A study on pathological gambling as an addiction

A study on pathological gambling as an addiction It has been found that between 70 to ninety percent of adults gamble at some point in their life. (Ladoucer, 1991). These figures are from Canada but can be genralised to most developed civilisations. According to the DSM criteria pathological gambling is am impulse control disorder, which is displayed by a persistent and uncontrolled gambling, failure to stop gambling, feeling withdrawal symptoms and uneasiness when not aloud to take part in a gambling activity and finally increased gambling. (ref). The increased availability of gambling opportunities often makes this a hard condition to recover from, as well as increasing the amount of people suffering from pathological gambling(ref). Pathological gambling causes the obvious financial problems (ref), but like any other addiction it causes social problems as well (ref). Along with this pathological gambling has been linked in some cases to higher rates of suicide attempts (ref). Pathological gambling is classified as a behavioural addiction, rather than a chemical addiction. Although seemingly different these both manifest in the same way, that is the enduring engagement in uncontrolled self-destructive behaviour, despite its negative consequences (ref). There are many different theories of behavioural addiction, in particular pathological gambling and how it should be treated, which will be critically reviewed and considered. It would seem that in the seemingly distant past psychodynamic approaches such as those put forward by Freud and Bergler were prevalent. Since then many approaches and theories to the causes of pathological gambling have been found, these models include; the medical model, some behavioural models, psychological models, cognitive behavioural approaches and of coarse biological, physiological and models of personality. Some of these models are reviewed and considered in greater depth. To start with psychodynamic approaches will be looked at. As is commonly known amongst academic community, these approaches are relatively old, mostly carried out in the early 1900s. Due to the age of these theories and the pace at which theories are changed these psychodynamic approaches may seem quite irrelevant. It is important to gain an understanding of this area as some theories take a basis from psychodynamic approaches. According to the psychodynamic approach, gambling is a way of expressing feelings connected with the pre-genital psychosexual stages (Greenson). In true psychodynamic style pathological gamblers often feel that they have been denied the attention and love they deserved from their parents and as a result need erotic satisfaction, which in tern seems to create a need for excitement and pleasure, as well as a promise of gain. According to psychodynamic theories gambling caters for these needs (Simmel 1920). So in a nut shell gambling is a substitute for feelings of subconscious sexual conflicts. Arguably the founder of psychodynamics, Freud (1928), reported that gamblers do not play to win money, quite the opposite. In fact Freud states that gamblers gamble to loose in order to provide a self-inflicted punishment for the guilt carried with an over compulsion to masturbate, which can be related to an Oedipal conflict. This idea put forward by Freud seems quite masochistic, in the way that that the gambler is actually taking part to loose and there for punish themselves. Bergler (1967) agreed with Freud in the respect that a gambler unconsciously desires to lose. Bergler had a different opinion on why compulsive gamblers get addicted. This is that in their unconscious they dislike authority figures, who during childhood, made them consider the reality pleasure instead of the pleasure principle. These could be parental figures or teachers. This unconscious feeling causes them to try and almost rebel against the people who support the reality p rinciple as well as he principle its self, this in turn causes a need to punish themselves as a bi-product of having too much built up unconscious aggression. So far only the very surface of the psychodynamic approach towards pathological gambling has been looked at. In summary according to the psychodynamic approach there seems to be three ideas to explain pathological gambling an unconscious substitute for pre-genital libidinal and aggressive outlets associated with Oedipal conflicts, a desire for punishment in reaction to the guilt, and a means for recurrent re-enactments, but not resolutions, of the conflict (Allcock, 1986, p. 262). So these being the main ideas a treatment plan can be called upon. Treatments of pathological gamblers offered by the psychodynamic approach are concerned with the narcissistic personality and the related characteristics. Psychoanalysis has been used in an attempt to try and help pathological gamblers, but in most cases have failed. Berglers (1957) study is one of the more classic studies and showed a 75% rate of success. This though was only based on 30% of the overall group looking for treatment, meaning that it was in fact a lot lower than 75%. Another issue is the lack of follow up treatment