Hi, can someone please tell me where I can legally get an euthanasia appointment for having diagnosed ADHD and undiagnosed autism?
I know it's better to get support than to end my life but there is no support anywhere. I have tried to get support in my home country Australia but there's no accommodations for somebody like me, and I have faced a lot of violence from the justice system there and I am scared to return.
My ADHD/ autism has ruined my life. I'm living off savings overseas and am trying really hard to find a job but it's not possible, I'm too disabled. I will keep trying until I run out of money. But after that I don't know what I will do. I don't want to die but I don't think there's any other choice. But I don't want to have to kill myself on my own when the time comes. Please, I really want the chance to die with dignity if I do not have the means to support myself anymore. I need to plan in advance to know how much money I need for getting euthanasia.
Please someone can you tell me what the steps are? I really have tried to find support but there isn't any that I can find to support myself so I don't have a choice and I really don't want to have to kill myself on my own.
22 Comments
DagwoodIII@piefed.social · 9 pts · 2d
https://afsp.org/im-having-thoughts-of-suicide/
Seek help
Littlesad@lemmy.world · 3 pts · 2d
Thank you but that's not helpful. I have been to therapy and it has not helped me to find a job. I will run out of money and when that happens I will have to kill myself. I know there's lots of brave homeless people but I will not be able to do it.
LetThereBeNick@lemmy.zip · 2 pts · 2d
You don't have to become destitute to learn about all the jobs which are more suited for someone with severe ADHD. Ask around at restaurants. Forget about your pdf resume for a bit
Littlesad@lemmy.world · 3 pts · 2d
Hospitality, cleaning jobs would be the easiest jobs to find . I've worked in these fields before and while I was able to do them back then, I don't have the capacity to work these jobs anymore. I'm too burnout.
isleepinahammock@lemmy.blahaj.zone · 0 pts · 2d
Keep in mind, a hallmark of AuDHD is a tendency to monotropic thinking. I get this way myself a lot. It's easy to get tunnel-vision and not see all of the possible options. I see a lot of A->B->C reasoning here. You WILL run out of money. You WILL have to end your life when that happens. You cannot get a job or any other form of income. Some of these assumptions should be interrogated more deeply.
Lexam@lemmy.world MOD · 8 pts · 2d
Discussing suicide is not against the rules. Please be sensitive to the Original Posters situation.
Littlesad@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 2d
Thank you, appreciate it. Honestly it's not my first choice of action, but I have tried many things and considered many different options but unfortunately for me I'm so disabled this may be the only option I have if I don't want to end up homeless and as a consequence suffer some things that would be worse than death
pedantichedgehog@sh.itjust.works · 7 pts · 2d
To preface this, I don't want to just say "seek help", though I think that's always a good thing to do. As you've said, you've been to therapy. I can empathize with therapy not helping; I went for years to no effect. Personally...this is complex. I think that there are cases where someone who wants to die isn't (because of mental illness or disability) capable of making that choice, and there are surely cases where they are. I've been suicidal many, many times. And at the same time I personally value autonomy, and what is suicide but the ultimate expression of choosing what to do with your life?
From a quick google search, it looks like "medical aid in dying"/"physician-assisted suicide" laws are aimed at those with terminal illness. One source: https://worldpopulationreview.com/country-rankings/where-is-euthanasia-legal
Generally, most people are against letting people kill themselves "just" because they don't want to live anymore, because the assumption is typically that anyone who wants to die is suffering from mental illness and therefore incapable of making the choice to die. I'm sorry. I don't think that legal euthanasia is possible in your circumstance.
Littlesad@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 2d
Thank you for understanding. It really is the last resort if I can't have the money to support myself. But I read about this woman here who was granted euthanasia because of ASD. But there's nothing to say how she managed to get it approved, that's why I'm asking around to see if anybody knows how I can go about with it if I really aren't able to live independently.
Here's the article
Dutch woman, 29, granted euthanasia approval on grounds of mental suffering | Assisted dying | The Guardian https://share.google/NUG6cCsDWTjfqhD7r
Janx@piefed.social · 6 pts · 2d
Not what you asked, but I refuse to accept "you might HAVE to kill yourself" as an inevitable outcome. It's not. Many people have ADHD, autism, and/or other disabilities. All are treatable.
Also, being unemployed is a specific problem. One that's surmountable. I'm not going to tell you that any of these challenges are guaranteed to be easy to overcome, but it's doable and others have and continue to manage them. You really don't want to throw away a long, happy, fulfilling life because things are shit right now. Please to try to focus, prioritize, and deal with each issue one-at-a-time and you will succeed. Even if there's no formal, official support network, there is assistance out there. Use it as needed. You got this...
