Suicide Books

Abnormal Psychology (5th Edition)

Thomas F. Oltmanns, Robert E. Emery

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 1 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Useful Book 5 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

This book is very useful if you are taking an abnormal psych class or if you are considering a career in mental health.

Editorial Review:

This new edition retains the book's engaging and innovative systems approach, integrating the biological, psychological, and social perspectives in one concurrent story. Scientific methods are presented in a clear and non-threatening manner, and are based on the most current research. Chapter topics include personality disorders, eating disorders, substance use disorders, sexual and gender identity disorders, schizophrenic disorders, mood disorders and suicide, treatment of psychological disorders, and more. For psychologists, psychiatrists, and professionals in the mental health field.

Final Exit (Third Edition): The Practicalities of Self-Deliverance and Assisted Suicide for the Dying

Derek Humphry

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 60 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

As the legal controversy continues--this newly revised and updated third edition of the landmark bestseller contains new, critically important information for patients, loved ones, and medical personnel.

The original publication of Final Exit stunned the nation by offering people with terminal illness a choice on how--and when--to end their suffering. It helped thousands by giving clear instructions to doctors, nurses, and families on how to handle a patient’s request for euthanasia.

In the wake of court cases and legislative mandates, this revised and updated third edition goes far beyond the original to provide new information about the legality of euthanasia and assisted suicide, and a thoughtful examination of the personal issues involved. It has become the essential source to help loved ones and supportive doctors remain within existing laws and keep a person’s dying intimate, private, and dignified.

With deep compassion and sensitivity, it spells out why a living will may not be sufficient to have a person’s wishes carried out--and what document is a better alternative. It updates where to get proper drugs and exactly how to carry out the quickest, most peaceful way to make a final exit. Finally, it gently talks to a person considering self-deliverance about alternatives, planning, and the means to make every death a "good death" at our time of greatest need.

The Suicide Index: Putting My Father's Death in Order

Joan Wickersham

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 8 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

"It's like he busted through the guardrail." 5 out of 5 stars.
16 of 17 people found this review helpful.

Wickersham takes a very tragic experience, applying a logical index to ungovernable feelings, penning a memoir of her father's suicide that is honest, painstaking and filled with emotional landmines. From the morning she receives the call from her distraught mother, to years later, still grappling with the complicated feelings- acceptable and unacceptable- that plague her life after this loss, the author exquisitely describes the long, dark torment of those left behind by such an act of self-annihilation. The first response, of course, is numbness, a soft-lensed vacuum that allows the family to survive the early days of shock, the outpouring of support from friends and relatives, with the occasional flash of inexplicable rage that lurks beneath the surface. It is the following years that dominate her grieving process, thinking and rethinking what could have been done to prevent the suicide, to intervene.

The elephant in the room, of course, is the undeniable violence of such an action, so heinous and selfish as to belie any daughter's memories of a loving, slightly eccentric father, a man carrying the scars of a brutal childhood and a lack of business sense that adversely affects his family's financial security. The bonds between this eldest daughter and her father are like steel cables; she favors him over her mother, with whom she has an uneasy, somewhat antagonistic relationship, especially after the suicide, the mother flapping wildly through her own jumble of confused emotions, both guilty and self-defensive, left pondering the interminable, unanswerable question: why? Although the author has a sister, it is the nature of such a loss that the sibling is hardly mentioned. This is an intense, solitary journey, an anguished, chronically self-obsessed need for answers, a patient husband dealing with the fall out years later.

Wickersham catalogs every nuance, every instinct, every possibility, trapped in a dilemma not of her own making, her life haunted years after the pivotal event. She is stuck, unable to move forward, happiness no longer a viable expectation. It is to this writer's credit that I continue to read this memoir: I didn't particularly like her father or have empathy for his cowardice. On the other hand, neither have I experienced the kind of bond shared by this man and his daughter. No, I was in it for the experience, willing to follow wherever Wickersham might lead. If she has the courage to flay her soul in search of answers, who am I to shy away? "It's a crooked, looping, labyrinthine story." Indeed, it is and one with no easy answers or facile resolutions. I hope this troubled man appreciated his extraordinary child and her capacity for compassion. I doubt I would have been as forgiving. Luan Gaines/ 2008.