given, with no information given about possible relapses. This is not the only study where this is the case. In a review Greenberg (1980) stated Effectiveness rates of gamblers treated psychoanalytically have ranked from poor to guarded optimism. This simply means that results are not very good or are shadowed by other factors, such as selection bias and lack of follow ups. It would seem that a lot of the studies and journals available to view for the psycho dynamic approach deal with small sample sizes and do not have important experimental factors, such as control groups. This causes problems with generalisability and also shows why the psychodynamic approach was disregarded as a treatment for behavioural conditions, this coupled with their lack of consideration for social factors. The next theory that will be looked at is the disease or medical model. This is often seen as a very black and white model (Blume, 1987), meaning that its ether on or off, someone either has a condition or they dont, there is no in-between. Every condition is viewed as a disease. So in terms of pathological gambling, the gambler is pathological or quite simply is not. The disease model, as the name suggests, views pathological gambling as a disease and so the cause is physiological, and pathological gamblers are often predisposed. According to Blume, being a disease, addictive conditions, such as gambling, manifests through stages of development, has signs characteristic to the condition and has symptoms, much like a disease. This is all out of the persons conscious control, not so different to the psychodynamic ideas. This concept of a disease suggest that the condition worsens, which will eventually require treatment in order to prevent worsening. It is thought that the physiological underpinning means that there is no out right cure and that it is irreversible. This means that according to the disease model that the most appropriate treatment is abstinence, similar to that of alcohol (ref). This seems like an odd treatment, as it would suggests that there is in fact no real way of recovering, just a treatment. This model is not used so much now(refbig paper), but is more of a halfway house with other theories, such as the biological explanations of pathological gambling. The biological approach to pathological gambling is, in relative terms a rather new theory. It is made up of many components to try and explain different aspects of pathological gambling. These all make the same assumption that a physiological cause is behind addiction, much like both the psychodynamic and the disease model. The first aspect with in the biological approach to be considered is that of hemispheric dysregulation (Goldstein et al, 1985). By comparing EEG patterns of recovered pathological gamblers, Goldstein observe that pathological gamblers EEG readings where similar to those of patients suffering with ADHD (Carlton and Goldstein, 1987). This means that they had a shorter attention span, frontal lobe lesions. This is also very similar to findings of alcoholism which have also led to more reported symptoms of ADHD symptoms with in the population of problem gamblers (Rugle and Melamed, 1993). This all seems very convincing, but the original 1985 study by Goldstein was only carried out on eight participants, such a small study provides problems with generalisability. Other suggestions are that it is connected to faults in the neurotransmitter systems (Blanco et al, 2000). This includes the Serotoneric system, which as the name suggests holds the function of serotonin release. If this is not functioning, to a healthy level, then psychiatric syndromes, such as impaired impulse control, can become present. This has been linked with pathological gambling (Blanco et al, 1996). Later research by Berg et al (1997) failed to support these findings, stating in the following wel used quote, risk-taking does not have a unitary neurochemical correlate. If risk-taking is a form of loss of control over impulse, it follows that impulse control is not merely a simple function of the neural serotonin systems. (p.475). Links have also be found in DNA, supporting the biological idea Perez de Castro (1999). According to Brunner et al (1993) these is a link between genetic deficit coding and impulsivity, possibly providing a good explanation. The increased release of Dopamine has also been linked to pathological gambling (Berg et al 2007), this is much like a positive reinforcement. It can though also be linked to a negative inforcment, with more gambling causing a withdrawal, which creates the release of more dopamine, not unlike that of an opiate withdrawal (Berg, 1997). The evidence for the biological approach seems quite strong. There is a few outstanding issues that need to be looked at. For example almost all of the above studies use male participants. This creates an issue as whether they can be used with women. The samples are also very small in most cases. The main problem that can be observed in all the studies in this area is whether the biological processes cause the addiction of the addiction its self, causes these biological processes. So as can be seen the medical/disease model and the