A concise review of current research into suicide providing a guide to understanding this disease and its increasing incidence globally.

In the wake of a suicide, the most troubling questions are invariably the most difficult to answer: How could we have known? What could we have done? And always, unremittingly: Why? Written by a clinical psychologist whose own life has been touched by suicide, this book offers the clearest account ever given of why some people choose to die. Drawing on extensive clinical and epidemiological evidence, as well as personal experience, Thomas Joiner brings a comprehensive understanding to seemingly incomprehensible behavior. Among the many people who have considered, attempted, or died by suicide, he finds three factors that mark those most at risk of death: the feeling of being a burden on loved ones; the sense of isolation; and, chillingly, the learned ability to hurt oneself. Joiner tests his theory against diverse facts taken from clinical anecdotes, history, literature, popular culture, anthropology, epidemiology, genetics, and neurobiology--facts about suicide rates among men and women; white and African-American men; anorexics, athletes, prostitutes, and physicians; members of cults, sports fans, and citizens of nations in crisis. The result is the most coherent and persuasive explanation ever given of why and how people overcome life's strongest instinct, self-preservation. Joiner's is a work that makes sense of the bewildering array of statistics and stories surrounding suicidal behavior; at the same time, it offers insight, guidance, and essential information to clinicians, scientists, and health practitioners, and to anyone whose life has been affected by suicide.

Working with Suicidal Individuals provides a comprehensive guide to understanding suicide, the assessment of risk, and the treatment and management of suicidal individuals. It covers the theory behind suicidal behaviour, using Transactional Analysis to explore the personality types of suicidal individuals and to understand their motivations.

NOW WITH A NEW CHAPTER AND AN UPDATED RESOURCES SECTION Suicide has touched the lives of nearly half of all Americans, yet it is rarely talked about openly. In her highly acclaimed book, Susan Blauner—a survivor of multiple suicide attempts—offers guidance and hope for those contemplating ending their lives and for their loved ones. “Each word written with thoughtful intent; each story told with the deepest of honesty and humility, and in doing so Blauner puts forward a life-saving book."—Daniel J. Reidenberg, PsyD, Executive Director, Suicide Awareness Voices of Education (www.save.org) “I continued to romanticize my death by suicide: who would find me; what I’d look like. I spent hundreds of hours planning my funeral, imagining the remorse of my family and friends. I wrote good-bye letters, composed wills, and disrupted the lives of everyone close to me. Then reality hit.”—Susan Rose Blauner The statistics on suicide are staggering. The World Health Organization estimates that nearly 800,000 people die by suicide every year, which is one person every 40 seconds, and for each completed suicide there may be twenty or more attempts. In How I Stayed Alive When My Brain Was Trying to Kill Me, Susan Blauner is the perfect emissary for a message of hope and a program of action for these millions of people. A survivor of multiple suicide attempts, she explains the complex feelings and fantasies that surround suicidal thoughts. In a direct, nonjudgmental, and loving voice, she offers affirmations and suggestions for those experiencing life-ending thoughts, and for their friends and family. With an introduction by Bernie Siegel, M.D., this important, timely book has now been updated with a revised resources section, and a new chapter on the author’s experiences since the book’s initial publication.

The book discusses the contributions that each of the major disciplines have made to suicidology (is there a misplaced devotion to Durkheim's 100-year-old theories?), and provides an overview of research and theories in some typical areas. Drawing from this, specific recommendations as to what researchers and theorists can do in the future to advance our understanding of suicide and suicide prevention are offered. It is hoped that these recommendations will stimulate research and theorizing so that our understanding of suicide will progress.

A new edition with the latest approaches to assessment and treatment of suicidal behavior With more than 800,000 deaths worldwide each year, suicide is one of the leading causes of death. The second edition of this volume incorporates the latest research, showing which empirically supported approaches to assessment, management, and treatment really help those at risk. Updates include comprehensively updated epidemiological data, the role opioid use problems, personality disorders, and trauma play in suicide, new models explaining the development of suicidal ideation, and the zero suicide model. This book aims to increase clinicians' access to empirically supported interventions for suicidal behavior, with the hope that these methods will become the standard in clinical practice. The book is invaluable as a compact how-to reference for clinicians in their daily work and as an educational resource for students and for practice-oriented continuing education. Its reader-friendly structure makes liberal use of tables, boxed clinical examples, and clinical vignettes. The book, which also addresses common obstacles in treating individuals at risk for suicide, is an essential resource for anyone working with this high-risk population.

Presenting the idea of wilderness as a sustained metaphor for grief, this compassionate guide explores the unique responses inherent to the grief felt by those who have experienced the suicide of a loved one and offers information about coping with such a profound loss. Likening the death of a loved one to the experience of being wrenched from normal life and dropped down in the middle of nowhere, the handbook employs 10 touchstones, or trail markers, that survivors use to begin to make their way through the new landscape. Each touchstone gently guides readers through the entire grieving process and includes topics such as dispelling misconceptions regarding suicide, exploring feelings, and embracing the uniqueness of a loss.