Samantha Pletcher
Mrs. Jarrett
Enriched English 10
18 December 2008
A Life Worse than Death?
Your hands shake as the painkillers flow into your IV. The clock ticks loudly, and you wonder how long you will have watching it until you finally stop breathing. There’s no cure, the doctor said. There’s nothing else we can do for you. Two thousand and seven hundred patients were killed in doctor patient suicide in the Netherlands alone, and thousands more were euthanized the same year. (“Remmelink Report”) Euthanasia, often called “mercy killing”, is still illegal in most countries but numerous have considered legalizing assisted suicide. Regardless of laws, there have been several occurrences of ‘suicide tourists’, in which the terminal patient will travel to a different country where euthanasia is legal, and end their life there (“Assisted Suicide and Euthanasia Timeline”). Euthanasia should be a voluntary process, only if the patient is in a healthy mental condition and the disease being suffered is an option worse than death.
Euthanasia has been discussed and debated since the Ancient Grecian and Roman Times. Hippocrates, a Greek physician often referred to as ‘The Father of Medicine’, stated “I will never give a deadly drug to anybody who asked for it, nor will I make a suggestion to this effect” (“Euthanasia and Assisted Suicide Timeline”). His words are prominent even today’s medical practice, because of his “Hippocratic Oath” which all licensed doctors are legally required to swear into.
Thursday, December 18, 2008
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
more voices...
This week, in Muses, Madmen and Prophets, Smith divulges into the world of religion and the effect it has on the voices people are stricken with. Many of the cases he studies, or interviews, believe the voices that they hear inside their heads is God’s voice and they are a prophet or a Messiah or some religious miracle. Most patients suffering from the “religious” voices, occasionally diagnosed as Messiah Complex, refuse to seek help or when a doctor tries to explain that the voices aren’t real, they become violent.
But how is one to know if it really is God speaking to them, ponders Smith as he consults many doctors and patients alike. Could it be that all these quasi insane people are really just misunderstood? Perhaps, it is God.
The majority of the voices heard in this ‘religious’ experience are not pleasant. It usually consists of “God” or a saint or religious figure, quoting the Bible or Book of Mormon, and ranting at the person for their sins. This will usually led to the victim experiencing the voices to dive deep into their religion and try to free themselves from their sins and earthly pleasures.
This chapter reminded me of the book I read for quarter one, Devil in the Details, about the woman with “scruples”, as she called them, who had incredibly severe religious OCD. She never heard voices, but because of her obsessive compulsiveness, she would pray and wash and worship and read the Bible multiple times per day. In both books, patients suffer intense religious feeling, brought on by a mental disorder.
But how is one to know if it really is God speaking to them, ponders Smith as he consults many doctors and patients alike. Could it be that all these quasi insane people are really just misunderstood? Perhaps, it is God.
The majority of the voices heard in this ‘religious’ experience are not pleasant. It usually consists of “God” or a saint or religious figure, quoting the Bible or Book of Mormon, and ranting at the person for their sins. This will usually led to the victim experiencing the voices to dive deep into their religion and try to free themselves from their sins and earthly pleasures.
This chapter reminded me of the book I read for quarter one, Devil in the Details, about the woman with “scruples”, as she called them, who had incredibly severe religious OCD. She never heard voices, but because of her obsessive compulsiveness, she would pray and wash and worship and read the Bible multiple times per day. In both books, patients suffer intense religious feeling, brought on by a mental disorder.
Sunday, December 14, 2008
a bit late
Admittedly, the book report blog posts were completely out of my mind this week. I’ll just blame it on the full moon. Anyways!
Smith begins on the path of his father again. His father was extremely passive when the voices were concerned. The elder Smith followed the voices’ instructions and consulted them on how to live. While he did consult a doctor about his growing depression, he never sought out a psychologist on the voice hearing. Not so say that he did not try to get rid of the voices; he tried multiple antidepressants, ignoring them, or even buying a gigantic lamp (to simulate the sun in the winter; a treatment for Season Affect Disorder). Still nothing worked. His father came out to Smith about hearing voices when Smith was sixteen, because of concerns over Smith “inheriting” the voices (Smith’s grandfather also heard voices).