biological model are both very similar but can be separated in the way that the biological model believes that pathological gambling can be treated with certain drugs. So far all models, with the exception of psychodynamic, have been based on biological internal processes. The cognitive social learning and behavioural theories are based on external and behavioural processes. The learning theories suggest that gambling is a learned behaviour that has resulted from both operant and classical conditioning. According to the behavioural view point there are a mixture of different positive reinforcement these are, the amount of money that is won (Moran, 1979), excitement gained (Brown, 1986). Obviously there are also negative reinforcement, namely the escapism that gambling can produce (Diskin, 1997). Some how though theses models dont seem complete. They can not explain punishments, like the cost of gambling, as discouraging to the gambler, which using a classic behavioural model it would be. Despite this, studies into using behavioural theories of addiction as treatment have been very successful. Behavioral treatment studies have, however, provided some of the most comprehensive treatment literature on PG. Treatments based on learning principles (i.e., behavior modification) have involved aversion therapy using physical or imaginal stimuli (Barker; Barker and Goorney), controlled gambling/behavioral counseling (Dickerson Weeks, 1979), positive reinforcement of gambling abstinence, paradoxical intention (Victor Krug, 1967), covert sensitization (Bannister and Cotler), and imaginal desensitization (McConaghy, Armstrong, Blaszczynski, Allcock, 1983). These have been administered singularly or in combination. However, due to methodological shortcomings in such studies, it is difficult to assess how effective these treatments are. Most of these treatment studies have small sample sizes and limited follow-up periods. They have unspecified or poorly operationalized dependent variables/criteria for successful outcome or treatment objectives (Allcock, 1986). Also, there is usually a lack of controlled comparisons of one treatment with another or with a placebo procedure, or combinations of several techniques are used concurrently so that identification of the active component is impossible (Blaszczynski Silove, 1995).

Personal Reflection on the Loss of my Aunt

I have been very lucky in that I have not suffered the loss of an immediate family member or significant other; however, I have suffered the loss of a family member that was incredibly important to me during my childhood and with whom I was particularly close: my aunt. In this paper, I discuss this loss and my own process of grief.I present this process more-or-less chronologically, bringing up relevant theories of loss along the way. When I was young, my family lived a short distance away from my aunt and her family. Her son, my cousin, was about the same age as me, and we spent a lot of time together.During the summers, I was at their house every day, and we took extended vacations together every summer. During the school year, weekends were spent at her house, and it was often she who picked me up from school. Because we spent so much time together, we developed quite a close relationship. Later on, my family moved, but I called my aunt at least once a week, and I spent as much ti me as possible with her. In addition to being my godmother, she easily became my confidant, someone who I could talk to about anything, and I loved being able to spend time with her.The bad news about her diagnosis with cancer (a rare form of leukaemia) came when I was 13. The entire family rallied behind her. When she tried a macrobiotic diet, we all joined her. When doctors suggested a bone marrow transplant, everyone who was eligible got tested to see if they were a match. When she needed frequent blood transfusions, we all got our blood tested to see if our blood would be better for her than the supply in the blood bank. Throughout this whole process, the thought that my aunt could die never crossed my mind.I never even considered it as a possibility: even when she lost all her hair from chemotherapy, even when she lost too much weight, even when she was incredibly pale from anaemia. It is quite possible that my uncle, her primary caregiver, suffered from anticipatory grief, or grief suffered in anticipation of death. Mallon (2008) remarked that this type of grief can be experienced by the person who is dying as well as their family. When I moved away from home, I still talked to my aunt frequently. Every time I talked to her, she sounded in such good health.The last time I talked to her, she was being very active and had taken up playing tennis. I called her for her birthday, but she wasn’t home, so I left her a message on her answering machine wishing her happy birthday and saying that I would call her back. My life was very hectic at that time, and I didn’t get a chance to call her for a couple of days. Three days after her birthday, my mom called me and told me that my aunt was in the hospital with internal bleeding. She told me that it was serious and that I should try to come home to see my aunt. I got off