Suicide rates in the US are highest among elderly men, and most involve guns, CDC report says | CNN
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The suicide rate in the United States spiked in 2021, reversing two years of decline, and rates among older men were especially high, a new report says.

Senior men have higher rates of suicide than average, and firearms were involved in more than three-quarters of those deaths in 2021, according to a CDC report

  • Zron@lemmy.world
    141·
    1 year ago

    We put dogs down every day because they have incurable diseases or are suffering.

    I had to put my dog down a few years ago because she was so old she could no longer get up or control her bladder or bowels, and I felt guilty for letting it get that far. I still remember the look in her eyes when they gave her the pain killers to knock her out, she looked so relieved.

    I don’t understand how I get to make that decision for a dog, but a grown human, in most places, can’t make that call for themselves and go out in a peaceful and controlled manner. If I knew I was going to die painfully in a few months or a year, I’d definitely take an overdose or nitrogen asphyxiation over the disease. When dogs have a better way out than people, something is seriously wrong.

    • Bob Robertson IX @discuss.tchncs.deEnglish
      5·
      1 year ago

      I had someone close to me with a terminal illness use a gun to end his suffering. He had a bottle of Oxy on his nightstand and a gun inside his nightstand and the only reason I can think that he decided to go the gun route was so he was sure that it'd be done. It sucks that he didn't have any other options available that could have provided a more caring and humane way to exit. Instead now his wife has to live with having found him like that in bed, and my daughter has to live with the fact that she never got to say 'goodbye'.

    • afraid_of_zombies@lemmy.world
      61·
      1 year ago

      There unfortunately isn't going to be a perfect answer here. I think most people would agree that a 17 year old in perfect health but depressed shouldn't be able to die and I think most people would agree that 95 year old with a week to live in serious pain should be able to.

      Where the line is, who gets to decide, and what criteria they use is always going to be something debatable. I generally think it should be decided by medical review boards and the most important criteria should be consent.