Suicide partners found each other on the internet

Last week the UK news channels reported the suicide deaths of two people who had linked up via the internet. They had apparently swapped information about how to commit suicide and then met and died together in a car. This seems like an incredible use for the internet to most people - but what do YOU think about this? How do you feel when you hear a story like this hitting the headlines? Do you think that the internet should be more restricted when it comes to how people are now using it for activities which in the past would have seemed impossible not to mention taboo.

Death Tax

There is a lot of comment around today about the possibilities of the Labour party bringing in a Death Tax! Sounds pretty horrible, even if the details seem to be far from finalised.

What do you think?

Is a death tax the answer to the issues around care for the elderly and infirm in our society?

Sudden death, or terminal illness

I am interested to know of your experiences - either having lost a loved one very suddenly, or lived in the knowledge that someone close to you was, or maybe is dying. Please comment, anonymously of course if you prefer, to get across feelings - or any other information about how you dealt with, or are dealing with one of these death situations. For example, is it true that when you are living with someone you know is dying, that you do much of your grieving 'up front'; or how does coping with terminal illness affect later memories of that person? And with sudden death - do you feel there are long term effects which maybe are not apparent (perhaps due to shock?) at the time of death, with later cause a reaction?

Thank you to those who feel able to share their experiences here.

Do we have any choice about when we die?

You sometimes hear tales of people 'hanging on' to see someone, before they finally take their last breath; say when people have travelled from afar to visit someone on their deathbed. Do others reading this have any experience of that happening? Could it possibly be there are circumstances in which people can subconsciously 'time' their own death? What do you think?

Funeral etiquette

Funerals are never going to be happy events, but in recent years they have perhaps become less formal - with people emphasising the celebration of life, and in some cases introducing a humanist delivery, rather than reverting to the traditional Vicar and religion without any true meaning to the non-believers out there. Handpainted coffins, children's poems, friends' memories, and a whole variety of music all now often play a part in the end of life ceremony.

Have you any tales to tell, or experiences of an unusual send off?

Indeed, do you have any ideas about your own funeral - how you would like it to be, whether you want to play any part in planning it, songs or readings you may have chosen for the 'event'. Please do share with us your thoughts.

Have you made a will?

Apparently over 60% of people have not made a will, even though we all know that it is best, and helps our nearest and dearest when we die, meaning that the estate is distributed in a timely manner, in accordance with the deceased's wishes.

Why this gap in reality and common sense action?

Assisted suicide

I think things are beginning to change on this front. About time. There should be more choice, for those who want it.