Customer Reviews

Night Falls Fast: Understanding Suicide

5 star:		(33)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(8)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

kay redfield jamison is an interesting writer, in fact i think that even if she wasn't a doctor she would be probably be famous, but that just isn't enough when you're looking for something objective and clinical. she puts anne sexton, graham greene, and a few statistics (and generic 'suicidal intent' diagrams throughout the book--you can find these on any webpage) together along with some fascinating and morbid stories of really bizarre suicides (a guy burning himself to death on a bed of straw and getting up and documenting it periodically to prove that suicides aren't cowards. wow.) her personal story of attempted suicide is all too easy; she swallowed lithium in a moment of despair, called someone for help and within three weeks was in church 'realizing that god did not mean for her to die'. nothing really coheres, and one gets the sense of a sort of collage of poetic sentiments about the irrevocably lost and genuine pity with some pseudo clinical information thrown in. jamison needs to draw a firm line between her creative work and her scientific work.

depressing, sad, interesting and mostly useless. read it as a novelty if you're feeling morbid.

This book is excellent. I would recommend this anybody, even people who have not experienced suicide directly. She has a most interesting way of capturing her audience and bringing awareness to a topic that is not always easy to deal with.

Unfortunately I was not made aware of this book until after my wife had committed suicide. This book should be read by everyone who has a loved one suffering from depression or manic-depressive illness. Ignore the statistics and concentrate on how you can help your loved one. If the statistics tell you anything, it is that not 100% of ill people commit suicide. I believe there can be positive results if you are aware of the danger signs and understand the deep, dark shadow that engulfs someone suffering from the mental illnesses. I only gave the book four stars because I think the message could do without the statistics (maybe in an appendix)

All I have to say is thank you. Thank you for this book.

I found this book while reading Solomon's "Noonday Demon." Both books are superb, with this book having more of a specifc focus on suicide.

"Noonday Demon" expressly addresses depression, and suicide in that context. This book is broader, and is a very careful, and helpful discussion of the factors that bring a person to suicide. Ms. Jamison does a beautiful job of not only laying out the statistics and studies of suicide, but also threading in the story of her own depression, her own suicide attempt.

If you are reading this review, or reading about this book--then you need to get it. You need some help, and this book will give it to you.

In addition to this book, I also recommend Alvarez's "The Savage God: A study of suicide."

Night Falls Fast is impossible to fairly review with the 1000 word limit here on Amazon.com. With this limitation though, I'll try and sum up the understanding one gains in reading this disturbing book.

Kay Redfield's thesis is depressingly convincing and accurate: "The causes of suicide lie, for the most part, in an individual's predisposing temperament and genetic vulnerabilities; in severe psychiatric illness; and in acute psychological stress."

As sad as her statement is, Kay backs up this notion with personal experience as a bipolar patient, suicide survivor, and psychiatry professor. Not to mention 95 pages of research notes taking up almost a third of the book.

She begins with endless and boring statistics regarding suicide; albeit objective, enlightening, and saddening. But the book soon picks up in intensity with the tragic suicide story of Drew Sopirak and his dashed Air Force dreams, thanks to manic depression. For history buffs, an objective essay on the controversial death of Meriwether Lewis is offered as well. In addition to other tragic narratives, Redfield explains the science behind suicide. She delves deeply into the neurotransmitter serotonin, the drugs that have been developed to help regulate mood - especially Lithium, and the genetic factors that often lead to these nasty mood disorders.

Finally, she writes on a more hopeful theme: prevention. Her opinions on prevention are depressing, given the uncontrollable variables that cause suicide. Despite this, she still conveys the possibility that many lives can be saved. In addition to the usefulness of psychiatric drugs, she persuasively writes of the need for a combo of medicine and psychotherapy for the patient (rather than just one or the other), family awareness and cooperation, as well as a more open-minded society regarding mental illness.

The final chapter is dedicated to those left behind. With insight from her own experience, poetry, and personal narratives, she portrays the anguish, questions, and shame those left behind are forced to deal with.

Like most people, I always considered the act of suicide to be the result of extreme personal circumstances: a lifetime of rejection, endless professional failure, years of horrific abuse, etc. But Kay Redfield shatters that myth, proving that the majority of life's survivors do not commit suicide, while very successful people may commit suicide in an instant - thanks to unfortunate heredity, mental illness, and drug abuse. With these three "hits" in place, without help on many levels - medical, psychological, and social - suicide is highly likely.

Kay Redfield Jamison is a courageous leader in the field of mental health. She lifts the ignorance, shame, and silence surrounding suicide. And she writes to the public in a chillingly honest, direct, and compassionate manner.

Read this book today - and get the real truth.

Night Falls Fast was a very helpful book for me. It included stories of other people along with her own story and many helpful statistics/facts. As a person who has personally dealt with suicide before, I enjoyed this book. It helped me to deal with some personal issues and understand better what I was going through and what I could about it. I also learned that I had to do something about it, or I was going to end up dead more likely than not. I would recommend this book to anyone who has felt suicidal or knows/thinks they know, anyone that is.

Jamison does a good job writing about a complex, painful subject. She looks at many issues: the etiology of suicidal intent; the treatment of a suicidal mind; the prevention of suicide; and the portrayal of suicide in the media. But I was hoping that she would tackle and thoroughly examine the ethics of suicide. She seems to acknowledge that older, chronically ill people suffering incurable pain can justify taking their own lives; but she explicitly focuses on the suicides of young, "healthy" people, and quickly dismisses any arguments that such suicides can be justified, although a thorough consideration of the arguments, for and against, would be worthwhile. My other gripe is that Jamison is somewhat self-serving. She asserts repeatedly that bi-polar people are often exceptionally creative, talented, and accomplished and -- what a coincidence -- she happens to be talented, accomplished and bi-polar herself. She also seems to think that her own suicide "attempt" gives her insight into the suicidal mind. While I don't want to dismiss the pain she has clearly experienced in her life, this event seemed less like a genuine attempt, than a somewhat conspicuous, melodramatic bid for attention. [I believe that people who really *want* to kill themselves usually succeed.] All in all, though, I recommend this book.

Do NOT attempt to read this book if you are currently suicidal!!!

I am currently in treatment for bipolar disorder following a recent suicide attempt. The first few chapters are filled with very explicit descriptions and facts about suicide. While those who suffer mental illnes should learn about and understand their suicidal desires, this book may be very detrimental to the person who is suicidal. There is just too much vivid information. I strongly feel that Jamison did a severe injustice in not attaching a warning not in the preface that this is not suitable for those who are suicidal. I almost had to check myself in to the psych ward after reading the first 3 chapters of this book because it provoked disturbing suicidal thoughts...I was reading it hoping to quell those thoughts, but it did the opposite.

That said, what I read of the book is extremely well written, very well reseached and informative from a clinical standpoint.

This is an excellent book on a disturbing subject. Kay, as usual, is scholarly and thorough in her research on suicide, and explains the relevant information in a manner that is straightforward and to the point. The subject is so emotionally inciting, but Kay nonetheless presents and interprets the data with unfailing objectivity. However, I'm not sure it's a good idea for severely depressed or suicidal people to be reading this book- or any other book on suicide- until they are feeling better. Avery Z. Conner, author of "Fevers of the Mind".