Hardback : HK$559.00
For much of his thirties, Jesse Bering thought he was probably going to kill himself. He was a successful psychologist and writer, with books to his name and bylines in major magazines. But none of that mattered. The impulse to take his own life remained. At times it felt all but inescapable.
Bering survived. And in addition to relief, the fading of his suicidal thoughts brought curiosity. Where had they come from? Would they return? Is the suicidal impulse found in other animals? Or is our vulnerability to suicide a uniquely human evolutionary development? In Suicidal, Bering answers all these questions and more, taking us through the science and psychology of suicide, revealing its cognitive secrets and the subtle tricks our minds play on us when we're easy emotional prey. Scientific studies, personal stories, and remarkable cross-species comparisons come together to help readers critically analyze their own doomsday thoughts while gaining broad insight into a problem that, tragically, will most likely touch all of us at some point in our lives. But while the subject is certainly a heavy one, Bering's touch is light. Having been through this himself, he knows that sometimes the most effective response to our darkest moments is a gentle humor, one that, while not denying the seriousness of suffering, at the same time acknowledges our complicated, flawed, and yet precious existence.
Authoritative, accessible, personal, profound-there's never been a book on suicide like this. It will help you understand yourself and your loved ones, and it will change the way you think about this most vexing of human problems.
For much of his thirties, Jesse Bering thought he was probably going to kill himself. He was a successful psychologist and writer, with books to his name and bylines in major magazines. But none of that mattered. The impulse to take his own life remained. At times it felt all but inescapable.
Bering survived. And in addition to relief, the fading of his suicidal thoughts brought curiosity. Where had they come from? Would they return? Is the suicidal impulse found in other animals? Or is our vulnerability to suicide a uniquely human evolutionary development? In Suicidal, Bering answers all these questions and more, taking us through the science and psychology of suicide, revealing its cognitive secrets and the subtle tricks our minds play on us when we're easy emotional prey. Scientific studies, personal stories, and remarkable cross-species comparisons come together to help readers critically analyze their own doomsday thoughts while gaining broad insight into a problem that, tragically, will most likely touch all of us at some point in our lives. But while the subject is certainly a heavy one, Bering's touch is light. Having been through this himself, he knows that sometimes the most effective response to our darkest moments is a gentle humor, one that, while not denying the seriousness of suffering, at the same time acknowledges our complicated, flawed, and yet precious existence.
Authoritative, accessible, personal, profound-there's never been a book on suicide like this. It will help you understand yourself and your loved ones, and it will change the way you think about this most vexing of human problems.
1 The Call to Oblivion
2 Unlike the Scorpion Girt by Fire
3 Betting Odds
4 Hacking the Suicidal Mind
5 The Things She Told Lorraine
6 To Log Off This Mortal Coil
7 What Doesn’t Die
8 Gray Matter
Acknowledgments
Resources
Notes
Index
Jesse Bering is the author of Perv: The Sexual Deviant in
All of Us, Why Is the Penis Shaped Like That?, and The Belief
Instinct. He is the director of the Centre for Science
Communication at the University of Otago in New Zealand.
"What undergirds Bering's inquiry is the belief that locating the
psychological blunders that lead to suicide can help, in time, to
curb their prevalence."
*New Yorker*
"He weaves together personal stories, delves into whether nonhuman
animals die by suicide, and examines the relation of religion and
self-killing. These angles offer a critical perspective on a
devastating problem."
*Scientific American*
"Suicide is one of the toughest subjects to write about, and
psychologist Jesse Bering does it with candor, scientific integrity
and genuine empathy in Suicidal. . . . The book itself
is a testament to the human spirit. Researching and writing the
book, he says, was a way to combat suicidal ideation and give his
own life a renewed sense of purpose. . . . Suicidal is a vital
book--informative, engaging, and enlightening despite its dark
subject matter."
*Shelf Awareness*
"Jesse Bering is the best science writer at work today."
*Dan Savage*
"By the time you finish reading these sentences someone in the
world will have committed suicide. Why do more than a million
people a year kill themselves? To answer this question we need a
brilliant research scientist, an insightful psychologist, and a
sensitive but powerful writer who has seriously contemplated taking
their own life. Jesse Bering fits all three criteria and the book
you hold in your hands is a deeply moving narrative that cuts to
the heart of the ultimate question any of us could ever ask: why
should I live? Given what’s at stake in the topic, Suicidal may
very well be the most important book you will ever read."
*Michael Shermer, publisher of Skeptic Magazine*
"I'm not surprised that a book on suicide would be very personal,
but I didn’t expect it to be so damn funny. It's also engaging,
thoughtful, and sensitive--although Bering is certainly irreverent,
there is a real appreciation of how painful and difficult this
topic can be. This is a book for scholars and for a general
audience, but it is also entirely suitable for people whose lives
have been touched by the suicide of someone they loved."
*Paul Bloom, author of Against Empathy*
"In Suicidal, Jesse Bering explores one of the most
essential questions we all face: Why keep living? He doesn't claim
to have found any easy answers, but his exploration is surprising,
funny, touching, and deeply personal. Suicidal feels like
a gift, and reading it reminded me that encounters with great books
are reason enough, for now, to keep going."
*Christopher Ryan, author of Sex at Dawn*
"I have yet to come away from reading one of [Bering's] essays and
not feel considerably better informed than I was just minutes
before."
*Forbes*
"The book interweaves disciplinary, literary, historical, media,
personal and sensationalist sources. . . . the resulting amalgam
brilliantly succeeds at providing both an accessible and an earnest
account."
*Allegra Lab*
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