Terry Pratchett - Choosing to Die

How we as a society treat the subject of death is almost entirely unquestioned and unexplored. We are, essentially, in denial about it - our attitude is that since we don't want to die, we should put it off as long as possible no matter the consequences.

In this documentary Terry Pratchett discusses his Alzheimer's and how it is slowly eroding away his life and his talent. He meets others with medical conditions which will inevitably lead to a prolonged, painful and above all undignified death and asks the question "is it better to end things early?" There are few answers here. Pratchett is on a genuine mission of inquiry, he's not preaching a position, nor does he end up with an opinion. Instead he takes a frank look at a subject most shy away from, and his only real conclusion is that we'd perhaps do well to think it through more than we do now.

Be warned, towards the end of the documentary he accompanies a man to a Swiss clinic where he chooses to end his own life. This is not depicted in any kind of voyeuristic way, but both Pratchett and the camera do sit right there in the room with him and watches him die in cold, unflinching detail.

Perhaps most shocking is the statistic that, of the 2200 or so lives this clinic has helped to end, 21% of them were people with no medical condition whatsoever beyond what they termed a "weariness for life". Make of that what you will.