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Are We Just Shit at Death? | VICE | United States
I feel like this article hits right on the nose about some things. How many of you have had end-of-life discussions with your loved ones?
It's gotten me into thinking that in Western society (speaking as an American,) we don't do a great job at reconciling ourselves with death--we don't talk to our loved ones, we don't plan for it adequately, we just like to think "out of sight, out of mind." We sweep away our old people into nursing homes like dust under a rug and spend billions prolonging our suffering leading to the inevitable. Most people want to die in their homes, yet most spend the last few months of their lives linked up to expensive machines for weeks in a hospital before they exit the stage.
Makes me wonder how I'll end up. Will I make it into old age? If I do, would I have the wherewithal to stubbornly die in my own home and refuse medical treatment?
In 2014, a survey by the spine-tinglingly titled Dying Matters Coalition discovered that 80 percent of people felt that death is an uncomfortable subject to discuss, and that only 21 percent of British adults had discussed their end of life wishes with another person. A similar survey in California found that 76% of respondents had not planned their end-of-life wishes, despite recognizing the importance of doing so.
I feel like this article hits right on the nose about some things. How many of you have had end-of-life discussions with your loved ones?
It's gotten me into thinking that in Western society (speaking as an American,) we don't do a great job at reconciling ourselves with death--we don't talk to our loved ones, we don't plan for it adequately, we just like to think "out of sight, out of mind." We sweep away our old people into nursing homes like dust under a rug and spend billions prolonging our suffering leading to the inevitable. Most people want to die in their homes, yet most spend the last few months of their lives linked up to expensive machines for weeks in a hospital before they exit the stage.
Makes me wonder how I'll end up. Will I make it into old age? If I do, would I have the wherewithal to stubbornly die in my own home and refuse medical treatment?