Trapped in your own mind?!
 

http://arstechnica.com/journals/scie.../2006/9/8/5230

I'd be interested in seeing this thread take two directions, maybe simultaneously... First, what do you imagine it would be like to be trapped in your own mind? How do you think you'd fare if you were relatively conscious of your situation? Secondly, what do you think about the possible medical ramifications that might come to light if they start using fMRIs as a standard procedure for such patients?

I've heard stories of similar things, often situations where anesthesia doesn't work right so you are aware but cannot communicate. Could you imagine being like that for MONTHS or YEARS? I can't imagine I could come out of it sane... I wonder if claustrophobia could get tripped during a period like this? It seems quite scary to me.

I do, however, think this discovery is wonderful, and could really help people down the road. Perhaps a lot of use will make MRI scans less expensive and offer additional/better treatment options for patients with issues other than this even.

Kill me. Just end it right then. Years of being able to know what was going on around me, but not being able to move or talk or communicate in the least?

Kill me.

Put it in writing right now. Once the unthinkable happens, you have no way of telling them that.

When the whole Schiavo thing was on the news, lurkette and I got VERY clear with each other that we're not interested in living on life support.

i'm already trapped in my own mind....

I'm an atheist. Keep me alive, oblivion can wait.

I don't know how I'd fair. Right now. I'd say kill me painlessly if there was no hope of me recovering. Then, I can't say. Unless there was any hope of regaining SOME form of communicating with people I know I would eventually become locked in a mental circle of struggle, frustration, depression until I would WISH I could kill myself by THINKING it.

I think this is a valuable discovery to eliminate some of the debate around people who are in this situation.

I'm sort of on the fence, personally. On the one hand, if I were to be comatose but an MRI showed brain activity, I certainly would not want the plug pulled. On the other hand, as science stands now, there's no way of either lifting the patient out of that state or communicating with the patient and I don't know I would want to be trapped like that.
Karen Ann Quinlan brought a lot of this debate to the forefront. After months of legal wrangling back and forth, they 'pulled the plug' only to have her live more than 10 years more, still in a vegetative state. Seems she wasn't as braindead as they thought. And therein lies the fear-what if they decide to pull the plug and there would have been more chance of recovery?

That is a tricky one. I've always felt if my brain did not have any function to just let me go. But in a scenario like this where it is functional? I guess I would want to live, since I would be cognizant of the possibility of recovery.

Here's the thing, too... unless the brain stem was damaged, there's no reason these people's bodies can't live on their own. Many aren't on "life support", but are simply attached to monitors like any person would be. They breathe fine on their own, but only require IV nutrition (or a feeding tube) since they're not able to eat- IV nutrition, however, is not considered life support. You're just feeding them.

The reason this is extra important is because a lot of these people have no "plug" to "pull". So, the only way to put them out of their misery would literally mean intentionally ending their life, not simply removing or discontinuing artificial support and "letting nature take its course". You would actually have to end their life.

Euthanasia for a person who is on full life support is a controversial enough topic, with the only issue being that you remove them from the machinery keeping them alive, letting them die naturally.

This situation is more akin to giving a person a painless death, such as a person dying of cancer. You're "putting them out of their misery", since the process of slowly dying from a cancer can be extremely painful and agonizing. In these cases, however, the patient is conscious and usually able to fully articulate their desire to be euthanized.

For a person who is in a persistant vegetative state, but shows signs of brain activity we measure as a sign of some level of consciousness, they are incapable of telling us what they want. If it's not in a living will, they have to be left alive, even though there is currently no way to bring a person back from such a state.

So do we let them live, because they're alive? Or do we realize the maddening cage we're keeping them in and end their mental suffering?

This is another great discussion to impress upon people the importance of a living will, and making sure everyone close to you understands your wishes, just in case.

If it was a lucid dream, then maybe.

I'd assume it would be, Ch'i, or that they'd have a degree of control over their thoughts as they reacted to what was asked. It wouldn't be all bad if so - being all-powerful, although in the region of your own mind, has its perks.

Tough one. I'm a big daydreamer, so if I got to listen to books on tape and some nice music to feed the imagination I could be content.

On the other hand, I know how I become when I'm very ill. I get the worst cabin fever. It's okay to loaf in front of the TV or read books all day when I know I could take a walk in the woods or go to town - if I wanted to. But as soon as I'm limited to loafing activities only I go stir-crazy. The two times I've had concussions I've messed up my recovery something fierce because I simply cannot lie still in a dark and quiet room like I'm supposed to for even a day. It's boring!

But between being a bit bored and being dead? Bored.

There are much worse things than oblivion.

...that would be nice.

I suppose its a hard question to answer unless you've experienced such an event yourself. Scary thing to think about, being trapped within you own mind..... I'd have to say I'd rather move on and die. It just seems more natural.