Self-Help for Suicide
What Are the Numbers of Suicides in the US?
In 2001, 30,622 persons ended their own lives in the United States; in 2002, 248,992 persons were treated at medical facilities after attempting suicide (U.S. Center for Disease Control statistics). It is unknown how many deaths classified as accidental were, in fact, suicides.
Cultural Attitudes Toward Suicide
Our culture generally disapproves of suicide, based on Judeo-Christian values. Other cultures have felt differently; committing seppuku in medieval Japan was an honorable way for a samurai warrior to die; in many European countries today there is a more relaxed attitude towards assisted suicide than in the United States.
Suicide Can Come After Difficulty
Suicides often follow painful and troubled periods in the person's life. A complex legacy of guilt, self-blame, anger and remorse may be left among those who were close to the person who killed himself.
Grief Following Suicide of a Loved One
Grieving the loss of a loved one who has committed suicide is often complicated, with feelings of sorrow and loss intermixed with anger at the person who chose to end his life.
Many suicides are preventable; many are not. If a person is truly determined to take his or her own life, no one can prevent it.
Self Help on Suicide
The self help books listed in the section on Suicide offer insights into the path towards suicide, methods of prevention and understanding, guides to grieving the death of a suicide, and memoirs of loved ones dealing with the legacy of suicide.
