Why People Kill Themselves … And What we can do to Keep the Number of Needless Deaths From Reaching Epidemic Proportions

Uses case examples, & consultation with experts in suicidology, to illustrate the phenomenology of parasuicide & the experience of survivors. Other topics, dealt with briefly, include the link of suicide to suppressed feelings, drugs, & alcohol; some myths that cost lives; possible reasons for artists being at high risk for suicide; & the link of suicide rates to age & ethnicity. An insert outlines steps in recognizing & helping in the case of threatened suicide. (RM)