Editorial Review:

When you kill yourself, you kill every memory everyone has of you. You’re saying “I’m gone and you can’t even be sure who it is that’s gone, because you never knew me.”

Sixteen years ago, Joan Wickersham’s father shot himself in the head. The father she loved would never have killed himself, and yet he had. His death made a mystery of his entire life. Using an index—that most formal and orderly of structures—Wickersham explores this chaotic and incomprehensible reality. Every bit of family history—marriage, parents, business failures—and every encounter with friends, doctors, and other survivors exposes another facet of elusive truth. Dark, funny, sad, and gripping, at once a philosophical and deeply personal exploration, The Suicide Index is, finally, a daughter’s anguished, loving elegy to her father.

(20080624)

Night Falls Fast: Understanding Suicide

Kay Redfield Jamison

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 74 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

"Suicide is a particularly awful way to die: the mental suffering leading up to it is usually prolonged, intense, and unpalliated," writes Kay Redfield Jamison. "There is no morphine equivalent to ease the acute pain, and death not uncommonly is violent and grisly." Jamison has studied manic-depressive illness and suicide both professionally--and personally. She first planned her own suicide at 17; she attempted to carry it out at 28. Now professor of psychiatry at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, she explores the complex psychology of suicide, especially in people younger than 40: why it occurs, why it is one of our most significant health problems, and how it can be prevented. Jamison discusses manic-depression, suicide in different cultures and eras, suicide notes (they "promise more than they deliver"), methods, preventive treatments, and the devastating effects on loved ones. She explores what type of person commits suicide, and why, and when. She illustrates her points with detailed anecdotes about people who have attempted or committed suicide, some famous, some ordinary, many of them young. Not easy reading, either in subject or style, but you'll understand suicide better and be jolted by the intensity of depression that drives young people to it. --Joan Price

No Time to Say Goodbye: Surviving The Suicide Of A Loved One

Carla Fine

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 58 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

The Survivors Bible 5 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

This book is wonderfully written and will be a staple on my bookshelf for years to come. This book is perfectly paired with proven facts and touching stories of many other survivors and their own particular stories. It "normalizes" the choas of the situation, and provides ever-needed understanding of the survivors' special circumstances. The writer does a wonderful job weaving her own story with the decoding of technical terms revolving around suicide, and other the individual survivors' stories. I wore out a highlighter with all the information related to my own story, and it will provide me with short-term as well as long-term guidance as needed in the future.

Editorial Review:

Bar Section for Master Catalog Rack Systems Heavy-duty system for displaying catalogs Use 45 racks for desktop viewing; use 30 racks for countertop viewing Securely holds catalogs for placement in racks. Use ring sections for punched, thin catalogs or loose pages. Section fits all Master desktop and countertop racks. 1 Capacity Gray

Dialectical Behavior Therapy with Suicidal Adolescents

Alec L. Miller, Jill H. Rathus, Marsha M. Linehan

Amazon Price: $29.10 List Price: $42.00 Usually ships in 24 hours By: The Guilford Press Amazon Marketplace: 40 new & used starting at $26.19

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 2 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

A must have 5 out of 5 stars.
3 of 4 people found this review helpful.

This book is wonderful when working within the DBT model with teenaged clients. It addressed issues specific to the adolescent population.

Very Pleased 5 out of 5 stars.
2 of 12 people found this review helpful.

The book arrived in a timely fashion and was in excellent condition. What more can one ask for?

