It's one of those things that does make our relationship unusual, but it wouldn't make sense not to acknowledge that part of it either. People wanted to tell me in the...
I definitely am a caretaker! It's one of those things that does make our relationship unusual, but it wouldn't make sense not to acknowledge that part of it either. People wanted to tell me in the past year that I should get paid to take care of him and on the one hand, I don't want to get paid for our relationship. On the other, I don't need to be paid for my work but I do need someone who can be around so I can do my own work.
We have since bought a house and a wheelchair van and thus money sucks right now, but we're pretty lucky to be making it alright. Hoping the state will get modifications done by february so it'll be truly accessible and not cobbled together.
Taking care of me is a thing I theoretically do (I am getting a root canal next week... so... um.. yay) but I try to rest.
It's super rough. I have a similar struggle Of being (1) ultimately supportive of their choices, a shared desire for the suffering to end, and wanting to convey that support to the bitter end via...
It's super rough.
I have a similar struggle
Of being (1) ultimately supportive of their choices, a shared desire for the suffering to end, and wanting to convey that support to the bitter end via a pain free, not scary and medically attended way to go. Versus (2) I don't want them to.
At some point, (2) feels like sheer selfishness borrowing power from social norms and "think of the children" / "for king and country" level cliche old moral codes.
I can't take the pain away, I can only interject some decent moments, and hope the hope for more future decent moments is enough to go o another day.
I'm glad MAID is there but I also hate that it's an option. My hope is that for some who doesn't have any more decent future moments to look forward to, the option of MAID itself is one last decent one that is just enough for them not to choose it.
Perhaps if you are dying of something that makes every day a hell to experience the concept of it stopping becomes more compelling than the uncertain void is scary.
Perhaps if you are dying of something that makes every day a hell to experience the concept of it stopping becomes more compelling than the uncertain void is scary.
First off: Oof. My sympathies. Second off: I'm glad your aversion to death has kept you up and moving even in the face of medical difficulties. I have no fear of death, only of the uncomfortable...
First off: Oof. My sympathies.
Second off: I'm glad your aversion to death has kept you up and moving even in the face of medical difficulties. I have no fear of death, only of the uncomfortable bits leading up to it, and it's definitely affected how I face my life. In some good ways, I think, but also a certain lack of concern in others. With no children and only a single remaining elderly relative who's close to me, I'm comfortable with bowing out without a lot of fuss whenever the time comes. And that time will probably be closer than it would be for someone with more death aversion or passion for life.
From my view, death is only a tragedy for the people left behind. Whether there is something for people in an afterlife or not, death shatters all earthly ties. If I died today, my family would...
From my view, death is only a tragedy for the people left behind. Whether there is something for people in an afterlife or not, death shatters all earthly ties. If I died today, my family would mourn, but I wouldn't be sad. I'd be dead, and beyond all opinions on the topic. So what is there to fear? I fear physical or mental incapacity. I fear being an unbearable burden on my loved ones. I fear running out of money to have even a modest lifestyle because of medical bills. But death? Death is nothing. Literally nothing at all. What is there to be scared of in the null state?
Yeah, that's the often painful transition that I'm wary of. I can (and do) choose to keep living because I like living, but what is there to be afraid of in that ending?
Yeah, that's the often painful transition that I'm wary of. I can (and do) choose to keep living because I like living, but what is there to be afraid of in that ending?
I wasn't even referring to the means of the cessation; simply the cessation itself. The end of the non-null state you are currently in. Have you ever been watching a movie, accidentally nudged the...
I wasn't even referring to the means of the cessation; simply the cessation itself. The end of the non-null state you are currently in.
Have you ever been watching a movie, accidentally nudged the remote/mouse, and then felt a creeping sense of dread as you realized the brevity of the remaining runtime? "The characters are still in so much peril; how could it possibly wrap up so quickly?"
The very nature of most fiction is that everything will get wrapped up (assuming decent skill on the part of the author and barring threads left for a sequel.) life isn't like that. Everyone dies...