the phone and bought a plane ticket for the next day.I called my mom back to tell her when I would arrive, and as I was talking to h er, she received the news that my aunt had died. I was in complete shock. I could not understand how this could have happened. I was on the phone with my mom, and I couldn’t say anything. One of my first reactions was feeling guilt. I felt so guilty for thinking that all my little stresses were so important that I couldn’t take five minutes to call my aunt and wish her a happy birthday. I wondered if my aunt knew how much I loved her and how much she meant to me. My mom stayed on the phone with me as long as she could, but she had other phone calls to make.I was geographically distanced from my family, and all I wanted to do was be with people who had known my aunt, who understood what a wonderful person she was, and who knew how much she meant to me. I called some friends, and they came over to keep me company. I am very grateful that they were there for me, but at the time, all I could think about was how much I wanted to be with my family. The next day, I flew to my aunt’s home town for the funeral. The whole extended family was there as were about a hundred of the people who knew her well. Because she was cremated, there was no visitation.While I respect this decision for cremation, I would have very much appreciated the chance to see my aunt one last time. At the church, in place of the coffin, there was a framed picture of my aunt in front of the urn carrying her ashes. The service was very personalized. Even if I had not considered the fact that my aunt might die, she and my uncle had put a lot of thought into her memorial service. They had chosen music that had meaning for them, including the song they first danced to at their wedding. This personalized service falls in line with a characteristic of modern-day Western memorials cited by Valentine (2006).The author mentions qualitative research that has shown that these memorials are â€Å"often creative and highly idiosynchratic [sic], reflecting the tastes and the emotions of the family involved† (Bradbury, 2001, p. 221; cited in Valentine, 2006). During the service, I noticed a lot of different grieving styles. Some, like myself, cried a lot. Others, like my grandmother, made a concerted effort not to cry (or at least not to let anyone see them cry). My grandmother actually wore sunglasses in the church so that no one could see her tears. At the time, I wondered why she did not want anyone to witness her sorrow.After all losing a child (even one who is grown up) must be one of the greatest losses one could experience. Immediately after the service, there was a reception at the church. All of my aunt’s friends and colleagues from her work came and introduced themselves to the family and spoke about how wonderful a person my aunt was. At the time, I found this ritual to be a bit strange. I wanted to go back to her house and be with my family. Looking back on this experience, however, I see that these people wanted us to know how influential a pe rson my aunt was outside of the context in which we best knew her.They also wanted to be there to support us in our time of sorrow. Now, I am very appreciative of their kind thoughts. When we returned to my aunt’s house, I noticed a huge collection of butterflies flying around her front porch. This was such an odd occurrence that I now always associate butterflies with my aunt. Whenever I see a butterfly, I think of my aunt and imagine that she is watching over me. This association came later in the grieving process and is an example of what has been termed continuing bonds. At the house, someone had laid out plates and plates of food.There was even more food (including seven hams) in the refrigerator and freezer. At the time, the last thing any of us could think about was eating, and I thought how bizarre it is that when someone dies, friends and neighbours rush over with casseroles and hams. After reflecting upon this experience, it seems that this is their way of showing t hey care. While they cannot really do anything to ease our suffering, they can at least ensure that the family has all of their material needs so that they can focus their attention on the grieving process.The family gathered around albums of photos. We told stories about my aunt. This reminiscing meant a lot to me. At last, I had a chance to talk to people who knew my aunt. We told stories about all of the great summer vacations, about all of the times my aunt caught us kids doing things we weren’t supposed to be doing, about all of her volunteer work, about all of the kids she had mentored, about what she was like as a young girl, about how she met my uncle, and about how she and my mom became best friends. All of these stories were very therapeutic for me.They gave me further knowledge about my aunt and solidified my conception of her as being a defining influence on my life. Although I wasn’t quite ready to accept the fact that she was gone, I was beginning to real ize that she would never really be gone because her existence had marked me as a person. How I lived my life was a reflection of her. Without her, I would not be who I am