Matthew's Journal

I don't know if I want to watch this at all, but my views are as follows.

1) It's only very recently that we, as a society, have become removed from death on a regular basis. Our grandparents, even parents if they are older, will have experienced the death of siblings, parents, friends during their youth or childhood from disease, war, accidents etc. People died at home, often with the family gathered round them. It's really a very recent thing for people to die in hospital. So showing someone dying on television shouldn't be shocking just because we've forgotten that it used to a household event.

2) The hospice movement and organisations like the McMillan nurses provide all kinds of support for terminally ill patients to spend their end of life in as dignified a way as possible. My uncle died of cancer at home with his family and grandchildren around him. It may ultimately have been very tiring and possibly painful, but he got to say his goodbyes as he wanted to. I don't see that as not being dignified for him. Clearly that is a different matter from dying in excruciating pain on dirty sheets or even being knifed in the streets - which I'm pretty sure is less than a dignified death.

3) Being depressed and wanting to die is a whole other issue.