The very nature of most fiction is that everything will get wrapped up (assuming decent skill on the part of the author and barring threads left for a sequel.) life isn't like that. Everyone dies leaving things unfinished. That's just how it works. I can't be afraid of something I know with absolute certainty will occur. When I die, something will be incomplete. It will either be picked up by someone who will value its completion, or it won't. If no one picks it up, then no one cared enough about it to make it live, and I'm beyond caring. My lingering plot threads will be all right either way.
Not who you asked, but I also don't fear death. I won't be experiencing anything when I'm dead, so there's not really anything to fear. I would love to have more time with the people I love, but I...
Not who you asked, but I also don't fear death. I won't be experiencing anything when I'm dead, so there's not really anything to fear. I would love to have more time with the people I love, but I won't miss them when I'm gone. I don't welcome death, either. I'd like to live for a very long time. If I don't, though, that idea is a bit sad but it isn't scary.
That's a terrible disease, and I hope you've been able to find relief. Maybe if it's been a chronic and slowly worsening condition, it's easier to adapt psychologically?
That's a terrible disease, and I hope you've been able to find relief. Maybe if it's been a chronic and slowly worsening condition, it's easier to adapt psychologically?
I've experienced intractable pain and debility from an untreated but not rapidly fatal autoimmune disease. If there had been no effective treatment, I would have unhesitatingly sought euthanasia....
I've experienced intractable pain and debility from an untreated but not rapidly fatal autoimmune disease. If there had been no effective treatment, I would have unhesitatingly sought euthanasia.
I can completely empathize with people who are in that situation. It's not so much being comfortable with death as despairing over each intolerable day, and getting worse.
Something I have found is that the older I get, the less I fear death — even though I broadly also enjoy life more as I get older. I can more easily imagine scenarios where I would choose an...
Something I have found is that the older I get, the less I fear death — even though I broadly also enjoy life more as I get older. I can more easily imagine scenarios where I would choose an assisted death over a natural death, and I can also imagine more scenarios where I would sacrifice my life even if I were happy and healthy (a la running into a burning building to save someone else).
I'm not sure how much of this is me just having time to get used to the idea, me ticking more things off my bucket list, or me having more exposure to suffering (both my own and my loved ones') and grokking that death really isn't the worst thing that can happen to you. Probably some combination of all three.
I've seen a LOT of criticism from Canadian disabled activists about MAID being pushed on people by doctors and social services, so I think some concern about these numbers is very reasonable.
I've seen a LOT of criticism from Canadian disabled activists about MAID being pushed on people by doctors and social services, so I think some concern about these numbers is very reasonable.
I’m completely for assisted death, but that percentage takes me off-guard.
Note that it says "Canada deaths", eg. deaths that happen in Canada, not "Canadian deaths". If it's the only country on the continent where this can happen, then lots of Statesians are going to go north and skew the figures.
From the government webpage about MAID: Then at the end of the eligibility section: Edit: to be clear, to be eligible for health services in a particular province you usually have to be a resident...
Good for them. I know I'm glad to be in a place where I can take advantage of similar services when I reach that stage of my life. As someone who was present for my mom's assisted dying I can say...
Good for them. I know I'm glad to be in a place where I can take advantage of similar services when I reach that stage of my life. As someone who was present for my mom's assisted dying I can say that it was as painless and pleasant as dying could possibly be, and compared to the alternatives I'm absolutely in favor of it.
High respect for your mom for being able to make the decision for herself. My experience was different with my parents and honestly I don't know what decision they would have made for themselves....
High respect for your mom for being able to make the decision for herself. My experience was different with my parents and honestly I don't know what decision they would have made for themselves. I do recall another loved one telling me that living isn't about time, it's about quality of life. Several years ago I read a book, not that I recommend it, but I am sharing on the subject of end of life decisions. Being Mortal tells the struggle from the point of view of a person who is a doctor.
