The Suicidal Mind

Suicide haunts our literature and our culture, claiming the lives of ordinary people and celebrities alike. It is a taboo subtext to our successes and our happiness, a dark issue that is often euphemised, avoided, and little understood. In our century, psychology and psychiatry alike have attempted to understand, prevent, and medicalise these phenomena. But they have failed, argues Dr. Edwin Shneidman, because they have lost sight of the plain language, the ordinary everyday words, the pain and frustrated psychological needs of the suicidal individual

In this landmark and elegantly written book, Dr. Shneidman provides the language, not only for understanding the suicidal mind, but for understanding ourselves. Presenting cases (recounted in the patients' own words) that reveal the inner workings of the suicidal mind, he offers a wealth of insights to help understand and to prevent suicide.