The gentle sound of children laughing and playing in the nearby park wafted over a cool autumn breeze. Summer was now over and the cold clutches of winter would soon be upon the city. Sitting by the window, the ex-athlete looked at the scene with distaste.

One year ago, on a day much like this one, Hikaru Motoyama lost one of the most precious gifts life had to offer: mobility. Paralyzed from the neck down, Hikaru now spends every day following the same routine of looking out the window for hours on end, then being rolled into the living room to “spend time with the family.” Only after everyone has become tired can the day come to its end.

But dreams are often more painful than the 20 hours of consciousness that assault the young person’s mind. Hikaru’s dreams often involve running in national cross country events, or hiking through the thick forests that cover the mountains. The sheer exhilaration from being active and enjoying the euphoric state of immortality that so often clouds the judgment of youth is often too much for the disabled athlete to bear.

How often should someone awake in tears before relief is granted? How many hours must I sit and stare out the window in complete boredom before I can finally drift into oblivion?

With a resigned shake of the head, Hikaru was resigned to yet another day of inactivity. Plans to escape to Switzerland would have to wait for another day … another time.

Considered taboo in almost every country and culture across the globe, it’s a subject that has started to gain more attention as people look to escape the reality fate has handed them. I speak, of course, of doctor assisted suicide. Once referred to as “mercy killing”, assisted suicide has a long history in many countries. Until as recently as the 19th century, this was considered an acceptable form of ending someone’s pain and suffering when they became too old or too sick. However, with the advances in medical science and the introduction of social medical programs, euthanizing the enfeebled or infirmed became a big no-no, much to the dismay of those who found themselves trapped in a world full of pain, suffering and never-ending anguish.

Although most of us have never had to watch a loved one live through this kind of tragically tortuous existence, just the thought of witnessing such a cruel twist of fate can be sobering enough to let us truly appreciate the freedom we have, even when struggling with a serious case of influenza. But how do some people react when they are sitting in a chair day-in and day-out? What thoughts do they think that seem to make suicide a viable option? What are the arguments that people make in an effort to keep their friends and family breathing under potentially difficult circumstances?

Religion Forbids It

Religion is a powerful motivator for anyone that has even the slightest amount of faith. Regardless of what theology a person might believe in, whether it’s right or wrong, having faith that we are all part of something grander can bring a lot of comfort to a person. However, there are some restrictions.

Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own, you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body (1 Corinthians 6:19-20).

Although this law is from the New Testament of the Christian Bible, the statement is universal in nature. In no religion will a person find suicide a viable option for ending our lives. Sure, there are examples in various religious texts of people performing mercy killings for various reasons, but this doesn’t seem to apply in today’s world. For this reason, the simple act of eliminating ourselves from the world has become an act punishable by eternity either in Hell or a Purgatory that lasts until the end of time. Depending on the person, both of these situations would likely amount to the very same thing.

On top of this, people who are from a family with strong religious beliefs will hear that committing suicide is no different than giving up on God and rejecting the gifts He has given us over the course of our lifetime. There are several examples of people in every religious text that show a person who was stripped of everything and forced to eke out a meager existence while battling plague after plague, only to have everything returned to him at the end. The example of Job comes immediately to mind, in that he lost everything through a “bet” between God and the Devil.

Family Forbids It

One of the hardest things for a parent to watch is the slow death of a child. This is a life-changing event that can cause excruciating heart-ache and suffering, not only for the parents, but for everyone that had ever been close to the person. Often times, a victim who asks someone to “pull the plug” will be met with scorn and told to think happier thoughts, even if this isn’t possible.

The most common argument here is that a person’s death will be hard for the family regardless of when a person finally passes away, so it would be better for everyone involved to accept the grief and loss so that the healing process can begin sooner. However, regardless of how well someone phrases the reasoning, it’s still an incredibly selfish request. To ask another person to help you in ending existence is burdening that person with the knowledge that they took another human life. Not just any life, either, but the life of someone they cared about. This can often do much more harm than good, as it often results in lasting psychological trauma and an unhealthy fear of death.

But What About Me?

Yet despite the seemingly selfish desire to walk towards the light sooner rather than later, a common problem for people who are often confined to their minds is that they are left with far too much time to think and over-analyze their situation. As a result, the negative aspects of a new disability or limitation can become enough to drive some people into amazingly deep depressions, or to countries like Switzerland, where doctor assisted suicide has become a tolerated practice. And, when you look at it from a disconnected point of view, can you blame them?

If we were to stand on a crowded street and watch the sea of people walking by we would quickly come to a few conclusions: most people are generally happy when they’re outside, and many people are unaware of their surroundings thanks to the countless distractions we all have in our ever-busy lives. Faced with a limitation that we’re not happy with, seeing even a small percentage of people enjoying themselves would be enough to inspire feelings of jealousy, rage, and frustration. Depending on a person’s mental strength, this could result in feelings of despair or disconnection with the world they’ve come to know and love.

Perception is very important in our lives and, if it’s taken away or drastically changed, we often feel as though we’re treading water in the middle of some endless ocean.

But is this justification for self-cannon?

Better for Society?

A few years ago a man had created a blog that discussed how he was coping with the fact that he would never again be able to walk. Victim of a hit-and-run, he would forever be confined to a wheelchair when moving from place to place. For the first few weeks, his posts were generally upbeat. He had some plans to create an online business and work from home, investing the insurance money that he was paid into something that would bring him and his community some joy. Unfortunately, within a few months, his posts had started to become much more negative. It wasn’t long before he viewed himself as little more than a drain on society. Although the site has long-since disappeared, his post about population over-crowding struck a nerve with several hundred people who felt compelled to leave a comment.

In the post, he wrote that with the current food shortages around the world and the oncoming housing shortages in several of the major cities, people should be given the option as to whether they want to continue drawing resources, or if they would like to “relieve the strain” caused by consuming limited resources. Naturally this remark ignited a massive firestorm with people from all over the world resulting in comments ranging from agreement to absolute disgust with a little dramatic flair thrown in for good measure. Regardless of how we might view the situation, you cannot argue the hard logic that if there are fewer people drawing on food, medicine, hospitals, and houses, then there would be more for others who might need the resources more.

That said; humans should never apply hard logic to their lives because the world just doesn’t work that way.

Who Are We To Judge?

There have been quite a few arguments as to whether legal systems around the world should let people take their own life, and it has resulted in some pretty interesting conversations. However, regardless of whether something is considered legal or not, people who are truly distraught about their current situation will still follow their emotions … regardless of where it might lead them.

Several science-fiction novels have examined planned life-spans and “suicide booths” where people could remove themselves from the picture for just the cost of electricity, but these were often presented as the result of some cataclysmic world event such as global famine. Will society ever accept either of these ideas as a means of population control or as ways to escape our lives?

Only time will tell.

What are your thoughts on this touchy subject? Is this something that should be decided by individuals, families, religions, or courts of law?