Facing Suicide: Understanding Why People Kill Themselves and How We Can Stop Them

by James Barrat

Overview

A deep dive into a national catastrophe that examines how and why suicide happens so that we can prevent it

Suicide has reached epidemic proportions in America, claiming over 45,000 lives each year—more than car accidents or homicides. For every person who dies there are about 10 unsuccessful attempts. Yet suicides are preventable, if we can grasp the complex factors behind it and look out for suicide’s signs in our families, communities, and colleagues. In this groundbreaking book, acclaimed journalist James Barrat delivers these insights with a deep dive into America’s suicide crisis.

With profiles of survivors and their families, and interviews with experts, Barrat assembles a thorough, nuanced portrait of this confounding killer. He examines suicide’s many risk factors, including genetics, substance abuse, access to lethal means, and mental health. Importantly, he explores how societal issues like racial trauma, bullying, and financial stress – in combination with other factors - can push people to kill themselves. Barrat reveals the structural and chemical differences found in suicidal brains, providing biological insights.

Facing Suicide celebrates solutions. Barrat shows how the US Air Force and the nation of Denmark lowered suicide rates with comprehensive ‘systems approaches’ that enlist every member of society in impactful interventions. Importantly, Barrat finds that 100% of the people he interviewed who attempted suicide are happy they got help and are alive today. Their message is one of healing and hope.

With deep reporting and keen insights, Facing Suicide sheds essential light on this painful, growing crises with actionable information about preventing suicides. Barrat's urgent book makes clear that understanding and preventing suicide must be a national priority. We all have a role to play in this vital effort.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780593539156
Publisher:	Penguin Publishing Group
Publication date:	09/03/2024
Pages:	288
Product dimensions:	6.31(w) x 9.29(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

James Barrat is the journalist and documentary filmmaker behind this book’s PBS companion film, entitled Facing Suicide and the author of Our Final Invention: Artificial Intelligence and the End of the Human Era. Time Magazine named him one of “5 Very Smart People Who Think Artificial Intelligence Could Bring the Apocalypse.”

Editorial Reviews

What a brilliant and important book. There is no book so comprehensive, insightful, humane, and helpful about suicide since Kay Redfield Jamison’s Night Falls Fast—and Barrat brings us all the way to the most contemporary advances in—the science of understanding and preventing suicide. Incredibly urgent and compelling, while also gentle and wise. Everyone who thinks about or works on suicide should read this book—and so should all who have been touched by suicide. It will be the indispensable handbook on the subject of suicide in the twenty-first century. And it will save lives.”
—CLANCY MARTIN, author of How Not to Kill Yourself

“An extraordinary examination of a complex topic that directly and indirectly impacts millions. Barrat has spoken in depth to experts around the world, and he writes lucidly about the inherent challenges of this major public health issue. But beyond thoughtfully describing the challenges of suicide, Barrat also offers us our best possible solutions for actually decreasing suicidal suffering. This compelling book is a must-read for anyone touched by suicide; it is a gift and it will undoubtedly contribute to saving lives.”
—DAVID A. JOBES, PhD, Director of the Catholic University Suicide Prevention Laboratory

“James Barrat’s Facing Suicide meaningfully weaves personal narratives of those affected by suicide with evidence-informed preventive approaches being implemented to address this leading cause of death. Suicide can be prevented, and as Barrat points out, it will take a strategic, sustained, national approach and investment to truly make a lasting impact and reduce suicide in our nation.”
—CHRISTINE YU MOUTIER, MD, Chief Medical Officer, American Foundation for Suicide Prevention

“Facing Suicide is a carefully crafted fabric of compelling and emotional stories about attempt and loss survivors. It takes a much-needed and long-overdue step toward fostering the very necessary public understanding about what suicide is and how to prevent it, at the same time giving people touched by crisis or bereaved by suicide their voice.”
—THOMAS JOINER, PhD, psychologist and author of Why People Die by Suicide

From the Publisher

2024-07-17
Suicide has become an epidemic with despair and loneliness at the core, says this touching, disturbing study.

Journalist and filmmaker Barrat starts with an alarming statistic. Over 45,000 Americans kill themselves each year; suicide causes more deaths than car accidents or homicides. And the number continues to climb. For every person who dies by suicide, there are 10 who try but fail, an astonishing figure. Barrat has covered this territory before; the book draws on a documentary he made for PBS in 2022. He delves into the reasons for suicide, finding that poverty, substance abuse, financial uncertainty, and loneliness are key drivers. Older white men in rural America are the group most at risk, although Barrat also looks at suicide among teens and veterans and in Black communities. Access to the means of suicide, especially firearms, is a key component. Suicide numbers spike after media coverage of a celebrity suicide, such as that of comedian Robin Williams. It sometimes runs in families, suggesting a possible genetic connection. Barrat devotes a large section of the book to suicide prevention, looking at some of the organizations working in the field. Self-isolation and depression are worrying signs, and giving away possessions is an important red flag. In many cases, a visit from a friend, a family member, or even a stranger with a sympathetic ear can make a huge difference, offering a crucial sense of connection. However, professional help is usually part of the long-term solution. Some of the material here is inspiring, some takes excursions into darkness, but Barrat tackles both aspects of his subject with empathy and intelligence, relating human stories that need to be told.

An important, well-considered contribution to a critical topic.

Kirkus Reviews