Mortality

[anaxcrosswords]

OK, a slightly maudlin topic for the time of year (apologies)... but it was just something that popped into my head. I'm in my mid 50s and reasonably healthy. I don't FEEL old, actually very young at heart, but I'm aware that old age isn't that far away now, and to be honest it terrifies me. The idea of not being able to look after myself properly, or becoming frail, or even senile. As it gets closer, I think about it more.
This is just an open question. Have you ever reached a point in your life when you fear old age, or do you not think about it? Or maybe you're 'old' now and laugh about the fears you used to have?

[Buenchico]

I've got my suicide pack of tablets in my kitchen cupboard. As soon I decide that I'm not enjoying life, I'll use it. No problem.

[Baldric]

Oh, go on then, I'll play.
I'm 66 now, in my younger days I was a Royal Marine for 20 years, taught me how to look after myself and stay fit, I still live by those rules today and am doing ok.
So no, I don't fear old age, I take each day as it comes.

[Jahulaye]

What is a suicide pack buenchico?

[Mamyalynne]

^ Enough tablets.

[Mamyalynne]

There have been times when things that ail me make me afraid of a deep decline but so far I have managed to bounce (though not always energetically) back into being able to cope.

I think the fear is natural but we mustn't let it be more than a few fleeting thoughts.

[kvalidir]

I'm very young actually but even as a child I was always acutely aware of my own ( and everyone else's) mortality. I remember in passing on here when I was about 14 or so mentioning it and everyone assumed that I was depressed or suicidal for some reason but i'm not, i'm just very aware that I will one day die. there will be a last time for everything, a last walk, a last cup of tea, the last person to smile at me, and that does make me feel slightly awestruck and as though I'm missing something important that I ought to be taking more notice of, but I can't say it frightens me, because if my end is quick then wonderful, and if it is not and is unpleasant I might very possibly deal with the situation myself if I'm no longer having a nice time, either way we're finite from the moment we're born, and dying, sad though it is is just a part of living. It's worth mentioning as well that old people who are unable to care for themselves are not necessarily a burden, people have value in their own right and simply being able to do as much as you once did ought not to diminish that at all, I value a lot of older people for who they are now, who I'm sure wish they were younger themselves. xx

[nailit]

As an ex religious fundamentalist, I was once terrified of getting old and dying without 'God'. Now (at 51 and an atheist) death doesn't faze me at all. However, the thought of being reliant on others for my care (sanitation etc) is a bit daunting but not overwhelming. Que sera sera and all that. Given my lifestyle, its unlikely that I will even make old age so why bother worrying about it?

[Buenchico]

Death doesn't bother me either, Nailit. (I see death as 'nothingness' and I can't understand how anyone can be afraid of 'nothing'). The only thing that I worry about (but only very slightly) is the thought of being left disabled by a stroke and unable to end it all.

[jennyjoan]

take it from me Ana - old age is not good - how can it be if you can't do the things you use to do.

[anaxcrosswords]

Death itself doesn't scare me at all. I'm just frightened... no, apprehensive, about losing my ability to function properly.

[douglas9401]

According to a friend of mine in the medical world, 10 paracetamol is enough to do the job, any more and you stand the chance of throwing them up but doing irreperable damage to vital organs so end up worse off than when you chose to end it all.

Merry Christmas.

[Jackdaw33]

I shall be 69 in a week's time and have not been in good health for the past three years, though these days I am getting slightly better. I lost my younger brother four years ago at the age of sixty, and his eldest son, my nephew, a year later, at the age of 39. Death comes to us all and I do not dwell on the subject. My only fear is that if I become so incapacitated I have to go into a home. That prospect fills me with dread and death would be a merciful release.

[anneasquith]

Douglas, I'm no doctor, but your estimation of 10 paracetamol maybe questionable.

[douglas9401]

Not my estimation, Anne, just what I was told.

[Buenchico]

^^^ There are better tablets to use but the key thing to do is to take antiemitc tablets at the same time. Without them the death rate from a tablet overdose is only around 2%.

[Jahulaye]

I’ve taken over 10 with alcohol when I had a toothache and I’m still here ( not that I wanted to end my life, just the pain )

[Baldric]

24g of Paracetamol is generally accepted to be a fatal dose. The lowest amount of Paracetamol to cause death was found by one study to be 10g. As for Paracetamol of 500mg per tablet, it is generally recommended to take no more than 8 tablets (500mg) within 24 hours, and 24 to 30 tablets taken at one time can lead to overdose or even death.
https://www.quora.com/How-much-paracetamol-can-kill-a-man

[anneasquith]

My apology Douglas I misread the post .

[Peter Pedant]

// According to a friend of mine in the medical world, 10 paracetamol is enough to do the job,//

well he cant have tried it quite honestly

this is 5g - which may or may not have been fatal in the odd case

The loading dose ( as I dont mind saying again as I am continually ignored on this site ) is 40 mg/kg which for a 100 kg man is 4g and this is only 25% more - nothing like enough.

my life expectancy is so short I have no fear of old age or prolonged incapacity at all

[Peter Pedant]

thank you baldric
I wasnt expecting anyone else to notice that the paracetamol dose given above for is little more than a snifter to a heavy adult