KNOWING WHEN TO SAY GOODBYE - FINAL EXIT AND SUICIDE IN THE ELDERLY

The publication of Derek Humphry's Final Exit in 1991 caused a large u proar. Although designed as a suicide manual for terminally ill person s, there has been considerable fear that the book's methods might be u sed by others, such as nonterminal elderly individuals who have made a ''rational'' decision to end their lives. This piece, a short story a bout an elderly couple that commits double suicide, explores rational suicide by using fiction, as opposed to a standard bioethical approach . Fiction does not provide answers, but rather highlights the ambiguit ies surrounding elder suicide, and reminds us to evaluate this issue i n the context of individual life experiences.