Product Description
From the author of the best-selling memoir An Unquiet Mind, comes the first major book in a quarter century on suicide, and its terrible pull on the young in particular. Night Falls Fast is tragically timely: suicide has become one of the most common killers of Americans between the ages of fifteen and forty-five.An internationally acknowledged authority on depressive illnesses, Dr. Jamison has also known suicide firsthand: after years of struggling with manic-depression, she tried at age twenty-eight to kill herself. Weaving together a historical and scientific exploration of the subject with personal essays on individual suicides, she brings not only her remarkable compassion and literary skill but also all of her knowledge and research to bear on this devastating problem. This is a book that helps us to understand the suicidal mind, to recognize and come to the aid of those at risk, and to comprehend the profound effects on those left behind. It is critical reading for parents, educators, and anyone wanting to understand this tragic epidemic.

Amazon.com Review
"Suicide is a particularly awful way to die: the mental suffering leading up to it is usually prolonged, intense, and unpalliated," writes Kay Redfield Jamison. "There is no morphine equivalent to ease the acute pain, and death not uncommonly is violent and grisly." Jamison has studied manic-depressive illness and suicide both professionally--and personally. She first planned her own suicide at 17; she attempted to carry it out at 28. Now professor of psychiatry at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, she explores the complex psychology of suicide, especially in people younger than 40: why it occurs, why it is one of our most significant health problems, and how it can be prevented. Jamison discusses manic-depression, suicide in different cultures and eras, suicide notes (they "promise more than they deliver"), methods, preventive treatments, and the devastating effects on loved ones. She explores what type of person commits suicide, and why, and when. She illustrates her points with detailed anecdotes about people who have attempted or committed suicide, some famous, some ordinary, many of them young. Not easy reading, either in subject or style, but you'll understand suicide better and be jolted by the intensity of depression that drives young people to it. --Joan Price

CUSTOMER REVIEWS (Average Customer Rating: 4.5 based on 79 reviews)

Night Falls Fast by J. Kouchoukian

5 Stars
October 15, 2009
There are almost no words to describe how powerful and informative this book is. It is a must have if you're interested in the subject or like myself feel suicidal.

For All who know suicide ... by Betsy A. Hester (North Carolina)

5 Stars
August 09, 2009
My son committed suicide 10 months ago, and this book is the first thing I've read that helps me begin to sort through my grief by explaining mental illness and its link to suicide. It also helped me realize the feelings of desperation, guilt and loss are part of this painful community of families left behind. It is a must read for anyone who knows and loves a person with suicidal tendencies. It's also a must read for teachers in the classroom who often are on the first line of defense. I hope you find it before it is too late.

Understanding suicide by Carolyn Zahnow (Far North Raleigh, NC)

5 Stars
May 13, 2009
As a mother of a son who took his life, I found this book the most informative of all the suicide type books on the market. It's not full of suicide stories but the science of suicide, if you will. If you've lost a loved one to suicide, save this book until a year after the death. Too much suicide information can be overpowering.

To Increase an Appreciation for the Issue of Suicide. by Michael A. Chary (NYC)

4 Stars
March 08, 2009
This book combines personal anecdotes, a presentation of research to the lay reader, and case histories to provide different perspectives on suicide as it strikes young adults with mood disorders, primarily major and manic depression. The book is moving and well-researched for a pop psychology book. While it will not contribute to the scientific understanding of suicide, whoever reads this book with an open but critical mind will find challenges to society's preconceptions of the nature of those who commit suicide. Although it will resonant deeply with anyone who has personal experience with those diseases or suicide, it will provide a perspective to those untouched by such phenomena that they might not have had.

Raw and honest by M. Hargreaves (Yorkshire, UK)

5 Stars
February 27, 2009
This book is a well written and honest study of suicide. It does not require specialist knowledge, only a desire to learn and a compassionate heart to listen to the stories and what they can tell us. Along with the book 'The suicidal mind' it provides a clear path through the confliciting ideas surrounding this subject. Anyone who has suffered a loss due to suicide, felt suicidal themselves or simply needs to know more will find this book will provide alot of information and answer questions people often do not wish to discuss.

SIMILAR PRODUCTS

	The Suicidal Mind by Edwin S. Shneidman (Author) Suicide is an exclusively human response to extreme psychological pain, a desperate solution for the sufferer who can no longer see any alternatives. The Suicidal Mind brims with insight into the suicidal impulse and with helpful suggestions for counteraction methods. Dr. Edwin Shneidman presents a bold and simple premise: the main cause of suicide is psychological pain or "psychache" (sic-ak). Thus the key to preventing suicide is not so much the study of the structure of the brain, or the...
	Exuberance: The Passion for Life by Kay Redfield Jamison (Author) With the same grace and breadth of learning she brought to her studies of the mind’s pathologies, Kay Redfield Jamison examines one of its most exalted states: exuberance. This “abounding, ebullient, effervescent emotion” manifests itself everywhere from child’s play to scientific breakthrough and is crucially important to learning, risk-taking, social cohesiveness, and survival itself. Exuberance: The Passion for Life introduces us to such notably irrepressible types as Teddy...
	Touched with Fire: Manic-Depressive Illness and the Artistic Temperament by Kay Redfield Jamison (Author) From the author of the New York Times bestseller, An Unquiet Mind, Touched with Fire is an authoritative look at the relationship between manic-depressive illness and the artistic temperament. Psychiatrist Jamison advocates a restrained, humanistic approach to treatment that does not "cure" the disorder at the expense of artistic inspiration.
	An Unquiet Mind: A Memoir of Moods and Madness by Kay Redfield Jamison (Author) The personal memoir of a manic depressive and an authority on the subject describes the onset of the illness during her teenage years and her determined journey through the realm of available treatments. Reprint. 125,000 first printing. NYT.
	No Time to Say Goodbye: Surviving The Suicide Of A Loved One by Carla Fine (Author) Suicide would appear to be the last taboo. Even incest is now discussed freely in popular media, but the suicide of a loved one is still an act most people are unable to talk about--or even admit to their closest family or friends. This is just one of the many painful and paralyzing truths author Carla Fine discovered when her husband, a successful young physician, took his own life in December 1989. And being unable to speak openly and honestly about the cause of her pain made it all the more...