Littlesad@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 2d
You know what, I am living the dream life. Being Australian , I'm so privileged I can use my savings to live in a much poorer country because I can afford to live decently here and I would definitely not be able to back there. I have been travelling and doing really fun things, but at the end of the day I still have to find work because my savings keep dropping lower and lower. When I'm out travelling and doing fun things, I function just fine, I actually do love life. But everytime I have to deal with admin work whether for my travels or for finding work I have really bad meltdowns and honestly it's taking a toll on my body, I don't know how many more meltdowns I can take. And well eventually if all I'm able to do is have fun and not work, my money will run out and I can't keep doing fun things that make life worth living. I'm not a special little angel and money isn't going to fall from the sky and allow me to continue numbing the pain of living with this disability with having fun. So yea, if I can't get my shit together and find a job I don't have much options. And I don't know if you know but ADHD and autism is different for everyone. I know plenty of people who can work just fine with it even if they have their struggles. Well sadly I haven't found anything that works for me. So if I don't find it soon, I'm screwed.
isleepinahammock@lemmy.blahaj.zone · 3 pts · 2d
Have you tried a radically different career path? When the alternative is suicide, even starting from scratch in an entirely different field is a reasonable option. Can you find work that maybe involves more directly working with people? Are there kinds of work that you could do, even if you don't currently have the skills/background for it? Even if getting on that path involves going deep in student loan debt. Well I would rather be alive, happy, and in debt than the alternative.
I'm dealing with late-diagnosed AuDHD myself. And I get it. I've had my dark periods as well. I've been struggling for years in engineering. I've burned out at five engineering office jobs. At this point I'm looking at making a radical career move, looking at entirely different fields. I'm looking into either engineering positions that are mostly outside an office (like inspector roles). And I'm also exploring a mid-career switch to K12 teaching.
Ignore what skills you have right now. Those can always be obtained one way or another. But in terms of specific work duties, what kinds of work can you do? What actually works well with your brain?
I mean, Hell, suicide is such a final thing, I would pursue sex work or even drug dealing before I did that.
modem_down@thebrainbin.org · 5 pts · 2d
First of all, massive sympathy.
I have been around those feelings and know to take them seriously.
I looked into this previously for someone I know who felt similarly. Dignitas seemed viable and they registered there as a first step in the process. Before having to take further steps, this person managed to find enough stability not to have to go through with it, so I don't know what would have been required beyond that. I hope ever so much that you, too, will find a way forward in life despite it feeling impossible at the moment.
Littlesad@lemmy.world · 3 pts · 2d
Thank you for actually answering my question instead of telling me talking about sucidie is bad. I really do too, but if it doesn't work out, I really hope Dignitas won't turn me away.
RavuAlHemio@lemmy.world · 3 pts · 2d
While society seems to be moving toward a general consensus that voluntary euthanasia for people suffering from physiological diseases is morally acceptable if the disease cannot be healed and significantly reduces their quality of life, the same approach to people with mental disorders is still under very active discussion.
Currently, countries most likely to honor a request for euthanasia by a person suffering from a mental disorder will only do so if the person can prove that they have exhausted all other options. There was a recent case in (I think) the Netherlands, where a person had an adverse reaction to any antidepressant prescribed to them; only after trying all antidepressants that were available was euthanasia considered a justifiable treatment.
Thus, your best bet to get what you’re looking for is a 100% psychiatry speedrun – where you’ll either find a combination of pharmaceuticals that are an effective alternative to euthanasia, or at least some certainty that medicine hasn’t yet progressed far enough to help you.
Littlesad@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 2d
I don't have money to pay for pharmaceuticals or psychiatric care... I'm trying to use the remaining money I have to improve my current life by making it more bearable to live and to find a job.. Does that mean I'm just doomed to end my life on my own if it doesn't work out?
daychilde@lemmy.world · 5 pts · 2d
I have not walked in your shoes; I do not have your life experiences, nor the beliefs that led you to be the person that you are.
I do, however, have severe ADHD (both times I was diagnosed, my therapist said I was the most severe case they had seen, ever). I'm 51, diagnosed at age 30 (then again in my late 40s as I attempted to get ritalin again after finally getting insurance).
I have not had a career. I've always struggled to find and keep work. In the US, we have fewer protections than a lot of places - and I didn't even know until I was 30.
