Of author Kay Jamison, this woman’s life work — based on her personal knowledge of feelings of suicide — is a great gift to her community.

Suicide prevention is a worthy and difficult social policy matter, not just a medical response.

For reasons unknown to me, the COVID pandemic has highlighted the fears and sense of hopelessness experienced by many young women within my sphere.

This book helped me see what physicians, family members and friends should consider doing to help relieve the anxiety, the loneliness, and the commitment of suicidal individuals to seeking their ends.

Of using permanent solutions for what may indeed be temporary and fixable problems. ( )

You might find this surprising, but this book is kind of a downer. Joking aside, the darkness here could be instructive for those who don't share these thoughts, but read with caution if you're prone to depression/dark ruminations. I discounted the caveats in the reviews, but this really does tend to tug one towards a morass if it echoes the thoughts in one's own head. On the other hand, I'm grateful it's neither saccharine nor patronizing. Makes me wonder what a good way to talk about suicide would be.

There's some good information here, myth-busting around suicide, suggestions for how to report on/respond to suicide, but it's a challenge to access because of the writing style. It's from 1999, so some terminology/data is outdated. ( )

3.5 stars ( )

Kay Redfield Jamison writes about mental illness and the effect it has on people's lives with brilliance, understanding and compassion. You can't do better than to read her books on the topic of mental illness. ( )

If you want to know the ins and outs of suicide, this is the book. Jamison reviews the history of suicide, what factors seem to predispose people to suicide, what to look for in people who are suicidal, the pervasive role of mental illness and drug addiction in suicide risk, suicide prevents, and more. As a clinician who has lived with mental illness herself and knows what it is like to be suicidal, this is just an excellent resource. Although somewhat out of date now (it was published in 1999) the field has not progressed enough yet to have left it behind, which is too bad, as suicide remains a serious health issue, killing more people than many other causes of death. ( )