Suicide Books - Page 2

The Burn Journals

Brent Runyon

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 44 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Recommendable Reading 4 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

Taylor Moody:
In the autobiography "The Burn Journals" Brent Runyon describes his traumatizing suicide attempt and his difficult recovery over the next year. Brent shows us his experience at a Burn Unit in a children's hospital where he underwent burn care and skin grafts. After his stay at the Burn Unit and a few psychologist meetings he then went to a rehabilitation hospital for intensive physical and psychological therapy. And then he finally arrived home and began high school.
In the beginning of the story Brent comes home one day after school with the thought of suicide on his mind. He was in trouble at school, his best friend was going out with the girl he liked, and he felt unwanted, unloved, and alone. He put on his black bathrobe stepped into his shower and poured gasoline on himself then he lit the match that would turn his life upside down. While engulfed in flames he made the decision to stop himself. He turned on the shower and the fire went out. He was rescued from his house and taken to the Burn Unit at Children's Hospital. At the hospital he discovers that he has burns over 85% of his body and undergoes intensive treatment. He makes friends with the nurses that take care of him and it makes his stay more enjoyable. Brent's burn scars have to be stretched or else he will lose almost all of his range of motion in his arms and legs.
After about 6 months at Children's Hospital he then moves to a rehabilitation center called DuPont. Here Brent goes through intensive physical and psychological therapy. Brent figures out after a few meetings with psychologists that he doesn't know why he tried to kill himself. He feels that none of the reasons he thought he was doing it for meant any sense anymore. Also at DuPont Brent took some school courses to try and get caught up with his peers who he would meet up with in high school. After DuPont Brent went to another rehabilitation facility where he stayed with other teens that had problems of their own. Here Brent and his family talked about the event and how it affected the family. Brent was then released from here after a short period of time and could now stay full time at home.
At home Brent caught up with some of his friends from eighth grade who were now in high school. He realized how much he'd missed and that he was going to have to struggle to find his way in high school. After a few weeks a t home Brent's psychologist decided he was ready to go back into the mainstream of life. Brent got on a bus, put his head on the window and rode the bus to this seemingly alien world which he knew nothing about anymore. Brent steps of the bus and starts a new beginning.
I thought the author did an excellent job of bringing the reader right into his head. I could relate to the character and his humor. The Burn Journals showed me how fragile life is and the psychological affects suicide has. I thought this book was a masterpiece and I would absolutely recommend this book to all of my friends and even some of my older family members.

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.

Suicide: A Study in Sociology

Emile Durkheim, George Simpson

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

PIONEERING WORK IN SOCIOLOGY 5 out of 5 stars.
8 of 9 people found this review helpful.

This is the work considered the pioneer of modern sociology, with its author hailed the father of sociology. The innovative nature of the work lies in putting together all the methods of social analysis available at his time and providing a comprehensive view of the nature of suicide in society.

Mixing quantitative and qualitative methods, Durkheim provides the basis for the future development of sociology. He brings science to the study of society, by developing a hypothesis, gathering data and testing the hypothesis. He proves the powerful influence of society on the behavior of individuals, which, though obvious today, was not a clear conclusion at the time.

This is a basic reading for anyone interested in sociology. However, anyone interested in the application of scientific methods to society and other non-traditional fields for science would also find it very useful.

The best and first tutorial to the sociology 5 out of 5 stars.
6 of 6 people found this review helpful.

Durkheim says at the beginning; the sociology is the current science, but nobody knows what it is. Even now, his words sound contemporary. This study aims at introducing the necessity and importance of the sociology to the public, but not at sophisticatedly professional people.
It matches the orientation of the primary students to study the sociology, because the preliminary knowledge isnft necessary. Actually, I could read this book at the first year of the university without any sociological knowledge. After finishing to read the first part, which proves that the suicide isnft the psychological phenomenon, but the sociological, you can investigate the present situation as he did in the 19th century by using the statistics of the international organization like WHO. You will find the manipulation of the statistics not only easy, but also important with Durkheimfs tutorial. It may be your first experience of the scientific study at the society.
I can recommend it to the youth.

Editorial Review:

One of Durkheim's most important works, serving as a model in social theory.

What Does Everybody Else Know That I Don't?: Social Skills Help for Adults with Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder

Michele Novotni, Randy Petersen

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 29 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Even if your partner with ADHD isn't an avid reader, he/she might read this book 5 out of 5 stars.
5 of 6 people found this review helpful.

Do you think your partner might have ADHD, but he or she either resists the idea or you don't know how to broach the subject? Buy this book by Dr. Michele Novotni.

Rather than telling someone, "I think you have ADHD," it's usually better to first empathize with and validate the person's experience. This book does that and more, opening the door to the reader wanting to learn more about ADHD. The title immediately appeals to anyone with ADHD who has never understood why their best intentions to make friends and fit in social groups haven't always worked out.

