How I Stayed Alive When My Brain Was Trying to Kill Me, Revised Edition: One Person's Guide to Suicide Prevention

By Susan Rose Blauner

Book Overview

NOW WITH A NEW CHAPTER AND AN UPDATED RESOURCES SECTION

Suicide has touched the lives of nearly half of all Americans, yet it is rarely talked about openly. In her highly acclaimed book, Susan Blauner--a survivor of multiple suicide attempts--offers guidance and hope for those contemplating ending their lives and for their loved ones.

"Each word written with thoughtful intent; each story told with the deepest of honesty and humility, and in doing so Blauner puts forward a life-saving book.--Daniel J. Reidenberg, PsyD, Executive Director, Suicide Awareness Voices of Education (www.save.org)

"I continued to romanticize my death by suicide: who would find me; what I'd look like. I spent hundreds of hours planning my funeral, imagining the remorse of my family and friends. I wrote good-bye letters, composed wills, and disrupted the lives of everyone close to me. Then reality hit."--Susan Rose Blauner

The statistics on suicide are staggering. The World Health Organization estimates that nearly 800,000 people die by suicide every year, which is one person every 40 seconds, and for each completed suicide there may be twenty or more attempts.

In How I Stayed Alive When My Brain Was Trying to Kill Me, Susan Blauner is the perfect emissary for a message of hope and a program of action for these millions of people. A survivor of multiple suicide attempts, she explains the complex feelings and fantasies that surround suicidal thoughts. In a direct, nonjudgmental, and loving voice, she offers affirmations and suggestions for those experiencing life-ending thoughts, and for their friends and family.

With an introduction by Bernie Siegel, M.D., this important, timely book has now been updated with a revised resources section, and a new chapter on the author's experiences since the book's initial publication.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0062936387
• ISBN13: 9780062936387
• Release Date: June 2019
• Publisher: William Morrow & Company
• Length: 368 Pages
• Weight: 0.66 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 5.3" x 7.9"

Customer Reviews

perfect condition

little to no marks on the book.

This book is making my days and LIFE better!!!!!!!

I found this book quite by accident laying obviously in the wrong place at the public library. I've suffered from depression for 7 years and it got worse and worse until I became suicidal. From page 1, the author's words caught me and I recognized myself in her. The best thing for me in the book was the Tricks of the Trade section where I was guided through ways to help cope and the almost 'work-book' like style. It gave me strategies and hands on things to try to when I needed it the most. I took the book to my psychiatrist and showed him what I was doing and he applauded me. Now my husband is reading it and I'd highly recommend it. The book is written in an everyday tone of voice, it's not medical, it's not preachy, it's just like talking to someone who's been there.

this book saved my life in a lasting way - NO EXAGGERATION!

This is gentle, kind, loving, familiar, HONEST - susan has the conversation --- you're having with yourself --- with you. And talks you out of it. And talks you out of discussing it anymore... it may take a while to take, to completely sink in... but this book put the cabash (sp?) on my periodic suicidally depressed times (I voluntarily checked myself into a hospital twice - and the unreimbursed cost was going to be a few 1000 dollars - and I am CHEAP and told myself I could go to PARIS AND ROME on that money --- but knew that I had no more than 3-5 hours to live unless I got myself quickly to a place where I wouldn't be able to end my life. Also, this book just made me feel better somehow: not happy or OK --- but better. REALLY. A great gift to all of us. Thanks a million to the author!

A " how to" on pulling away from the abyss...

This book was given to me by my husband when I was in a psychiatric hospital's program dealing with suicidal ideation related to extreme depression and my diagnosis with multiple sclerosis. He picked it up at our library; I bought it in hardcover when the library copy had to go back.I opened this book, and started to cry -- This could have been someone who picked up my journals, it so mirrored my FEELINGS, though not my exact situation. I felt an instant rapport with the author and understood her struggles intimately.There are parts of this book that didn't resonate for me, as I am sure there are for others. But on the whole, this book helped me to re-start the process of being, and building, a strong and resilient me. There's something here for everyone, whether you are struggling or well. I have used it now for nearly 9 months. (And I see a psychiatrist too. Incidentally, he thought it very strong as well!) It is still relevant and helpful though I am happy and well now.

How I Stayed Alive While My Brain Was Trying to Kill Me

Having lived for 35 years with suicidal thoughts and several attempts I know first hand what it's like to have these terrifying thoughts trying to take over your mind. After meeting Susan, hearing her story, and reading her book, I have been able to better understand what is happening to me and how to "trick" my brain into thinking better thoughts. Susan is a true miracle and will be a great success in the world of suicide prevention. Everyone touched by suicide in any form needs to hear Susans story in order to really understand what suicide is all about.