Death is never desirable of its own accord, happy, healthy people don’t go and shoot themselves in the head. As such neither suicide nor euthanasia are things to be wished for. Both result in the death of the sufferer, but which causes more suffering, is what I’m after with you JT.
You seem to be okay with letting the family in on your death, as long as apparently, they ‘respect your decision’ and ‘keep out of the way’.
But exactly what would you think of a family like that…? “Yeah sure Dad, you go 'head if that’s what you want. We’ll keep out of the bathroom for an hour or two, okay…? Will that be enough…? Hey Mum, do we have enough Ajax and brillo-pads to scrape Dad’s corpse outta the tub or y’wanna I make a run to the store…?”
Seems… Somehow callous to me.
The opposite is mayhem. The family will call interventions, put you on suicide watch, whatever, they love you, want you around. And always will, because if you have enough braincells left to sit down with them and articulate your designs for a quiet dignified death, then you are still enough ‘you’ for them to discount the acceptability of your suicide. Do you get this…? While you remain functional and complis-mentis enough to initiate this kind of dialogue with your family they will automatically seek to circumvent your desire. The only point where they will agree that you’re no longer worth having around is when you’re not, and by that time you will be so fogged and disabilitized that you won’t be able to do the job yourself.
The only sane way to do it, to spare both sides, is, if and when you decide, simply to put your affairs quietly in order, write or otherwise record your goodbyes, and disappear.
You can’t have it both ways, cannot have your death-cake and eat it. You die isolate and with dignity, or die in company like a dog.