In my seven years of leading support groups for the partners of adults with ADHD, I've heard repeatedly that this book is one of those most likely to catch their ADHD partners' attention--and keep it. Even men with ADHD who seldom sit down to read become absorbed by this book -- because it so closely describes their experience. Finally, they feel understood and, typically, they feel great relief that they're not the only ones who somehow didn't learn "what everyone else knows". This alone goes a long way towards dissolving ego defenses around the idea of having ADHD.

Dr. Novotni knows this subject intimately, having been a national lecturer on ADHD for years and a pioneer in creating awareness about adult ADHD. Her tone throughout this book is both matter-of-fact and compassionate, never condescending. To get a sense of her approach, you can read articles at her website: http://michelenovotni.com/

A person with ADHD could spend a year in therapy talking about their feelings of social awkwardness and never gain the lessons found in this book. Highly, highly recommended.

Gina Pera, author, advocate
Is It You, Me, or Adult A.D.D.? Stopping the Roller Coaster When Someone You Love Has Attention Deficit Disorder
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Editorial Review:

Focusing on social skills training for adults with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorders (AD/HD), this book offers solutions for tackling behavior that is often inattentive, impulsive, and hyperactive. Advice is given on how to handle common social problems such as manners, etiquette, communication, subtext, listening, and interpersonal relationships. The format of the book is designed for AD/HD learning styles and includes true stories, practical exercises, and tips that keep those with AD/HD reading. Adults with AD/HD learn how to identify behaviors in themselves that can cause problems in social relationships.

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

Kate Bornstein

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Total reviews: 16 Average rating: 5.0 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.

The Best Way to Say Goodbye: A Legal Peaceful Choice At the End of Life

Stanley A. Terman

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Total reviews: 12 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

What are our two greatest end-of-life fears? To endure unnecessary prolonged pain and suffering, and merely to exist in a state of total indignity and dependency such as in Alzheimer's dementia. Uninformed, some people add layers of tragedy to their destiny. Some choose to die prematurely; others, violently; a few risk imprisonment by mercy killing. Often their lament is, If only Physician-Assisted Suicide were legal. Yet there is an alternative that is already legal: Voluntary Refusal of Food & Fluid. While sometimes intentionally maligned as barbaric starvation, ceasing all Food & Fluid is a truly peaceful way to hasten dying by dehydration. While taking an average of 14 days, it allows for the exchange of healing goodbyes with loved ones who can forever be sure it was these patients' intent since they could have changed their mind.
What makes the process peaceful? Knowing how to control thirst. (The author went on two fasts himself to learn what works.) In addition, good discussions with family members before beginning. Consistent with the principles of some religions, this method is available even for patients who are physically too sick to put a lethal dose of medication in their mouths and swallow.
By creating strategically effective documents for a trusted agent or proxy to withhold Food & Fluid on the patient's behalf, this way to Permit Natural Dying can actually extend the quality of life of those with early dementia. They can enjoy living until they reach a point they have previously described in behavioral terms (perhaps with help from using one of the book's forms).
Beyond serving as an authoritative source of information to strive for an ironclad strategy for dementia, the book endorses life's most ironic fact: When people know they can control when they die--they can, and often do--choose to live longer.
Poignant memoirs illustrate its practical guidelines and useful forms; for example, why Proxy Directives are more effective than Living Wills, and how to make Living Wills work better if they are the only available choice.
The book-within-a-book format of this book is as unique as its content is comprehensive. Over 300 citations, an index, a glossary, and further resources... yet its core reading is user-friendly for all. The subject matter is lightened by 22 cartoons and humorous stories; deepened by provocative discussions of the secular meaning of Sanctity of Life ; and broadened by considering the emotional, practical, clinical, legal, moral, ethical, religious, spiritual, and political aspects of a subject that will affect absolutely everyone.

Healing After the Suicide of a Loved One

Ann Smolin, John Guinan

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Total reviews: 17 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

Too often people suffering the aftermath of a suicide suffer alone. As the survivor of a person who has ended his or her own life, you are left a painful legacy -- and not one that you chose. Healing After the Suicide of a Loved One will help you take the first steps toward healing. While each individual becomes a suicide survivor in his or her own way, there are predictable phases of pain that most survivors experience sooner or later, from the grief and depression of mourning to guilt, rage, and despair over what you have lost.

You may be torturing yourself with repetitive questions such as "What if...?" "Why didn't we...?" and "Why, why, why?" Healing After the Suicide of a Loved One will steer you away from this all-too-common tendency to blame yourself and will put you on the path to healing and recovery. Remember, your wounds can heal and you can recover. Filled with case studies, excellent information, valuable advice, and a completely up-to-date reading list and directory of suicide support groups nationwide, this valuable book will give you the strength and hope to go on living.

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

Shawn Christopher Shea

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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

How I Stayed Alive When My Brain Was Trying to Kill Me: One Person's Guide to Suicide Prevention

Susan Rose Blauner

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 18 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Essential reading 4 out of 5 stars.
13 of 13 people found this review helpful.

I wish I'd had a copy of this book when I was suicidal. It's full of simple, practical ideas for keeping yourself safe and beginning to feel better. The crisis plan is especially good, and easy to follow even when you find it hard to think straight. The only reason I gave this book four stars rather than five is that I came across it after I'd recovered, and haven't tried out all of its techniques myself - but from my experience of what did help me, they're all excellent.