now. The way in which I look at this is another example of a continuing bond, though this one is more intangible than the butterflies mentioned above.Now that I am fully able to embrace this idea, I feel that I have moved through the grieving process, at least for the primary loss of my aunt. I still have not, however, fully dealt with the secondary loss. After my aunt’s death, my uncle (my godfather) distanced himself from our family. Perhaps we remind him too much of his wife. Perhaps he feels that he has no connection to us without her as she was our blood relative. I, however, will always consider him to be part of my family, and I am a bit angry that he doesn’t want to continue having a relationship with me.Valentine (2006) remarks that bereavement has been traditionally marginalized and that the primary goal of grief counselling has been the severing of ties and attachments with the deceased. This is the type of thought that underlies many of the different â€Å"stages of grief† theories. One example of a â€Å"stages of grief theory† is that of Kubler-Ross. Kubler-Ross (1997) developed a five-stage model for the grief process: denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance. Another example is Parkes’s three phases of grief, modelled on the four-phase model of Bowlby.Each of these theories seems to conceive of grief as a linear process: there are stages that an individual must pass through on the way to accepting, or adjusting to, their loss. For me at least, these theories do not describe my own experience of dealing with grief. For example, I never passed through the denial, anger, and bargaining phases of Kubler-Ross’s model. One model that resonates well with my own experiences is Bowlby’s four stages of grief (1980). In an ear lier work, Bowlby outlined his theory of attachment, whereby individuals develop emotional bonds with others.Death disrupts this attachment bond, and the bereaved then passes through four phases: numbness and disbelief, yearning and searching, disorganization and despair, and reorganization (Bowbly, 1980). In my experience, I had definitely developed an attachment bond with my aunt. When my mom first told me that my aunt had died, I was in disbelief. I began to pass through the second stage immediately after the funeral. At first I was not able to sit still, I simultaneously wanted to be in my aunt’s home with my family and to walk in the woods around her house alone.All of the reminiscing my family did gave me an outlet for my preoccupations with thoughts of my aunt. Once I returned home, her death really hit me (stage three). I was once again geographically distanced from my family, and I was beginning to realize that I would never have the chance to talk to my aunt again, to ask for advice, and to go for walks on the beach. Eventually, I was able to get to stage four through the acknowledgment of continuing bonds. Klass, Silverman, and Nickman (1996) presented the idea of continuing bonds.This model contrasts traditional notions of bereavement in that it does not emphasize completely detaching oneself from the deceased. By creating continuing bonds, the bereaved can continue to have a sort of relationship with their loved one after death. For me, I have developed two continuing bonds with my aunt. The first is whenever I see a butterfly, I think of my aunt and imagine her looking out for me. These moments allow me to reflect, at least briefly, on the course of my life and question whether I am holding to the ethical and moral principles she instilled in me.The second continuing bond is related to the first. I acknowledge the fact that part of who I am is a result of her influence. I know the kind of person she was, and I turned to her so many times f or advice, that I can still hear her voice inside my head and I know what she would say to me. Both of these continuing bonds illustrate Klass, Silverman, and Nickman’s (1996) concept of continuing bonds as active relationships, as opposed to static memories. In conclusion, grieving is a complex process that every individual will experience differently.An individual’s process will be determined by their relationship with the deceased, the support of family and friends, cultural and societal factors, and how they are able to re-interpret their relationship with the deceased. Scholars from many different fields have developed different models for the grieving process. For me, the model that fit the best was Bowlby’s attachment theory and four phases of grief. Continuing bonds, as described by Klass, Silverman, and Nickman, was essential for me to move through the grieving process.ReferencesBowlby, J. (1980). Loss: Sadness & Depression. London: Hogarth Press. Hooym an, N. R. & Kramer, B. J. (2006).Living through Loss: Interventions across the Life Span. New York: Columbia University Press. Klass, D. , Silverman, P. R. , & Nickman, S. Continuing Bonds: New Understandings of Grief. London: Taylor & Francis. Kubler-Ross, E. (1997).On Death and Dying. New York: Scribner. Mallon, B. (2008).Dying, Death and Grief. Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications. Valentine, C. (2006).Academic constructions of bereavement. Mortality, 1 (11), 57-78.