This little anecdote into Smith’s research is one of my favorite parts (so far) because of the sheer curiosity I feel towards this experiment. Smith, still questioning his father’s sanity, contacts a committee that recently created a tape with the same effects of hearing voices and Smith purchases it. Eager to experience his father’s trouble, he takes the tape out onto a busy Manhattan street and begins to listen. At first, the tape merely produces white noise; murmuring, static, heartbeats, and heavy breathing. Though as the tape continued, Smith began to hear a soft gentle woman’s voice whispering to him. It encouraged him and praised him. Smith deduced that it was a stimulant of religious voices, supposedly similar to the ones Joan of Arc had heard.
The book goes on to describe how difficult it was just to place an order at a fast food restaurant with the voices tape. I personally find this whole experience fascinating and am dying to try it out.
Smith begins on the path of his father again. His father was extremely passive when the voices were concerned. The elder Smith followed the voices’ instructions and consulted them on how to live. While he did consult a doctor about his growing depression, he never sought out a psychologist on the voice hearing. Not so say that he did not try to get rid of the voices; he tried multiple antidepressants, ignoring them, or even buying a gigantic lamp (to simulate the sun in the winter; a treatment for Season Affect Disorder). Still nothing worked. His father came out to Smith about hearing voices when Smith was sixteen, because of concerns over Smith “inheriting” the voices (Smith’s grandfather also heard voices).
This little anecdote into Smith’s research is one of my favorite parts (so far) because of the sheer curiosity I feel towards this experiment. Smith, still questioning his father’s sanity, contacts a committee that recently created a tape with the same effects of hearing voices and Smith purchases it. Eager to experience his father’s trouble, he takes the tape out onto a busy Manhattan street and begins to listen. At first, the tape merely produces white noise; murmuring, static, heartbeats, and heavy breathing. Though as the tape continued, Smith began to hear a soft gentle woman’s voice whispering to him. It encouraged him and praised him. Smith deduced that it was a stimulant of religious voices, supposedly similar to the ones Joan of Arc had heard.
The book goes on to describe how difficult it was just to place an order at a fast food restaurant with the voices tape. I personally find this whole experience fascinating and am dying to try it out.
Monday, December 8, 2008
more possible sources...?
http://sks.sirs.com/cgi-bin/hst-article-display?id=SMN0307-0-9121&artno=0000240826&type=ART&shfilter=U&key=&res=Y&ren=Y&gov=Y&lnk=Y&ic=N
http://sks.sirs.com/cgi-bin/hst-article-display?id=SMN0307-0-9121&artno=0000263458&type=ART&shfilter=U&key=&title=Assisted%20Suicide%20and%20Euthanasia%20Timeline&res=Y&ren=Y&gov=Y&lnk=Y&ic=Y
http://sks.sirs.com/cgi-bin/hst-article-display?id=SMN0307-0-9121&artno=0000263458&type=ART&shfilter=U&key=&title=Assisted%20Suicide%20and%20Euthanasia%20Timeline&res=Y&ren=Y&gov=Y&lnk=Y&ic=Y
Sunday, December 7, 2008
possible sources for my research paper
one:
"Euthanasia" 30 November 2008. Wikimedia Foundation Inc, United States. 07 December 2008. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Euthanasia>
Though in the past, Wikipedia has been a very risky option for students, this particle article has been 'protected' by the website, therefore it could be considered a legitimate source. Also, Wikipedia was never mentioned as being forbidden.
Wikipedia is an online encyclopedia, with roughly ten millions articles, all written by volunteer. as always, the articles starts out with a brief breakdown of the word, "euthanasia" literally means "good death" in Ancient Greek, and then continues on to describing its history.
