Night Falls Fast: Understanding Suicide

"I've been an admirer of Kay Jamison's research and writing for some time; thus I looked forward to reading this book. I was distressed to find, however, gaps in her analysis that border on irresponsible.

This work is completely (and myopically) filtered through the lens of her career focus: treatment of mood disorders, most especially bipolar and depression. If this was intended to be a comprehensive review of issues related to suicide, so many holes exist here that it's actually hard to believe. There is an extreme paucity of discussion regarding cultural/environmental influences, just of a few of which are: early abuse and trauma, gender and GLBT issues in adolescence and early adulthood, racism, poverty, profound isolation in modern culture...not to mention the cases that have been made for rational suicide.

To omit even a cursory discussion of any of these issues, focusing exclusively on her thesis that suicide results from mood disorders, results in a truly inadequate treatment that does the average, not-fully-informed reader (i.e. the targeted reader) a real disservice.

I give her points for addressing her limited topics well and for bringing a little elegance into the discussion with literary references.

A MUCH better analysis (though also much less user-friendly) can be found in The Comprehensive Textbook of Suicidology.
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~ Written on 2008-07-30

"Dr. Jamison's book is written from a unique and compassionate point of view that most other books on suicide are not - she has seriously attempted suicide, and she has bipolar disorder. She accesses a tremendous amount of research to illustrate the epidemic of suicide in the USA - questionnaires such as: How likely is a person to actually go through with the act? Additionally she is able to tell stories of people who have committed suicide that leave everyone wondering - if only... just as in real life. Does the stigma of mental illness continue to pervade society? She plainly tells the facts of suicide - how people accomplish it, why people do it, when people do it, where they do it. She uses her own pact with a friend to show what a ridiculous thought that is --- you promise to call me before you harm yourself --- when people are at that low point in their lives, the last thing they are going to do is reach out for help, even to someone they know suffers as deeply as they do. She is clearly against suicide, but has much compassion for those who suffer such deep and unrelenting depressions. This is not the 1st book you'd want to read on suicide if you are a recent suicide survivor. "
~ Written on 2007-07-02

"I have read all of Jamison's work, with the exception of _The Exuberance of Life_. The writing presented in this volume has resonance from what I have felt. Night Falls Fast should be considered a guide for families of mentally ill who contemplate suicide. It is tight and concise, from the moral judgements which are placed upon those who attempt it, to instances of unsound internal turmoil. Perhaps it is the chaos within writers like Jamison which creates the flight of the mind. When it lies in artists, a connection with profound wisdom or insight develops.

The patient might imagine a series of events leading to his or her demise.
Incidentally, a separate book about Virginia Woolf's art and manic-depressive illness, The Flight of The Mind, demonstates the reason why a manic might contemplate suicide. In extreme states, it may be the fear that loved ones have plotted his or her demise.

Concerning Night Falls Fast, I find that I can easily relate to many of the reasons presented by the author. The string of notes relating one's final thoughts are tragic, but, at times, poeticaly written, from the depths of despair. It recalls V. Woolf's final letter "I fear we shan't go through another one of these terrible times."
I should end noting that each of my incompetant attempts seem futile. . .
Being always rose up from the hospital cot, from the stains, from what seems inexpressible. Often, the tempest returns; then dissipates.

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~ Written on 2007-06-26

"After my partner's suicide as a result of his manic depression, this one book above many others provided me the ability to undertsand and hence, turn a much-needed corner in my own grief process. Although this book can be defined as a "study" with its language and statistics, the author does not forego the emotional aspect of those who are surviving the loss of a loved one through suicide. Her citations, some written by actual manic depressives and schizophrenics, -- as well as historical points taken from as far back as we can go in studying the human phenomenon of depression and suicide, -- keenly educate the reader on just what goes on in the minds of those who suffer from this mental disorder, and hence relief can be attained in understanding their act of self-murder. "
~ Written on 2007-05-09

"Some months ago, I appeared on the radio to promote a book of my own, called "Suicide-The Explosion Within" and read this particular book before hand, so that I could have an even better understanding of sucide from both my perspective as well as this particular author's. This book was, not only helpful, both informative and well received. "
~ Written on 2007-04-04