My mom was in the "fortunate" position of having ALS, which takes the brain last. It meant that she could, with a clear mind, decide to not take advantage of any cyborgization that might have...
My mom was in the "fortunate" position of having ALS, which takes the brain last. It meant that she could, with a clear mind, decide to not take advantage of any cyborgization that might have given her a few more years of life and bow out while she still could. In the end it was easy to support her decision because everyone knew where things were heading. If there had been another hope, another new medical study looking for participants, a potential cure, something like that? I think it would have been a much more challenging decision.
Sorry about your mother. Unfortunately we don't have this here in Brazil, but I'm pretty sure if we had, my mom would do it. She is in constant pain because of three untreatable herniated discs,...
Sorry about your mother.
Unfortunately we don't have this here in Brazil, but I'm pretty sure if we had, my mom would do it. She is in constant pain because of three untreatable herniated discs, can barely stand up and walk for more than 10 minutes, she fell recently and now has a broken rib in top of it and is in a deep state of depression because of my brother's death. She is simply not eating anymore and is extremely skinny. She already checked out.
I'm so sorry for the situation your whole family finds itself in. I can't know the specific shape of the suffering you're experiencing, but if you want to talk, I'm happy to listen. I can...
I'm so sorry for the situation your whole family finds itself in. I can't know the specific shape of the suffering you're experiencing, but if you want to talk, I'm happy to listen. I can sympathize with the challenges that come with caring for someone as they can no longer engage with life.
A math quibble While the Canadian percentage is actually "only" 4.8% it's wild reporting to use 1 in 20 for evocative reasons and then say it's less than 5%
A math quibble
More than 320,000 people died in Canada in 2023, and 15,300 of those deaths - about one in 20 - were medically assisted.
....
While the number of assisted deaths in Canada is growing, the country still falls behind the Netherlands, where euthanasia accounted for around 5% of total deaths last year.
While the Canadian percentage is actually "only" 4.8% it's wild reporting to use 1 in 20 for evocative reasons and then say it's less than 5%
Shocking to see that those who rely on the social safety net to live a dignified life are feeling the need to consider it. Long term care in this country has long been underfunded and it sucks to...
Shocking to see that those who rely on the social safety net to live a dignified life are feeling the need to consider it. Long term care in this country has long been underfunded and it sucks to meet that people who are disabled and not receiving the care they need are considering MAID.
I could see assisted death becoming the number one cause of death in a sufficiently advanced (and safe) society.
From the article:
I’m completely for assisted death, but that percentage takes me off-guard. I would not expect even terminally ill people to be that… chill with dying? I tend to see a lot more denial in my work (healthcare).
Or maybe that’s just my own bias speaking. I am too terrified of death to even consider the idea, terminal or not.
(I'm gonna talk about suicide in general not just in an assisted dying sense so content warning)
My partner is in constant pain, and is facing life in a wheelchair. He's been disabled for a long time but played football in high school and college and did manual labor and the wheelchair is less than 2 years old. He's not terminal and he could get more motor function back and maybe be able to stand or be more independent again. He's not terminal by any means just very dependent on others. But like the top two causes of death for paraplegics are infection and suicide.
I'm honestly scared that some day assisted dying is the route he'll choose. But I'd rather he choose this route than kill himself at home on a bad day. And I can't tell him that he can keep bearing the pain, I can just tell him I'll be there for him through it.
Its rough.
Thank you so much for sharing your story. That sounds incredibly rough. I mentioned in another comment my own health issues--though I am self-ambulatory again now thanks to surgery, I was totally bedbound for two whole years as a result, and it was mentally devastating. I know being wheelchair-bound isn't the same, but any drastic change to your ability to do the things you used to do is pretty much the same kind of rough.
Yeah I obviously am not the one experiencing it but I have an up close view of it. It's been really hard and it will probably keep being hard in many ways. But we're mostly making it.
I sincerely believe that being a caretaker* is no less stressful than being the one with the illness/disability themself. You deserve all the credit (and rest!) in the world as well.