An online encyclopedia is particularily handy while writing a researh paper because of its lack of bias. Wikipedia is very useful, because it provides both sides of the arguement so one could see both ends of the spectrum.
two:
Young, Robert. "Voluntary Euthanasia" 2008. Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. 07 December 2008 <http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/euthanasia-voluntary/>
Many difficult words, repeating same opinions and the sheer length all contribute to the article's thickness. It is a very indecisive article, first arguing for euthanasia, then arguing against, but it does give multiple vaild points for each side.
I would believe Stanford's online encyclopedia to be a very reliable source because of its reputation and its ".edu" stature (meaning it had to be a place of education)
"Euthanasia" 30 November 2008. Wikimedia Foundation Inc, United States. 07 December 2008. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Euthanasia>
Though in the past, Wikipedia has been a very risky option for students, this particle article has been 'protected' by the website, therefore it could be considered a legitimate source. Also, Wikipedia was never mentioned as being forbidden.
Wikipedia is an online encyclopedia, with roughly ten millions articles, all written by volunteer. as always, the articles starts out with a brief breakdown of the word, "euthanasia" literally means "good death" in Ancient Greek, and then continues on to describing its history.
An online encyclopedia is particularily handy while writing a researh paper because of its lack of bias. Wikipedia is very useful, because it provides both sides of the arguement so one could see both ends of the spectrum.
two:
Young, Robert. "Voluntary Euthanasia" 2008. Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. 07 December 2008 <http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/euthanasia-voluntary/>
Many difficult words, repeating same opinions and the sheer length all contribute to the article's thickness. It is a very indecisive article, first arguing for euthanasia, then arguing against, but it does give multiple vaild points for each side.
I would believe Stanford's online encyclopedia to be a very reliable source because of its reputation and its ".edu" stature (meaning it had to be a place of education)
Wednesday, December 3, 2008
no these voices are real
Thanksgiving break was successful, in terms of pages read. Long car rides and quiet time led to lots of boredom, and as a result I devoured about a third of my book.
Smith has begun to dive into the more analytical portion of his book, shying away from his own family problems (occupying the first two chapters or so.) In chapter three, he starts to analyze other texts, and ironically enough, one of the novels he chooses to use is Homer’s The Iliad. Smith uses the soldiers in The Iliad to research his idea of voice hearing even further. He tries to prove that the “gods and goddesses” the characters pray to, are really just voices inside the character’s head.
As interesting as Smith’s idea was, I don’t really feel it was all that plausible. The gods and goddesses can’t be hallucinations of wounded soldiers, because Homer writes scenes involving the not so elusive gods, and naturally the reader wouldn’t assume that the characters made up the gods. Smith seems slightly desperate. He quite wants to prove his point, and seems to be grasping onto that could possibly help him. This section, truthfully, was a bit like reading a high schooler’s timed essay; it has a fine idea, and you can sort of weed out the good points, but it’s very disorganized and seems as though the student was panicking about the lack of time and just threw a bunch of points into the essay, hoping they would make sense. I just wish Smith proof read this section one more time, and added more to his supporting reasons.
Smith has begun to dive into the more analytical portion of his book, shying away from his own family problems (occupying the first two chapters or so.) In chapter three, he starts to analyze other texts, and ironically enough, one of the novels he chooses to use is Homer’s The Iliad. Smith uses the soldiers in The Iliad to research his idea of voice hearing even further. He tries to prove that the “gods and goddesses” the characters pray to, are really just voices inside the character’s head.
As interesting as Smith’s idea was, I don’t really feel it was all that plausible. The gods and goddesses can’t be hallucinations of wounded soldiers, because Homer writes scenes involving the not so elusive gods, and naturally the reader wouldn’t assume that the characters made up the gods. Smith seems slightly desperate. He quite wants to prove his point, and seems to be grasping onto that could possibly help him. This section, truthfully, was a bit like reading a high schooler’s timed essay; it has a fine idea, and you can sort of weed out the good points, but it’s very disorganized and seems as though the student was panicking about the lack of time and just threw a bunch of points into the essay, hoping they would make sense. I just wish Smith proof read this section one more time, and added more to his supporting reasons.
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