Customer Reviews

Suicide and Attempted Suicide

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

 

 

"Suicide and Attempted Suicide: Methods and Consequences" by Geo Stone is a cookbook. But instead of teaching you how to make a soufflé or Peking Duck, it has recipes for death. Like any good cookbook, the methods are clearly categorized by chapter (such as asphyxiation), and each has step by step instructions, as well as medical background about how it works, how difficult it is to do, what could go wrong, and what to do in each case to ensure lethality.

There's no nonsense here. You won't be talked down to or patronized. It's accurate and precise information written by a doctor who has studied each method. This makes it an important and interesting book because there is very little accurate information on this subject available. Dr. Stone is clear to point out that there are many misconceptions about suicide methods in the general public. And if you're going to play with fire, don't you think you it is wise to know what you're doing?

Just like any cookbook the author does not make tangential remarks about why he made this book. But there is an underlying message of personal responsibility here that can be gleaned from the book's introduction and Dr. Stone's dark humor.

Part One of the book describes suicide in broad terms, speaking of the different kinds of people who in the past had made successful or unsuccessful attempts. And there's a clear warning that due to lack of information some people who didn't really want to die, end up making the tragic mistake of using a method that is much more lethal than intended. The reverse warning is also here: That for those who wanted to die, and took action without clear thought often results in waking up in an Emergency Room with a damaged body or a slow and painful death.

Personally, I am more familiar with genuinely wanting to die rather than using a suicide attempt as a gesture for attention. When I read this book, I was depressed and specifically purchased the book for the "recipes" in Part Two. I was amazed to discover how many choices you have, even when your goal is the same. As I continued to read, I realized that these methods would always be there, waiting for me, tucked away like a fire extinguisher. Despite the great pain that you might be feeling, I realized that there is no need to rush things. I could execute one of these methods, and ensure my death, at any time I chose.

What I'm about to say might sound strange to you initially, but this feeling of certainty and control over your own destiny is something that I hadn't felt before. So, now, as I finished reading, and put it back on the shelf, I wondered what things in life existed to which I had not properly been introduced. If there were so many ways to die, could there be even more ways to live? I believe this feeling of control and certainty that I now felt is what kept the book on the shelf and me in the game. I hope that if you purchase this book, you will experience a similar feeling.

This is a disturbing book, but, given the culture we live in, an essential one. I believe it will deter those that need detering and assist those who truly need self-deliverance and are unable to get help from others.

One comment: geo stone, along with all others writing about 'taboo' matters, is still way behind when it comes to an informed and humane understanding of depression - indeed 'mental health' illnesses in all their forms. Today we understand that epilepsy is a condition. Years ago people living with any kind of epilepsy - there are many forms of the illness - were considered to be inhabited by the devil, satan, etc. Our views on mental health illnesses remain just as stunted and backward.

Many people living with, for example, agitated depression since childhood have treatment-resistant brains that have incurred damage over time. These good folks are currently considered off-limits by everyone when the subject of assisted suicide is mentioned. The excrutiating and relentless pain of untreated, long-term depression in any form, rivals any physical pain from cancer, kidney stones - anything. Yet still, people with depression are lumped together; termed 'mentally ill'; and are treated like scum. Even those living with schizophrenia have moments inbetween the episodes where they can see the hell they occupy. Many folks living with depression of any kind never get a break from the pain - they suffer and witness and exprience the pain without any numbing or relief AND are amongst the most sane people you could hope to meet. They are not 'crazy' - they have illnesses. They are not 'irrational' - they are ill.

Someone dying of cancer has the right to assistance from groups like the Hemlock Society, but not someone in the hell of depression that has not been touched by any kind of medication at any time. My sincere hope is that our culture will begin to understand that depression can hit in many guises and that many people live untreated in hell. These people deserve the right to assisted self-deliverance and if that help is not around the corner, the right to know, in detail, how to deliver themselves so that the suffering may cease. Who amongst us should be expected to live an unlivable life? Who should be so punished?

I think this is a great book. And I hope that works like this will open up other 'taboo' areas, such as the one I've written about above.

I spent some time with this book at a local bookseller. This subject has been with me for much of my 40+ years of life and I was curious to read something that could offer real advice about how to commit suicide successfully. However, as I read about the various methods explained in detail including pros and cons I became more and more discouraged about attempting such an act. There were just too many examples of what could (and has in fact) go wrong leading to among other things disfigurement, blindness, brain damage, etc. By the time I was done reading I was dissapointed by finding too many "cons" to go along with the "pros". Too many in fact to actually go through with the act-at least for now-hopefully forever. May all of you struggling with despair and thoughts of suicide find the sanctuary you need to sustain life. Don't give up. I wish you all well!