Informative Synthesis: Environmentalism

Creating a Sustainable Environment Every day our environment is ravaged by emissions, littered on by billions of people, and carelessly treated with unlimited sources. Environmentalists like Bill Mckibben, scholar at Middle berry College and author of the article â€Å"The Challenge to Environmentalism,† believe that â€Å"the relationship between people and the natural world has been largely taken for granted for most of human history† (500).Although environmentalism to some people mean driving less, establishing solar panels, recycling and more; Kate Zernike, reporter for the New York Times and author of â€Å"Green, Greener, Greenest,† informs us about college campus’s taking shortcuts in claiming they’re â€Å"environmentally friendly. † There are environmentalists and deans attempting to make a difference in our environment, but Michael Pollan – a professor of science and environmental journalism at the University of California â €“ asks the question, why bother with trying to cure climate change?Our Environment is an important aspect of human lives, and should be taken care of like our own children. Our concepts of environmentalism, the way we conduct ourselves in everyday life, and our battle with climate change and environmentalism economically are all factors of a hazardous home we will soon live in. Environmentalism is considered â€Å"a hollow concept,† argues Zernike, through the purchasing of offsets she believes it’s â€Å"the environmental equivalent of paying someone to eat broccoli so you can keep eating ice cream† (505).Offsets are credits sold by companies, specifically green companies to invest in planting trees or renewable energy. What Zernike means by this is it’s not ethically permissible to give someone money to help the environment while you personally continue to pollute it, especially when that money given to the company doesn’t always go towards funding the struggle for carbon neutrality. Pollan agrees with Zernike’s argument, the infinite cycle of repairing what we’re damaging, keeping us at a standstill for carbon neutrality and climate change for years to come.Pollan knows that â€Å"halfway around the world their lives my evil twin . . . who’s itching to replace every last pound of CO2 I’m trying not to emit† (509). Although Pollan doesn’t argue about offsets, he provides an example of double effect environmentally; that if walking to work increases your appetite and causes you to consume more meat or milk as a result, walking might actually emit more carbon than driving Mckibben on the other hand looks at the more general picture of environmentalism, how humans have had effected the environment we currently live within and around.Mckibben doesn’t disagree with Zernike and Pollan on environmentalism, he believes the relations we have with nature have been taken for grante d. Mckibben doesn’t even call environmentalism in that name itself, instead personally renaming as the Global Warming Movement. Mckibben argues that people believe wildness is less important than community. Environmentalists today prioritize building windmills over protecting our wildlife from their blades.These small choices we make will be the difference in how our world will be perceived in the future. After taking into consideration of the billions of people on our planet, we come to realize how large of an impact the way we live has on our world. Our daily life too many environmentalists are considered a virus to earth as a whole. Mckibben argues that â€Å"we had a great effect on particular places around us [such as] our fields and forests† (500). Cutting down forests changes hydrological cycles, environmental patterns, and habitat patterns.Although deforestation is a priority to prevent, Zernike is focusing on changing the concepts of our lives to improve our e nvironment. After claiming that going green is good for a college campus’s public image, Zernike tells us about the efforts students make in revolutionizing the way students learn, consume, and sleep. Although changes such as installing windmills, evolving trash bins to composts, and using biodegradable eating utensils are significant efforts to change the way we live, Michael Pollan argues that this all doesn’t matter.Pollan continues to assess his argument that attempting to cure climate change is irrational, he tells us that â€Å"the ‘big problem’ is nothing more or less than the sum total of countless