*I'm aware people don't generally think of themselves this way in relation to their romantic partners, but I'm using the term more generally.
I definitely am a caretaker! It's one of those things that does make our relationship unusual, but it wouldn't make sense not to acknowledge that part of it either. People wanted to tell me in the past year that I should get paid to take care of him and on the one hand, I don't want to get paid for our relationship. On the other, I don't need to be paid for my work but I do need someone who can be around so I can do my own work.
We have since bought a house and a wheelchair van and thus money sucks right now, but we're pretty lucky to be making it alright. Hoping the state will get modifications done by february so it'll be truly accessible and not cobbled together.
Taking care of me is a thing I theoretically do (I am getting a root canal next week... so... um.. yay) but I try to rest.
It's super rough.
I have a similar struggle
Of being (1) ultimately supportive of their choices, a shared desire for the suffering to end, and wanting to convey that support to the bitter end via a pain free, not scary and medically attended way to go. Versus (2) I don't want them to.
At some point, (2) feels like sheer selfishness borrowing power from social norms and "think of the children" / "for king and country" level cliche old moral codes.
I can't take the pain away, I can only interject some decent moments, and hope the hope for more future decent moments is enough to go o another day.
I'm glad MAID is there but I also hate that it's an option. My hope is that for some who doesn't have any more decent future moments to look forward to, the option of MAID itself is one last decent one that is just enough for them not to choose it.
Just gonna offer a hug and solidarity in how hard it is. We're both navigating it best we can.
'* ~ big
clingyhug back ~ *Perhaps if you are dying of something that makes every day a hell to experience the concept of it stopping becomes more compelling than the uncertain void is scary.
I actually have been! My comment was at least somewhat based on experience.
First off: Oof. My sympathies.
Second off: I'm glad your aversion to death has kept you up and moving even in the face of medical difficulties. I have no fear of death, only of the uncomfortable bits leading up to it, and it's definitely affected how I face my life. In some good ways, I think, but also a certain lack of concern in others. With no children and only a single remaining elderly relative who's close to me, I'm comfortable with bowing out without a lot of fuss whenever the time comes. And that time will probably be closer than it would be for someone with more death aversion or passion for life.
I'm curious: why don't you fear death? Especially if you don't have a severe depressive disorder. What "tether" feels like it's missing?
From my view, death is only a tragedy for the people left behind. Whether there is something for people in an afterlife or not, death shatters all earthly ties. If I died today, my family would mourn, but I wouldn't be sad. I'd be dead, and beyond all opinions on the topic. So what is there to fear? I fear physical or mental incapacity. I fear being an unbearable burden on my loved ones. I fear running out of money to have even a modest lifestyle because of medical bills. But death? Death is nothing. Literally nothing at all. What is there to be scared of in the null state?
There's nothing to fear in the null state, but one can fear the cessation of the non-null state.
Yeah, that's the often painful transition that I'm wary of. I can (and do) choose to keep living because I like living, but what is there to be afraid of in that ending?
I wasn't even referring to the means of the cessation; simply the cessation itself. The end of the non-null state you are currently in.
Have you ever been watching a movie, accidentally nudged the remote/mouse, and then felt a creeping sense of dread as you realized the brevity of the remaining runtime? "The characters are still in so much peril; how could it possibly wrap up so quickly?"
The very nature of most fiction is that everything will get wrapped up (assuming decent skill on the part of the author and barring threads left for a sequel.) life isn't like that. Everyone dies leaving things unfinished. That's just how it works. I can't be afraid of something I know with absolute certainty will occur. When I die, something will be incomplete. It will either be picked up by someone who will value its completion, or it won't. If no one picks it up, then no one cared enough about it to make it live, and I'm beyond caring. My lingering plot threads will be all right either way.