Editorial Review:

Filling a tremendous need, this highly practical book adapts the proven techniques of dialectical behavior therapy (DBT) to treatment of multiproblem adolescents at highest risk for suicidal behavior and self-injury. The authors are master clinicians who take the reader step by step through understanding and assessing severe emotional dysregulation in teens and implementing individual, family, and group-based interventions. Insightful guidance on everything from orientation to termination is enlivened by case illustrations and sample dialogues. Appendices feature 30 mindfulness exercises as well as lecture notes and 12 reproducible handouts for "Walking the Middle Path," a completely new DBT skills training module for adolescents and their families.

The Practical Art of Suicide Assessment: A Guide for Mental Health Professionals and Substance Abuse Counselors

Shawn Christopher Shea

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 7 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

Critical Acclaim for The Practical Art of Suicide Assessment

"There is . . . no better guide for learning about and clinically assessing the phenomenology of suicidal states. Penned with a compelling elegance and charm, The Practical Art of Suicide Assessment is brimming with clinical wisdom, enlightening case illustrations, and a vibrant sense of compassion."-David A. Jobes, PhD, past president, American Association of Suicidology

"If I were asked to recommend only one book to equip clinicians to conduct the best possible suicide risk assessments, The Practical Art of Suicide Assessment would be it."-Thomas E. Ellis, PsyD, ABPP, past director, Clinical Division of the American Association of Suicidology

"A concise, carefully conceptualized, well-written book . . . highly recommended for all psychiatric residents and all other mental health students."-Journal of Clinical Psychiatry

"This outstanding book is informative, interesting, and clinically useful."-American Journal of Psychiatry

The Practical Art of Suicide Assessment covers all the critical elements of suicide assessment-from risk factor analysis to evaluating clients with borderline personality disorders or psychotic process. This highly acclaimed text provides mental health professionals with the tools they need to assess a client's suicide risk and assign appropriate levels of care using the highly acclaimed interview strategy for eliciting suicidal ideation-the Chronological Assessment of Suicide Events (the CASE Approach).

Now available in paperback, the leading book on suicide assessment also contains three important new appendices:
* How to Document a Suicide Assessment
* Safety Contracting Revisited: Pros, Cons, and Documentation
* A Quick Guide to Suicide Prevention Web Sites

Suicide and Attempted Suicide

Geo Stone

Amazon Price: $14.40 List Price: $16.00 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Da Capo Press Amazon Marketplace: 23 new & used starting at $13.25

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 38 Average rating: 3.5 of 5

The Power To Choose 5 out of 5 stars.
16 of 16 people found this review helpful.

When I was 11 years old, my brother and I were walking to our favorite swimming spot on the Colorado River. We passed through a dusty, overgrown lot where an old man had been living in his trailer. We saw him working around his car, with a tube that he'd taped to his exhaust pipe. He looked up, smiled and waved. When my bro and I were done with our swim, we walked home the same way we'd came. We noticed the old man's car running...amber smoke in the car, the long tube taped from his exhaust pipe to the rear window...his head was leaning against the passenger window. We knew then that he'd killed himself.
The thing that strikes me about that memory is the peace that I saw in the old guy's face prior to his making his exit. He wasn't obviously tormented - he looked happily resolved. And if my life was deteriorating in an uncomfortable and irreversible way for myself, I'd like to think I have the backbone to go ahead and pull the plug like he did. Why is there so much stigma attached to this act? I guess the key word here is "irreversible". Some dire situations, certain emotional pains - seem to have no end, so suicide appears to be the best solution to some people...in the moment. If they'd just work through the pain of a temporary situation...they can go on to a happier existence. Is this a dangerous book for people at that threshold? My life partner reacted badly to the mere idea of my owning this book, and brought that point up. I reminded him that he and I come from a generation that was used to hiding all the smut and dirty little details of reality...the new generation is the "Information Age". If a person really wants to learn how to do something, they can research it on the net and forums dedicated to certain controversial topics. But this book DISSUADES someone from making a foolhardy gesture - going into detail about the consequences (pain/crippling) of certain common methods of trying to "dispatch" oneself. It's presented in a very realistic, responsible way. If I had to lose my entire library and only keep one book - this would be the one book that I would keep - tucked safely under my arm - as a valuable reference for the moment I might need it in the (hopefully distant) future. Throughout the tumultuous journey that is life, I find great comfort in having my guidebook, my "map", of how to gracefully, and with dignity, be able to find my final resting place - should I need it.