everyday choices, most made by us, most made by desires, needs, and preferences† (510). Everyone making these innumerable amount of choices against our environment suddenly expects laws and money to take action to fix it, Pollan argues that â€Å"it is no less accurate to say that laws and money cannot do enough, it will also take profound change s in the way we live,† changes that cannot be made by legislation or technology (510).Our economy cannot support replacing our carbon footprint. Pollan argues that we look to our leaders and money to save us from the situation we’ve gotten ourselves into. Cheap energy, which Pollan argues made specialization possible, gave us climate change, The mentality of specialization is causing people to believe and wait for a new technology to emerge and solve our problem of climate change. Kate Zernike explains to us college campuses have begun hiring specialized sustainability coordinators to increase their green rating and environmental efficiency.Although sustainability coordinators have a â€Å"timetable for becoming carbon neutral . . . 12. 5 million was spent to make the buildings within the campus more efficient† (506). Bill Mckibben believes that â€Å"the economy can’t do the job anymore, in part because the excessive consumption is precisely what drives the environmental crisis we find ourselves in† (502). Mckibben also argues that the farmers market is the fastest growing part of the food economy in America, because it provides more economically sensible and healthy food.Whether environmentalists like Bill Mckibben think the concepts of the environmental movement should be changed to the global warming movement, revolutionizing our concepts of living and daily life by going green and making our buildings more efficient like Kate Zernike, and explaining to us how all these attempts to save the world from global warming doesn’t matter like Michael Pollan. In order to combat our problem with climate change we need the cooperation of the billions of people that inhabit our world.Works Cited Mckibben, Bill. â€Å"The Challenge to Environmentalism. †Ã‚  The Blair Reader: Exploring Issues and Ideas. 7th ed. New York City: Pearson Education, 2011. 500-02. Print. Pollan, Micheal. â€Å"Why Bother? †Ã‚  The Blair Reader: Exploring Issues and Ideas. 7th ed. New York City: Pearson Education, 2011. 508-14. Print. Zernike, Kate. â€Å"Green, Greener, Greenest. †Ã‚  The Blair Reader: Exploring Issues and Ideas. 7th ed. New York City: Pearson Education, 2011. 503-07. Print

Euthanasia Is The Act Of Killing Someone Painlessly

Euthanasia is the act of killing someone painlessly, especially someone suffering from an incurable illness or an irreversible coma. The term is synonymous with physician-assisted suicide, a form of active euthanasia in which a doctor provides an individual, either terminally ill or facing a diminished quality of life, with the information and means to take his or her own life. It involves a situation in which a patient voluntarily performs the act of committing suicide by taking a lethal dose of prescribed medication. Physician-assisted suicide is a controversial issue which has been debated extensively within the diverse contexts of moral philosophy, religion and medical ethics. While it is interesting to note that different moral principles present equally valid arguments either in favor or against the problem of physician-assisted suicide, personal autonomy—that is, â€Å"the capacity to decide for oneself and pursue a course of action in one’s life, often regardle ss of any particular moral content† (Dryden)—should ultimately permit a person to choose the option of physician-assisted suicide. Philosophical viewpoints, particularly utilitarianism and the Divine Command Theory, offer two perspectives on euthanasia in the realm of ethics and morality that allow us to understand that although euthanasia is never the preferred option, it should be accessible and permissible. Utilitarianism, as propounded by Jeremy Bentham, is concerned with one ultimate moral â€Å"principle ofShow MoreRelatedThe Controversial Issue Of Euthanasia958 Words   |  4 Pagesterminal illness, one controversial issue has been the legalization of euthanasia. 