Not who you asked, but I also don't fear death. I won't be experiencing anything when I'm dead, so there's not really anything to fear. I would love to have more time with the people I love, but I won't miss them when I'm gone. I don't welcome death, either. I'd like to live for a very long time. If I don't, though, that idea is a bit sad but it isn't scary.
That's a terrible disease, and I hope you've been able to find relief. Maybe if it's been a chronic and slowly worsening condition, it's easier to adapt psychologically?
Perhaps! Boiling the frog, etc. I will say that the AAI I almost died from was fairly abrupt, but still not quite as abrupt as an accident.
I've experienced intractable pain and debility from an untreated but not rapidly fatal autoimmune disease. If there had been no effective treatment, I would have unhesitatingly sought euthanasia.
I can completely empathize with people who are in that situation. It's not so much being comfortable with death as despairing over each intolerable day, and getting worse.
It’s a striking headline and I’m not sure what I would have guessed. But the leading cause of death in Canada is cancer, so it makes sense.
Something I have found is that the older I get, the less I fear death — even though I broadly also enjoy life more as I get older. I can more easily imagine scenarios where I would choose an assisted death over a natural death, and I can also imagine more scenarios where I would sacrifice my life even if I were happy and healthy (a la running into a burning building to save someone else).
I'm not sure how much of this is me just having time to get used to the idea, me ticking more things off my bucket list, or me having more exposure to suffering (both my own and my loved ones') and grokking that death really isn't the worst thing that can happen to you. Probably some combination of all three.
I've seen a LOT of criticism from Canadian disabled activists about MAID being pushed on people by doctors and social services, so I think some concern about these numbers is very reasonable.
I've seen articles with horror stories. I believe there isn't enough oversight, at least in some regions. I remember posting some to tildes.
Note that it says "Canada deaths", eg. deaths that happen in Canada, not "Canadian deaths". If it's the only country on the continent where this can happen, then lots of Statesians are going to go north and skew the figures.Edit: Was missing context (below), so struck out.
From the government webpage about MAID:
Then at the end of the eligibility section:
Edit: to be clear, to be eligible for health services in a particular province you usually have to be a resident of that province.
Good for them. I know I'm glad to be in a place where I can take advantage of similar services when I reach that stage of my life. As someone who was present for my mom's assisted dying I can say that it was as painless and pleasant as dying could possibly be, and compared to the alternatives I'm absolutely in favor of it.
High respect for your mom for being able to make the decision for herself. My experience was different with my parents and honestly I don't know what decision they would have made for themselves. I do recall another loved one telling me that living isn't about time, it's about quality of life. Several years ago I read a book, not that I recommend it, but I am sharing on the subject of end of life decisions. Being Mortal tells the struggle from the point of view of a person who is a doctor.
My mom was in the "fortunate" position of having ALS, which takes the brain last. It meant that she could, with a clear mind, decide to not take advantage of any cyborgization that might have given her a few more years of life and bow out while she still could. In the end it was easy to support her decision because everyone knew where things were heading. If there had been another hope, another new medical study looking for participants, a potential cure, something like that? I think it would have been a much more challenging decision.
Sorry about your mother.
Unfortunately we don't have this here in Brazil, but I'm pretty sure if we had, my mom would do it. She is in constant pain because of three untreatable herniated discs, can barely stand up and walk for more than 10 minutes, she fell recently and now has a broken rib in top of it and is in a deep state of depression because of my brother's death. She is simply not eating anymore and is extremely skinny. She already checked out.
I'm so sorry for the situation your whole family finds itself in. I can't know the specific shape of the suffering you're experiencing, but if you want to talk, I'm happy to listen. I can sympathize with the challenges that come with caring for someone as they can no longer engage with life.
A math quibble
While the Canadian percentage is actually "only" 4.8% it's wild reporting to use 1 in 20 for evocative reasons and then say it's less than 5%
Shocking to see that those who rely on the social safety net to live a dignified life are feeling the need to consider it. Long term care in this country has long been underfunded and it sucks to meet that people who are disabled and not receiving the care they need are considering MAID.