"How I Stayed Alive..." would also be a useful self-help book for people who self-injure, even if they don't feel suicidal. Most of the suggestions work just as well for getting through the urge to self-harm.

I've heard two main criticisms of this book. The first is that the author wasn't "really" suicidal, but just attention-seeking. I disagree. All suicide attempts should be taken seriously, even if the person's done it many times before, or chooses to get help afterwards. In fact, the more unsuccessful suicide attempts a person has made, the more likely they are statistically to die by their own hand. And seeking medical help after one has taken an overdose can, tragically, be too late. That's why books such as this one are so important, because they help prevent the suicide attempts in the first place. Admittedly, this book is aimed mainly at people whose suicidal thoughts and feelings come and go, and who need help in getting through those difficult times without harming themselves. Someone who is unrelentingly suicidal and not interested in alternative courses of action probably needs to be in hospital, not reading a self-help book.

The other criticism I've heard is that not all the book's suggestions can be used by everyone. That's true. Some people may not have a good friend they can ring up in the middle of the night, while others may not be able to afford therapy. But "How I Stayed Alive..." also contains many techniques that require nothing more than a copy of the book. I'd encourage anyone who uses this book to adapt the crisis plan to their own particular situation, removing any steps that aren't appropriate and adding in anything extra they can think of.

"How I Stayed Alive When My Brain Was Trying to Kill Me" should be required reading for anyone who struggles with suicidal thoughts, suicide attempts, or self-harm.

Editorial Review:

The statistics on suicide are staggering. According to the US Center for Disease Control and Prevention, in 1997 in the USA more teenagers and young adults died from suicide than from cancer, heart disease, AIDS, birth defects, stroke, pneumonia, influenza and chronic lung disease combined. It is also an international epidemic.

Susan Blauner is the perfect emissary for a message of hope and a program of action for these millions of people. She's been though it, and speaks and writes eloquently about feelings and fantasies surrounding suicide.

Autopsy of a Suicidal Mind

Edwin S. Shneidman

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Total reviews: 4 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

Autopsy of a Suicidal Mind is a uniquely intensive psychological analysis of a suicidal mind. In this poignant scientific study, Edwin S. Shneidman, a founder of the field of suicidology, assembles an extraordinary cast of eight renowned experts to analyze the suicidal materials, including a ten-page suicide note, given to him by a distraught mother looking for insights into her son's tragic death. The psychological autopsy centers on the interviews conducted by Shneidman with Arthur's mother, father, brother, sister, best friend, ex-wife, girlfriend, psychotherapist, and attending physician.
To gain some understanding of this man's intense psychological pain and to examine what may have been done to save his tortured life, Shneidman approached the top suicide experts in the country to analyze the note and interviews: Morton Silverman, Robert E. Litman, Jerome Motto, Norman L. Farberow, John T. Maltsberger, Ronald Maris, David Rudd, and Avery D. Weisman. Each of the eight experts offers a unique perspective on Arthur's tragic fate, and the sum of their conclusions constitutes an extraordinary psychological autopsy.
This book is the first of its kind and a remarkable contribution to the study of suicide. Mental health professionals, students of human nature, and persons whose lives have been touched by this merciless topic will be mesmerized and enlightened by this unique volume. An epistemological tour de force, it will speak to anyone who is concerned with human self-destruction.

Grieving a Suicide: A Loved One's Search for Comfort, Answers & Hope

Albert Y. Hsu

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Total reviews: 13 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

Every seventeen minutes, someone in the United States dies by suicide. It is one of the most serious public health crises of modern times, claiming over one million lives worldwide every year.

Those who have lost a loved one to suicide experience tremendous shock and trauma, with a confusing mix of emotions--anger, guilt, grief and despair. Suicide also raises heartrending questions: Why did this happen? Why didn't we see it coming? Many also wonder if those who choose suicide are doomed to an eternity separated from God and loved ones. Some may even start asking whether life is worth living at all.

After his father's death by suicide, Albert Hsu wrestled with the intense emotional and spiritual questions surrounding suicide. While acknowledging that there are no easy answers, Hsu draws on the resources of the Christian faith to point suicide survivors to the God who offers comfort in our grief and hope for the future.

If you have lost a loved one to suicide or provide pastoral care to those left behind, this book is an essential companion for the journey toward healing.

"I think the material in this book will be a godsend. . . . It is a solid handbook to propel the reader through the anguish that suicide brings on. This is unlike any other book on this particular subject and will prove to be a must-read for counselors, as well as stricken families." Barbara Johnson, author, Where Does a Mother Go to Resign?

"In Grieving a Suicide, Al Hsu has done what few can do. He has created a thoughtful, empathic, spiritually enobling and practically helpful account of his response to the loss of his father by suicide. . . . I started merely to scan the book just before leaving for a trip, and, drawn into the narrative, I read it straight through by the time my flight was finished. Wow!" Everett L. Worthington, author, Five Steps to Forgiveness and When Someone Asks for Help