Subtle Suicide
Our Silent Epidemic of Ambivalence about Living
Each year, approximately 500,000 Americans attempt suicide, resulting in anywhere from 30-40,000 deaths. But there are millions of others that, while not making overt attempts to take their lives, still engage in patterns of behavior, from addictions to dangerous physical acts, that seem to deliberately move them toward the same fate.
Print Flyer
July 2009
Praeger
| Pages |
160 |
| Volumes |
1 |
| Size |
6 1/8x9 1/4 |
| Topics |
Psychology/Abnormal |
This volume offers a description and analysis of subtle suicide—a psychological condition whose victims don't care if they live or die, and thus act in self-defeating, self-damaging ways.
Over their extensive careers, psychotherapists Michael Church and Charles Brooks have developed the concept of "subtle suicide," a development of risky behavior where the subject does not care if he/she lives or dies. Now, in this urgent and informative new work, Church and Brooks present their findings on a condition that is often misdiagnosed as a symptom of addictive or mood disorders, when in fact subtle suicide the real underlying problem.
Based on thousands of hours of sessions with real clients and filled with dramatic case studies, Subtle Suicide: Our Silent Epidemic of Ambivalence about Living will help professionals, families, and friends to realize when someone may be suffering from subtle suicide. The authors also provide a number of strategies for helping those exhibiting subtle suicidal behavior, including how to react to specific types of comments and how to avoid being pulled into the sufferer's emotional whirlpool.
Features
- Two distinguished authors, who developed the clinical concept of subtle suicide
- Dozens of case studies based on actually psychotherapy clients diagnosed as suffering from subtle suicide
- Biographical sketches of well-known people who exhibited subtle suicide behavior, including Marilyn Monroe, Anna Nicole Smith, Jim Morrison, and Evel Knievel
- An extensive bibliography of print and online resources on a full range of topics related to subtle suicide and conditions that feed into it
Highlights
- Presents the authors' own expansive clinical concept of subtle suicide, providing the first major work on ambivalent self-destructive behavior in over 30 years
- Communicates at a level appropriate for families and friends of potential sufferers, with a separate section for students and professionals
- Shows how misdiagnosing subtle suicide can lead to disastrous consequences
- Discusses risk factors and warning signs of subtle suicide, providing specific treatment recommendations for both lay and professional readers
- Author Info
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Michael A. Church is associate professor of psychology at King's College in Wilkes-Barre, PA. He is coauthor of Greenwood's How Psychology Applies to Everyday Life.
Charles I. Brooks is professor and chair of the department of psychology at King's College, Wilkes-Barre, PA. He is coauthor of Greenwood's How Psychology Applies to Everyday Life.
- Reviews/Endorsements
Reviews
"The book will help professionals, families, and friends to realize when someone may be suffering from subtle suicide, and help sufferers understand why psychiatric medications fail to bring them relief."—SciTech Book News
- Look Inside
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