One Friday in April: A Story of Suicide and Survival

One Friday in April: A Story of Suicide and Survival
Author: Donald Antrim
Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
Total Pages: 144
Release: 2021-10-12
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 1324005572

One of TIME's 100 Must-Read Books of 2021 One of BuzzFeed's Best Books of 2021 One of Vulture's Best Books of 2021 Named one of the Most Anticipated of Books of 2021 by the Los Angeles Times, Literary Hub, and The Millions A searing and brave memoir that offers a new understanding of suicide as a distinct mental illness. As the sun lowered in the sky one Friday afternoon in April 2006, acclaimed author Donald Antrim found himself on the roof of his Brooklyn apartment building, afraid for his life. In this moving memoir, Antrim vividly recounts what led him to the roof and what happened after he came back down: two hospitalizations, weeks of fruitless clinical trials, the terror of submitting to ECT—and the saving call from David Foster Wallace that convinced him to try it—as well as years of fitful recovery and setback. Through a clear and haunting reckoning with the author’s own story, One Friday in April confronts the limits of our understanding of suicide. Donald Antrim’s personal insights reframe suicide—whether in thought or in action—as an illness in its own right, a unique consequence of trauma and personal isolation, rather than the choice of a depressed person. A necessary companion to William Styron’s classic? Darkness Visible, this profound, insightful work sheds light on the tragedy and mystery of suicide, offering solace that may save lives.

Cracked, Not Broken

Cracked, Not Broken
Author: Kevin Hines
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2013
Genre: PSYCHOLOGY
ISBN: 9781442222403

This work is about the art of living mentally well. Told through the first-hand experience of mental health advocate, activist and speaker Kevin Hines (who has bipolar disorder), the story is an honest account of the struggle to live mentally well, and teach others how to do t...

No Time to Say Goodbye

No Time to Say Goodbye
Author: Carla Fine
Publisher: Main Street Books
Total Pages: 269
Release: 2011-05-11
Genre: Self-Help
ISBN: 0307788881

Suicide would appear to be the last taboo. Even incest is now discussed freely in popular media, but the suicide of a loved one is still an act most people are unable to talk about--or even admit to their closest family or friends. This is just one of the many painful and paralyzing truths author Carla Fine discovered when her husband, a successful young physician, took his own life in December 1989. And being unable to speak openly and honestly about the cause of her pain made it all the more difficult for her to survive. With No Time to Say Goodbye, she brings suicide survival from the darkness into light, speaking frankly about the overwhelming feelings of confusion, guilt, shame, anger, and loneliness that are shared by all survivors. Fine draws on her own experience and on conversations with many other survivors--as well as on the knowledge of counselors and mental health professionals. She offers a strong helping hand and invaluable guidance to the vast numbers of family and friends who are left behind by the more than thirty thousand people who commit suicide each year, struggling to make sense of an act that seems to them senseless, and to pick up the pieces of their own shattered lives. And, perhaps most important, for the first time in any book, she allows survivors to see that they are not alone in their feelings of grief and despair.

Surviving Suicide Loss

Surviving Suicide Loss
Author: Rita A. Schulte, LPC
Publisher: Moody Publishers
Total Pages: 200
Release: 2021-08-03
Genre: Self-Help
ISBN: 0802499104

Nothing could hurt worse. But even in the darkness . . . there’s hope. The pain of suicide loss is indescribable. It seems beyond survival. Yet with faith, perseverance, and the tools of brain science, there is a way through. It will take time. It will take struggle. But hope is real, for there are things you can do to make it to the other side. If you are struggling with suicide loss or you need to come alongside someone who is, Rita Schulte wants to help you move forward. As a suicide loss survivor herself, she understands the pain you’re feeling because she has been there too. Rita, an experienced therapist and expert in traumatic loss, offers a science-based therapy model that also takes into account the role of human spirituality. Chapters in this book include: Making Sense of the Desire to Die The Mind-Body Connection Unfinished Business Making Peace with Ourselves Facing the Dark Side Children—Living Behind the Shadow The Time that Remains When it comes to suicide loss, you’ll never have all the answers. But one thing is certain: there are real pathways to help you heal—body, mind, and spirit.

