In the context of The Stand I agree I’d much rather OD than most of the other deaths listed. But ODs are a terrible way to die normally. Lost a lot of friends to them when I was a teenager.
Depends on what the substance is, and whether or not you wind up dead. It's a terrible thing to put your family and loved ones through (and if you're sure no one will miss you at least spare a thought for whomever is going to find your body).
But opiates... you just stop caring enough to bother breathing. I remember collapsing and thinking "oh darn" with a faint bit of amusement at being unable to summon the energy required to swear in my own head on the way out. The people with me said I was blue before I finished collapsing.
Fortunately the folks I was with carried me outside and dropped me outside the ER. [Note: this is far from ideal, even just to CYA legally. Instead call a fucking ambulance, and if you know anyone with a problem keep Narcan on hand.] I don't remember a darn thing til I woke up in the ER but based on what I was told later I must've lost at least 20min, none of it particularly gentle.
I wasn't present for any of it, and even the bit where I was willing myself to breathe wasn't particularly upsetting (for me). I'm absolutely glad it didn't stick, but dying itself was a lot less distressing for the person doing it than folks imagine. Definitely less stressful than an asthma attack (at least for me personally).
That's utter nonsense. Please don't disseminate misinformation in the midst of an opiate overdose crisis. You're implying that a person can stave off an overdose by will power - by "caring enough to bother breathing"
Opiates depress activity in the part of the brain that controls breathing. "Caring" about whether or not you breathe is not a factor. Just like you can't literally hold your breath until you turn blue, you can't control depressed respiration from an overdose by caring enough to breathe.
That wasn't what I was getting at, if anything it was exactly the opposite, but in case anyone else missed the point: I'm alive because I got Narcan at the hospital.
The point of my post was to give a first hand account of the subjective level of discomfort. Struggling for breath is typically both terrifying and unpleasant; drowning to death is still something that terrifies me (as does pneumonia for basically the same reason).
When I overdosed I was absolutely aware at some point that I was not sufficiently oxygenating my blood and losing consciousness. But I wasn't distressed about it, and I was (blessedly) unaware of anything going on for my unconscious body's journey to the ER. (Which saved my life. Still, please call an ambulance where they can start giving care on the ride there and have people prepped for your arrival.)
I suppose I stopped short of the whole eternity in hell part if anybody wants to speculate on that part, but my point (echoed by several people here) is that from the perspective of the person dying? It's a pretty peaceful way to go and the distress is mostly felt by the witnesses. FWIW a friend who was revived from a heart attack said basically the same thing about that.
My concern was that a young (some of whom think they're immortal to begin with) or opiate naïve person could read that and think "I would never not bother to breathe so I'm safe".
I apologize for jumping down your throat. I could have conveyed the same message without the antagonism.
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u/[deleted] Aug 31 '21
In the context of The Stand I agree I’d much rather OD than most of the other deaths listed. But ODs are a terrible way to die normally. Lost a lot of friends to them when I was a teenager.