This is one of the few books that I have had qualms about reviewing. It is so morbidly fascinating that it is hard to set aside. It doesn't appear to have been written exclusively for psychiatric professionals- the style is too readable and the statistics are too readily useful and understandable.

The first part of the book does a good job in examining the history, philosophy, study approaches, and reasons for suicide. The author makes it quite clear that he does not automatically consider suicide to be inappropriate in all cases, nor does he automatically rule out the existence of rational suicide. There are also an excellent couple of chapters on the subject of euthanasia and its application in other cultures.

It is the second part of this volume that has made it famous, or infamous, in the mental health world. While the author clearly states on the flyleaf that the book should not be considered a "how to" guide, it is difficult to imagine how anyone could not foresee that this is exactly how it could be used. The author devotes a chapter to each and every means of self termination and then sums each up each method with pros and cons (asphyxia, cutting and stabbing, drowning, drugs and poisons, electrocution, gunshot wounds, hanging and strangulation, hypothermia, and jumping.) The chapters give quite detailed descriptions of how to successfully carry out these acts and the odds of your being successful. For instance, not only are you told specifically where to shoot yourself, but also the individual effectiveness of the various calibers of bullet is examined. The old hangman's formula for determining the height of drop for a given weight is included. There is even a table to calculate the exact velocity at which you will hit the ground based on the starting elevation of a jump (he points out as a rule of thumb that a jump of 150 feet on land and one of 250 feet over water is 95 to 98% fatal.) The only thing that makes me think that such a detailed guide is not a how-to book is the fact that he also gives detailed descriptions of the horrible injuries resulting from botched attempts. To be more effective in this respect, perhaps photographs should have been included.

If this book keeps individuals from suffering the traumatic effects of botched suicide then it is a worthy effort. Similarly, if it helps those that merely intend a survivable suicide "gesture" from going too far it will also have served its purpose. There has been a concerted campaign on the part of some mental health professionals to remove this book from circulation. I can't say that I approve of that effort, but I would definitely keep it out of the hands of minors and the mentally unstable.

Great book, very clear and concise, very well written
easy to read.

I felt rather spookey when ordering this book - a bit like sending off for pornography! There is also such shortage of easily available information about this topic, so relevant to the experience of everyone. As someone who suffers from periodic depression and has reflected at length at the implications of getting off the bus, this volume has brought a sense of comfort and perspective, in the most practical and reasonable manner. The human race is extraordinarily inept at looking after its own and seems unable to respond effectively to its equally extraordinary capacity for suffering, both innate and self-imposed. The author must be congratulated on successfully hitting the target with an aspect of human existence that is so controversial, difficult to grasp and in need of attention. In reading, I felt I had a friend in Mr Stone and a companion to take me through the challenges that will come along during the remainder of my time in this world.

bloody good book.is far more detailed and better written than Final Exit by derek humpphrey(which was useless, btw).this book covers the whole gamut of issues relating to suicide and the methods have been discussed threadbare by Geo Stone.

I'm very confused. Why is this running used at almost $90 when you can get it from Barnes & Noble for $20?

I paid more for this book than I have ever paid for any other printed title. It was worth it. The book is an excellent reference for anyone interested in (or morbidly fascinated by) suicide. It is a scholarly work which has been meticulously researched. Mr. Stone has added immense value to the store of knowledge about what can be a difficult and emotive subject. The accusations that are thrown around that he has done "something immoral" by clearly setting out how people can chose and execute (pun intended) a suicide method are just plain nonsense. Yes, he may indeed have assisted some people to make the final exit in a way that suits them, but because he also gives equal weight to the means by which people in pain can make a "call for help" through attempted suicide in an effective and safe manner suggests to me that he may well indeed have saved lives. The book can be a little dry in terms of statistics, but the chapter notes are often wickedly funny. All in all an excellent book.

This is a really neat book. Well-researched, informative, often funny. Many such books have a very dry tone, but not this one. I read it more-or-less continuously for a whole day to finish it. I love the footnotes. I think it might be dangerous in the hands of a suicidal person, since it tells all about how to do yourself in, but it's good for someone like me who's only interested in the theory.