The longest I worked at a single place was five years, and I got let go in December 2024 and wasn't able to find anything after that. Thanks to health issues, I qualify for 'disability', so I said screw it and just accepted that. My wife - who is AuDHD - is working, and so thankfully I have insurance thanks to her job.
I just mean this as background that I have had a shitty life in many many ways thanks to ADHD. Because I have been able to work when my wife wasn't, and vice-versa, I am lucky that with additional help from my father, we have been able to survive this far, and hopefully will for the foreseeable future. But otherwise, I might well be facing some of the things you face.
My main reason for replying is just to say that many many times during my life, I've seen what looks like The End coming - I thought we would be homeless and lose everything. And so far, we haven't.
Don't give up until you have to give up.
I can understand trying to prepare, and I wouldn't want to talk you out of that. But I hope you won't give up until you are forced to. You don't know what might happen until you get there. And while I hope that something magically works out so that you find yourself gainfully employed in a job and city that you like, able to pay your bills and have a little bit left over for pleasure, if that doesn't happen, I hope that you are able to survive and find enough joy day to day to keep going.
I know how much that can suck. My kidneys have failed - I've had seven heart attacks - a below-knee amputation of my left leg. I go to dialysis three times every week and spend over four hours there - more than 20 hours every week all told going to and from. And while I try to nap at dialysis, I'm in a chair and can't move because of the needles in my arms.
I am constantly fatigued and I am anemic, so what I can do around the house is very very limited. I try to help with our chorres, but truth be told, my wife does far more than her fair share.
And thanks to my health, I can't even get ritalin or anything else anymore for my ADHD.
In many ways, life sucks.
But I'm still here, surviving. I find joy in playing some games that I like; I find fulfilment in making the people I interact with smile when I can. (I like to be friendly when I'm out and about - I tend to wear bright hawaiian shirts and I have a bubbly personality thanks to the ADHD so I like it when I can make someone smile in our interactions).
ADHD is rough, as is autism, and even more 'fun' when you have them both.
I don't have answers for you; just the hope that you can continue to survive, but that also you can find the simple everyday pleasures in life that make it worth living. And if not, I hope that you can find the resources you need.
I can only tell you why I keep on struggling to live longer. I can't make you want that. But I can be thankful that you exist, and I can care that you exist. <3
king_comrade@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 1d
'I don't want to die' Something inside you is begging you to keep going, to stay alive. Just... Really consider if this is what you want, wholeheartedly. You don't get to regret this choice my bro, aren't you even a tad curious to see what comes next, for better or worse?
In any case, I'm thinking about you Littlesad, I hope you find the peace you need 🫂
IAmYouButYouDontKnowYet@reddthat.com · 2 pts · 2d
Commiting to ... is hard to do. Survival instinct is real. I'm not sure legal euthanasia would make it easier.
Imagine if people like us could just live the way OUR brains work? We would probably excel. Sometimes I wonder how much missed human growth as a community and species has occurred from being bogged down by living within systems that are built for a narrow spectrum of a certain type of mind.
Sometimes I wonder if it's systematic... Like people get funneled into homelessness on purpose. Almost like a legal genocide.
Littlesad@lemmy.world · 5 pts · 2d
It really is systematic. At least that's how the system in Australia is. I have really tried to find accommodations for me but because of bureaucracy or what not, whether it's governmental or NFP support... There is no support for me. I'm deemed not disabled enough. Even going to the doctors and telling them about what I'm going through, they all just keep telling me I need to work harder. It's all because I don't act disabled enough for them.
If I was just given the right accommodations.. I wouldn't need to rely on the government or Nfps for help. I really want to work and live independently. But it's not possible in this current society. I really wish I could immigrate to maybe somewhere in the Nordic regions because I might actually be given the right accommodations there... But at last there's too much bureaucracy around it.. it's not possible for me.
Flax_vert@feddit.uk · 2 pts · 2d
Euthanasia helps perpetuate that, where euthanasia is offered as a "treatment". It is no treatment.
Flax_vert@feddit.uk · 1 pts · 2d
No. This is not an okay thing to think or want. There is no such thing as dying with dignity in this situation, and what awaits you after death may be worse than the life you have now.
Try thinking outside the box. You can do something drastic but not this drastic. You've got a good passport, try utilising it to find a foreign spouse or something. Become Walter white. Try a religion. Try becoming a hermit in the wilderness. All of the above are better options than killing yourself. Ideally you probably shouldn't become Walter white though.