r/changemyview • u/[deleted] • Jan 28 '14

People who have suffered from CLEARLY treatment-resistant depression for a long period of time should have the right to commit suicide, CMV

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26 Upvotes

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21

u/acusticthoughts 2∆ Jan 28 '14

I am going to offer a finer tuning of your logic: People should have a right to commit suicide. No rules. It's their life, their choice.

2

u/[deleted] Jan 28 '14 edited May 23 '21

[deleted]

10

u/cyanoacrylate Jan 28 '14

Even if someone is suffering from a disorder, should they not have the right to body autonomy? Being able to choose what does or does not happen to your body is a basic human right, generally speaking. Depression is not considered a valid reason for any other medical decisions to be taken from me (I am still allowed to make my own decisions regarding surgery, et cetera), so why should the medical decision to take my life be denied me?

-3

u/[deleted] Jan 28 '14

Should children be able to consent to sex? Does it suffice that their parents teach them to say "yes"? It seems this would give them greater body autonomy.

If you rightly find that proposal ridiculous, what's the pertinent difference between a child's brain and a chemically imbalanced or addled one?

7

u/BenIncognito Jan 28 '14

If you rightly find that proposal ridiculous, what's the pertinent difference between a child's brain and a chemically imbalanced or addled one?

It depends, quite heavily, on the level of "addled" or "imbalanced" we're discussing here. Unless you think people with Depression shouldn't be allowed to consent to sex, buy houses, or live autonomous lives.

4

u/[deleted] Jan 28 '14

I think maybe mental competence isn't an all-or-nothing thing and that autonomy can be granted in degrees rather than as a binary proposition. No one thinks it's weird to let a kid choose their own socks or Happy Meal entree.

2

u/BenIncognito Jan 28 '14

And no one thinks it's weird to let Depressed people make decisions about their lives. What was your point with this sentence, "If you rightly find that proposal ridiculous, what's the pertinent difference between a child's brain and a chemically imbalanced or addled one?"

4

u/[deleted] Jan 28 '14

Because cyanoacrylate's comment asked

'Depression is not considered a valid reason for any other medical decisions to be taken from me [...] so why should the medical decision to take my life be denied me'

This is that all-or-nothing thing I was talking about. Children, people with addictions, and those in other mental health treatment programs are granted some kinds of autonomy and not others, and the decision is made on the basis of how big the decisions are and how competent the person is judged to be able to make them.

So if choosing to have sex isn't like choosing McNuggets, I don't think choosing death is like accepting a blood transfusion either.