Academy of Sciences of Heroesland

A fleeting, minor statement came to mind: "There are things worse than death." "Like what?" You said mental degradation. On a theoretical level, I completely understand your point of view, but I ask you to provide a real-life example, a real situation. Because armchair theorizing can go as far as you want in any matter, but it will remain just that, and it will only be good for posting on VKontakte along with other profound statements like "a fire of justice burns in my soul" or "what doesn't kill you makes you stronger." By the way, I just said this as a comparison, and without any sarcasm, because recently in Mafia discussions, I discovered that everyone expects this from me. People cited sclerosis and a vegetative state as examples, but both of these cases are not entirely valid.
So, tell me, what real-life situation could lead you to such a state of mental degradation and loss of any mental aspects that you mentioned? I'm interested in what could actually be "worse than death and worse than anything" for a rational person? As a real example, and not an abstract "mind locked in an empty box, not receiving information and devouring itself."