Figuring Shit Out

Figuring Shit Out
Author: Amy Biancolli
Publisher: Behler Publications, LLC
Total Pages: 210
Release: 2014-09-29
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 1933016469

"Your life isn't over." My dad says this. "I mean, YOUR life isn't over. Beyond the kids. You'll go on living, doing things. This isn't it." I know, I assure him. I have the kids. They need me. They're my life now. "OK," he replies, then grunts—more of a brief hum. He only hums when he thinks I'm full of shit. Shockingly single. Amy Biancolli's life went off script more dramatically than most after her husband of twenty years jumped off the roof of a parking garage. Left with three children, a three-story house, and a pile of knotty psychological complications, Amy realizes the flooding dishwasher, dead car battery, rapidly growing lawn, basement sump pump, and broken doorknob aren't going to fix themselves. She also realizes that "figuring shit out" means accepting the horrors that came her way, rolling with them, slogging through them, helping others through theirs, and working her way through life with love and laughter. Amy Biancolli is an author and journalist whose column appears in the Albany Times Union. Before that, Amy served as film critic for the Houston Chronicle where her reviews, published around the country, won her the 2007 Comment and Criticism Award from the Texas Associated Press Managing Editors Association. Biancolli is the author of House of Holy Fools: A Family Portrait in Six Cracked Parts, which earned her Albany Author of the Year. Amy lives in Albany, New York, with her three children.

Life After Suicide

Life After Suicide
Author: Jennifer Ashton
Publisher: HarperCollins
Total Pages: 198
Release: 2019-05-07
Genre: Self-Help
ISBN: 0062906062

From the chief medical correspondent of ABC News, an eloquent, heartbreaking, yet hopeful memoir of surviving the suicide of a loved one, examining this dangerous epidemic and offering first-hand knowledge and advice to help family and friends find peace. Jennifer Ashton, M.D., has witnessed firsthand the impact of a loved one’s suicide. When her ex-husband killed himself soon after their divorce, her world—and that of her children—was shattered. Though she held a very public position with one of the world’s largest media companies, she was hesitant to speak about the personal trauma that she and her family experienced following his death. A woman who addresses the public regularly on intimate health topics, she was uncertain of revealing her devastating loss—the most painful thing she’d ever experienced. But with the high-profile suicides of Kate Spade and Anthony Bourdain, Dr. Ashton recognized the importance of talking about her experience and the power of giving voice to her grief. She shared her story with her Good Morning America family on air—an honest, heartbreaking revelation that provided comfort and solace to others, like her and her family, who have been left behind. In Life After Suicide, she opens up completely for the first time, hoping that her experience and words can inspire those faced with the unthinkable to persevere. Part memoir and part comforting guide that incorporates the latest insights from researchers and health professionals, Life After Suicide is both a call to arms against this dangerous, devastating epidemic, and an affecting story of personal grief and loss. In addition, Dr. Ashton includes stories from others who have survived the death of a loved one by their own hand, showing how they survived the unthinkable and demonstrating the vital roles that conversation and community play in recovering from the suicide of a loved one. The end result is a raw and revealing exploration of a subject that’s been taboo for far too long, providing support, information, and comfort for those attempting to make sense of their loss and find a way to heal.

Red Carpet Suicide

Red Carpet Suicide
Author: Perez Hilton
Publisher: Penguin
Total Pages: 455
Release: 2009-10-06
Genre: Humor
ISBN: 1101651245

Perez Hilton—self-proclaimed “Queen of All Media” and founder of PerezHilton.com—cuts loose with a book that secures his reputation as “the most-hated man in Hollywood” (Rolling Stone). The best part: it’s hysterically funny—and shockingly true… Psycho celebs dominate news, fashion, and trends, influencing how we speak and what we wear. We’re obsessed! Our reality-based, gossip-driven world has set the barometer for what’s in and what’s out. So, how do we become like the famous? Well, post a grainy sex video online, drive high and wasted against oncoming traffic, flash your coochie for the cameras, and if those don’t work, attempt suicide—and you’re bound to become a “Hilton.” Now the man infamous for breaking raw superstar dish and jaw-dropping commentary lends his fearless voice, notorious sense of humor, and outrageous sensibility to Red-Carpet Suicide, a generation-defining, hilarious survival guide.