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Euthanasia and assisted suicide is a rising controversial problem in theRead MorePhysician Assisted Suicide Is Not Considered Admissible949 Words   |  4 Pagestermination of one’s own life by administration of a lethal substance with the direct or indirect assistance of a physician, and euthanasia, the painless killing of a patient suffering from an incurable, painful disease are both highly emotional and contentious subjects. Some argue physician assisted suicide (P.A.S.) is admissible for someone who is dying and trying to painlessly break free from the intolerable suffering at the end of their life, and some attempt to argue physician assisted suicide isRead MorePhi 208 Essay733 Words   |  3 PagesApplying an Ethical Theory PHI208 Kristy Villone March 30, 2014 Should assisted death, or euthanasia be an option for the terminally ill? In 1994, the Oregon Death With Dignity Act was formed, making Oregon the first state to legalize physician assisted deaths with restrictions. As of today, Washington, Vermont, New Mexico, along with Oregon are all legalized in euthanasia. The individuals wanting to end their life must be at least 18 years of age with a terminal illness, be a state residentRead MoreEuthanasia Is A Medical Act Of A Physician Or Any Other Person?1016 Words   |  5 PagesEuthanasia is defined as the act of a physician or any other person intentionally killing a person by the administration of drugs, at that person’s voluntary and competent request. It is a ‘mercy killing’ which means to take a deliberate action aimed at ending a life to relieve intractable suffering or persisted pain. (Emanuel et al) Euthanasia could also be interpreted as the practice of ending a life painlessly. Euthanasia is technical description of the act regarding the process that is usuallyRead MorePersuasive Essay on Euthanasia963 Words   |  4 PagesEuthanasia - The Right to Decide The definition of euthanasia from the Oxford Dictionary is: â€Å"The painless killing of a patient suffering from an incurable and painful disease or is in an incurable coma.† Consider the words â€Å"suffering,† â€Å"painful,† â€Å"irreversible† and â€Å"incurable.† These words describe a patients terrible conditions and prospects. Euthanasia is known as â€Å"mercy killing† for a reason, it is the most, humane, moral and logical form of treatment available to patients that have no hopeRead MoreThe Debate Concerning The Morality Of Euthanasia915 Words   |  4 Pagesopinions than does euthanasia. The debate concerning the morality of euthanasia parsimoniously rests on the moral assessment of whether or not the physician intentionally kills or intentionally let die the patient. An assumption has been perpetuated that there is a line of demarcation between intending to let die and intending to kill. This pseudo-practical barrier is so re levant that our laws have determined that killing for humane reasons is morally inferior to letting someone die an agonizing andRead MoreEuthanasia Is The Most Active1548 Words   |  7 Pages Euthanasia is the practice of intentionally ending a life in order to relieve pain and suffering. There are different euthanasia laws in each country. The British House of Lords Select Committee on Medical Ethics defines euthanasia as a deliberate intervention undertaken with the express intention of ending a life, to relieve intractable suffering. In the Netherlands and Flanders, euthanasia is understood as termination of life by a doctor at the request of a patient. Euthanasia is categorizedRead MoreA Brief Note On Euthanasia And The United States882 Words   |  4 PagesHistory of Euthanasia in the U.S. Euthanasia is the act or practice, killing of permitting the death of hopelessly sick or injured individuals in a relatively painless way for reasons of mercy killing. Far more controversial, active euthanasia involves causing the death of a person through a direct action. In response to a request from the person. Euthanasia itself been around for as long as the history of medicine. This euthanasia is enormous and have long history in the United States. This soRead MoreEssay about Euthanasia1510 Words   |  7 PagesIntroduction Euthanasia continues to be a subject of ethical debate. It is defined as the administration of lethal drugs by someone other than the person concerned with the explicit intention of ending a patient’s life, at the latter’s explicit request (Quaghebeur, de Casterle, Gastmans, 2009). An unprecedented number of people in the United States today live well into their late adult years. Improved medical and public health practices, increasing life expectancies, and the â€Å"graying† of the