Specter Calls for Hearings on End-of-Life Care Guide for Veterans

reply to post by desert


Not specific to "how do you want to die" but prior to deployments, there are briefings about helping to cope with separation, powers of attorney, wills and such. Those are voluntary.

reply to post by sos37


Thanks sos. I was beginning to think I was the only one seeing it from this perspective.

reply to post by RoofMonkey


Yes, those were the briefings I was thinking of when I thought about the best place for discussion of these choices.

I wonder if soldiers who go through these voluntary briefings are better prepared than those who don't. These are serious concerns, not to be taken lightly or jokingly (although joking is one psychological way of dealing with/not dealing with the enormity/gravity of a situation).

Well... as senior enlisted, you tend to frown on people who run into problems back home when they could have resolved or at least helped if they had participated in one of those "seminars." But that's just from a loss of man hours and a distraught service member point of view. You can't really hold it against them... just use it as an object lesson as to why it would have helped to begin with.

Personally, I only did the power of attorney thing since I had no local infrastructure (freinds/family) in place should my wife had run into trouble. But you have to be very careful with those. Many a horror story about where the spouse (male or female) ganks the finances of a service member while they are deployed.

Originally posted by soldiermom
reply to post by Benevolent Heretic

 

I'm all for living wills. What I'm not for is posing a question to a vet about whether or not his life is worth living when he/she may already be contemplating the value of his life in the first place.

To someone battling depression, this amounts to nothing more than a gentle nudge to finalize the deal.

That's what I find morbid and despicable.

No it isn't, actually it is a way for the medical professional to understand how someone is feeling.

I had a time frame in my life when I was very depressed and suicidal. The dr I was seeing had me fill out a form which asked all kinds of questions. Those questions were basically the same as you are upset about.

Because of my answer, my physicians realized how bad things truly were for me, and he got me the help I needed. Of course, this is a simplification of the situation. But, without those question, I would have kept going as I was, and eventually would have finished what I had been trying to accomplish. Which was ending my life. I can only say at this time, I am very thankful for that questionnaire that I was given, and am VERY happy to still be alive.

I replied to you on this thread www.abovetopsecret.com... Thanks for reading what I said, and thinking about it.

Harm None
Peace

Originally posted by soldiermom
I pose to those of you who've posted here, this question. If you had a disability, how would you feel if someone handed you a questionnaire asking you if you felt you're life was still worth living?

Read my previous post. Been there, done that, am VERY VERY THANKFUL for that questionnaire. It helped save my life.

Harm None
Peace

reply to post by soldiermom


Thanks for replying to my....no wait.... You've ignored my request multiple times. Seems reasonable to you I gather. You asked a question, I answered, then I requested an answer from you. Nice way to shut a discussion down when it does not go your way.

Harm None
Peace

It's important that a person not make a living will when they are very depressed, but when they are feeling well. I don't see anything that implies that vets should ACT on their depressed feelings, only that they should assess their mental state before they make end-of-life decisions.

The link to the booklet was broken so I couldn't read the exact wording.

Having been severely depressed in my life, I assure you that I had thought life was not worth living a hundred times before the psychiatrist asked me about it. I did not read his question as a suggestion to end my life. I think most people would not.

It's possible the wording in the booklet can be misconstrued and therefore should be revised.

But I don't see any evidence that the V.A. is secretly planning to kill veterans. They never have and until I get more than this vague wording I assume they never will.



[edit on 1-9-2009 by Sestias]