Suicide of a Superpower

Suicide of a Superpower
Author: Patrick J. Buchanan
Publisher: Macmillan
Total Pages: 497
Release: 2011-10-18
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 1429990600

The New York Times–bestselling conservative author explains why he believes certain social trends will lead to the downfall of the United States. America is disintegrating. The “one Nation under God, indivisible” of the Pledge of Allegiance is passing away. In a few decades, that America will be gone forever. In its place will arise a country unrecognizable to our parents. This is the thrust of Pat Buchanan’s Suicide of a Superpower, his most controversial and thought-provoking book to date. Buchanan traces the disintegration to three historic changes: America’s loss of her cradle faith, Christianity; the moral, social, and cultural collapse that have followed from that loss; and the slow death of the people who created and ruled the nation. And as our nation disintegrates, our government is failing in its fundamental duties, unable to defend our borders, balance our budgets, or win our wars. How Americans are killing the country they profess to love, and the fate that awaits us if we do not turn around, is what Suicide of a Superpower is all about. Praise for Suicide of a Superpower “Suicide of a Superpower traces the changes in governance and culture in America that foreshadow a decline of epic proportions. . . . Buchanan is no stranger to controversy. Nor is he prone to exaggerate. The crises he describes are real, and he is not afraid to say they ‘may prove too much for our democracy to cope with.’” —Jack Kenny, The New American Magazine “Progressives may recoil at these assertions as well as his positions on immigration, affirmative action and morality, though they may share his sentiments regarding war and America’s unnecessary military presence around the world. Not to disappoint his loyal followers, Buchanan reveals the essence of conservative thought and its origins with clarity and precision.” —Publishers Weekly

Why People Die by Suicide

Why People Die by Suicide
Author: Thomas Joiner
Publisher: Harvard University Press
Total Pages: 207
Release: 2009-07-01
Genre: Psychology
ISBN: 0674970616

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.

Truth Be Told

Truth Be Told
Author: Lucinda Bassett
Publisher: Union Square + ORM
Total Pages: 242
Release: 2013-03-05
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 1402789440

“This memoir is an extraordinary example of how you can survive and thrive in the face of unfair change.” —Spencer Johnson, MD, #1 bestselling author of Who Moved My Cheese? “Suicide haunts you as something to hide, something to be ashamed of, something that keeps reminding you that your family is damaged, scarred . . . It’s a dark, ugly secret that you don’t want to share.” From bestselling author and self-help guru Lucinda Bassett, comes an intimate and empowering memoir. A few years ago, Bassett’s husband and business partner, David, committed suicide after an agonizing year’s struggle with mental illness. Lucinda and her children were devastated. Unbelievably, within just a few months of his death, she lost her brother, and then her mother. And to add to the overwhelming anguish she was already experiencing, Lucinda was then forced to sell her business during an economic downturn. In this gripping account, Bassett digs deep inside herself to uncover the patterns of guilt, blame, anger, and shame she experienced throughout her life, and how they resurfaced and related to these horrific and painful recent tragedies. Her remarkable story is one of complete and candid intimacy, personal introspection, courage, pain, perseverance, and, ultimately, healing. “An intimate, powerful, and riveting story of success and loss . . . This book will be an inspiration to many, especially to anyone who has lost a loved one to suicide.” —Daniel Amen, MD “Lucinda Bassett’s life journey will inspire others to move beyond extreme pain and find peace again. I recommend this book to anyone who has experienced loss and heartbreak—and that would be just about everyone.” —Kenny Loggins, Grammy®–winning singer, songwriter, guitarist, and author