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Harvard University Press
December 2011
On Sale: November 30, 2011
304 pages
ISBN: 0674061985
EAN: 9780674061989
Paperback (reprint)
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Non-Fiction
Around the world, more than a million people die by suicide
each year. Yet many of us know very little about a tragedy
that may strike our own loved ones—and much of what we think
we know is wrong. This clear and powerful book dismantles
myth after myth to bring compassionate and accurate
understanding of a massive international killer.
Drawing on a fascinating array of clinical cases, media
reports, literary works, and scientific studies, Thomas
Joiner demolishes both moralistic and psychotherapeutic
clichés. He shows that suicide is not easy, cowardly,
vengeful, or selfish. It is not a manifestation of
"suppressed rage" or a side effect of medication. Threats of
suicide, far from being idle, are often followed by serious
attempts. People who are prevented once from killing
themselves will not necessarily try again. The risk
for suicide, Joiner argues, is partly genetic and is
influenced by often agonizing mental disorders.
Vulnerability to suicide may be anticipated and treated.
Most important, suicide can be prevented. An
eminent expert whose own father's death by suicide changed
his life, Joiner is relentless in his pursuit of the truth
about suicide and deeply sympathetic to such tragic waste of
life and the pain it causes those left behind.
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