XXX...As a final note to this review; I found out later that the old man my brother and I saw commit suicide had been pining for his life-long sweetheart, who had died the previous year...in addition to facing grave health problems of his own. I used to go into his abandoned trailer to play "Go-Fish" with my little friends, and never felt weird about what I'd witnessed. I felt like he would have welcomed me being there.
I wish people would start giving up their fear of death in our narrow-minded little western society. Other, comparitively primitive societies have much healthier and more realistic attitudes than we do.

Editorial Review:

Too often attempted suicide leads to unintended consequences, because ignorance is deadly and desperation can be fatal. In this morally courageous book, Geo Stone sets out to diminish the lack of awareness about suicide, from the tragedy of teenage suicide to the debate over assisted suicide.

The Burn Journals

Brent Runyon

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 41 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

True story, real eye-opener 4 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

I was a little skeptical to pick up Burn Journals but once I picked it up, i oculdnt put it down. its a memoir about how brent runyun doused his bathrobe in gasoline and lit himself on fire. Brent takes you on his recovering journey from the surgerys to repair his skin to learning to walk and do normal activity all over again to being in rehab. it really opened my eyes to how lucky we are to not have to go through that much pain.

just last week i got a bad sunburn and everytime i went to complain about it hurting, my mind would draw back to this book and id feel ashamed at complaining. as i said earlier, its a real eye opener. i recommend anyone over the age of 14-15 reading it.

Editorial Review:

I don’t want to get out of bed.
I’m so stupid.
I did so many things wrong.
I don’t know what to do.
I’m going to be in so much trouble.
What am I going to do?
I’m completely screwed.

In 1991, fourteen-year-old Brent Runyon came home from school, doused his bathrobe in gasoline, put it on, and lit a match.

He suffered third-degree burns over 85% of his body and spent the next year recovering in hospitals and rehab facilities. During that year of physical recovery, Runyon began to question what he’d done, undertaking the complicated journey from near-death back to high school, and from suicide back to the emotional mainstream of life.

In the tradition of Running with Scissors and Girl, Interrupted, The Burn Journals is a truly remarkable book about teenage despair and recovery.

Hello Cruel World: 101 Alternatives to Suicide for Teens, Freaks and Other Outlaws

Kate Bornstein

Amazon Price: $11.53 List Price: $16.95 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Seven Stories Press Amazon Marketplace: 36 new & used starting at $8.00

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 15 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

Celebrated transsexual trailblazer Kate Bornstein has, with more humor and spunk than any other, ushered us into a world of limitless possibility through a daring re-envisionment of the gender system as we know it.

Here, Kate bravely and wittily shares personal and unorthodox methods of survival for navigating an often cruel world. A one-of-a-kind guide to staying alive outside the box, Hello, Cruel World is a much-needed unconventional approach to teenage suicide prevention for marginalized youth who want to stay on the edge, but alive.

Hello, Cruel World features a catalog of 101 Alternatives to Suicide that range from the playful (Moisturize), to the irreverent (Disbelieve the Binary), to the highly controversial (Get Laid. Please). Designed to encourage readers to give themselves permission to unleash their hearts' harmless desires, the book has only one directive: "Don't be mean." It is this guiding principle that brings its reader on a self-validating journey, which forges wholly new paths toward a resounding decision to choose life.

Tenderly intimate and unapologetically edgy, Kate is the radical role model, the affectionate best friend, and the guiding mentor all in one kind and spirited package.

A celebrated pioneer for the LGBTQI community, transsexual author and performance artist, Kate Bornstein is the author of the wildly successful books My Gender Workbook and Gender Outlaw: On Men, Women and The Rest of Us.