Interesting small study out of France regarding people suffering from “locked-in syndrome”, a disease where you can think and see, but cannot speak or move.
Most are happy (72%), and the longer they were locked-in the more likely they were to be happy
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Researchers at the University of Liège, Belgium, said: “We suggest that patients recently struck by the syndrome should be informed that, given proper care, they have a considerable chance of regaining a happy life.
“In our view, shortening of life requests are valid only when the patients have been given a chance to attain a steady state of subjective wellbeing.”
Dr Adrian Owen, from the Centre for the Brain and Mind at the University of Western Ontario, said: “This is an extremely important study with a clear message – we cannot, and should not, presume to know what it must be like to be in one of these conditions.
“I think most of us feel that life in a lifeless body would not be a life worth living, but this study demonstrates that this is not always the case.
“On the basis of the results, it would be unwise for us to make assumptions about the mental state of those individuals.”
Find out more here.
